Destination brand attachment: Understanding the path towards loyalty and advocacy

Abstract

Building on attachment theory, this paper investigates the role of consumers' destination brand attachment(DBAT) and self-brand connection(SBC) in building behavioral outcomes namely destination brand loyalty and advocacy towards eco-destination brands. In addition, the study also investigates the mediating role of destination brand image. The study adopts a quantitative approach by using survey to collect data from 240 eco-tourists. The proposed hypotheses were examined with PLS-SEM.The results reveal that DBI partially mediates the relationship between DBAT and DBL, as well as SBC and DBL. Furthermore, DBI fully mediates the relationships between DBAT and DBA, and SBC and DBA.The findings have practical implications for destination managers and eco-tourism businesses. They can develop marketing campaigns to strengthen the consumer’s attachment and self-brand connection with eco-tourism sites. Destination brand managers can build a positive destination brand image. These efforts will improve consumers' loyalty and encourage advocacy for eco-destinations.