A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
A Study on Country Images, Destination Beliefs and Travel Intentions: A Structural Equation Model Approach
Authors: Lindblom Arto, Lindblom Taru, Lehtonen Miikka, Wechtler Heidi
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Publication year: 2018
Journal: International Journal of Tourism Research
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
First page : 1
Last page: 10
Number of pages: 10
ISSN: 1099-2340
eISSN: 1522-1970
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2148(external)
Web address : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jtr.2148/full(external)
This study explores how individuals' cognitive and affective country images influence destination beliefs, and how these beliefs are associated with individuals' travel intentions. With the product country image and tourism destination image literature, we develop four hypotheses that are tested using structural equation modeling. We use a sample of 605 Japanese respondents. Our results indicate that the cognitive country image is positively associated with the affective country image. The findings suggest that both the affective and cognitive country images are positively related to the destination beliefs, and the destination beliefs are positively associated with the travel intentions.