Los factores estímulo y personales como determinantes de la formación de la imagen de marca de los destinos turísticos: un estudio aplicado a los turistas que visitan un destino vacacional

Abstract

The creation of value for individuals through strong, favourable and unique brand associations (branding) is required in order to develop a more competitive position for organizations and, in particular, for tourist destinations. In this context it is necessary to develop a more complete study on the brand image formation, which is the central element of destination branding. In this study it is established a new and improved framework that includes stimulus factors –i.e. informational familiarity and experimental familiarity– and personal factors –i.e. motivations, values and demographic characteristics–, as well as the role of the tourist's involvement and the reliability of information in the formation of destination brand image. After polling 807 tourists who were visiting a holiday destination, the results indicate that: 1) the stimulus factors and personal factors have a different influence on destination image; and 2) the reliability of information is a quasi-moderator variable.