Destination Brand Equity, Satisfaction And Revisit Intention: An Application In TRNC As a Tourism Destination

ABSTRACT: This study revisits the previous studies carried out by several researchers on Customer – Based Brand Equity with an intension to further investigate the applications and testing of the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model in relation to destination branding. The study specifically examines the effects of Brand Equity Dimensions (Brand Awareness, Brand Loyalty, Brand Value, Brand Quality and Brand Image) on Tourists Satisfaction and ultimately on Future Behaviours that result in revisit of the destination. The study proposes a conceptual model whereby the data collected from the Turkish visitors is empirically verified and tested for an emerging Mediterranean tourism destination of Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, referred as TRNC or North Cyprus in this study. The results of this study proved that all brand equity dimensions employed in this model, with the exemption of Brand Image where, no relationship was established, have positive direct effects on Customer Satisfaction. The study also confirmed the positive direct effect of Satisfaction on the Future Behaviour that determines the revisit intent of the tourist. Furthermore the study defined an indirect relationship between the brand equity dimensions and the Future behaviour, where Customer satisfaction has a mediating role between the Brand Equity Dimensions and the Feature Behaviour. Based on the results, a few implications were proposed for tourism destination management. The most important suggestion is directed towards the establishment of an effective strategy for Destination Brand equity management, which would require collaboration between the Government officials and the private tourism organization management. Also considerations are given to the limitations of the current study and thus, future research directions were proposed accordingly. Keywords: Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE); Destination Brand Equity; Brand Equity Dimensions; Customer Satisfaction; Future Behaviour; Revisit Intent. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………