The role of international tourist perceptions of brand equity and travel intention in culinary tourism

Abstract

Brand equity is becoming increasingly important, and research has started to examine the brand equity of tourist destinations. However, little research has studied the inter-relationship between the dimensions of brand equity in culinary tourism. The purpose of this study is to examine the roles of the three aspects of brand equity in culinary tourism. The Sobel test in line with Baron and Kenny's procedure was used to test the hypotheses in a sample of 407 international tourists from 10 regions. The empirical evidence supports the process-oriented view and indicates that brand loyalty could mediate the effects of brand image and perceived quality on travel intention. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical development of a conceptual model and fill the gap in the literature.