THE COMMON/UNIQUE AND COGNITIVE/CONATIVE MODEL OF DESTINATION IMAGE: THE CASE OF AZERBAIJAN

Recent economic downturn, decrease in oil and gas prices in world markets, devaluation of national currency highlighted the urgent need of diversifying economy in Azerbaijan to strengthen the economic standing. Tourism is considered to be one of the major priority areas in the development of non-oil sector in Azerbaijan. To create a comprehensive marketing strategy for the tourism sector, it is of critical importance to determine a brand image of the destination. Studies show that destination brand image or the way people perceive a specific destination affects consumer destination choice. Shaping a positive brand image of the country is on the top agenda of the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Numerous measures, including hosting dozens of international competitions, international song contests, sponsorship of sports events, as well as designing different commercials about Azerbaijan are aimed at the creation of the positive brand image of the country. This empirical research paper will focus on determining common/unique components of perceived image of Azerbaijan as a tourist destination, followed by testing cognitive/conative model of this particular destination. Practical implication of this research is twofold: The proposed model will serve as a foundation for the creation of successful marketing strategy based on the determined destination image of the country and will create a basis for further researches in this direction.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Azerbaijan, destination image, destination branding, cognitive model, conative model

PDF

___

ANHOLT, S. (2007). Competitive identity: the new brand management for nations, cities and regions. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
BALOGLU, S. and BRINBERG, D. (1997), “Affective images of tourism destinations”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 35, 11-15.
BEERLI, A. and MARTIN, J. D. (2004a). Factors influencing destination image. International Annals of Tourism Research, 31(3), 657-681.
BEERLI, A. and MARTIN, J. D. (2004b). Tourists’ characteristics and the perceived image of tourist destinations: A quantitative analysis-A case study of Lanzarote, Spain. Tourism Management, 25(5), 623-636.
BEERLI, A. and MARTIN, J.D. (2004), “Factors influencing destination image”, Annuls of Tourism Research, Vol. 31, 657-681.
BIGNÉ, E., SÁNCHEZ, I. and SANZ, S. (2009). The Functional-psychological Continuum in the Cognitive Image of a Destination: A Confirmatory Analysis. Tourism Management, 30 (5), 1-9.
CAI L. (2002). Cooperative branding for rural destinations. Annals of Tourism Research. 29(3). 720-742
CALDWELL, N. and FREIRE, J. (2004) ‘The differences between branding a country, a region and a city: Applying the Brand Box model.’ Journal of Brand Management. 12(1): 50-61.
CHEN, J. S. and HSU, C. H. C. (2000). Measurement of Korean tourists’ perceived images of overseas destinations. Journal of Travel Research, 38, 411-416.
CHON KYE‐SUNG , (1990) "The role of destination image in tourism: A review and discussion", The Tourist Review, Vol. 45 Issue: 2,.2-9
CHON, K. S. (1992), The role of destination image in tourism: an extension, The Tourist Review, 2(2), 2-7.
CROMPTON, J. L. (1979). An assessment of the image of Mexico as a vacation destination and the influence of geographical location upon that image. Journal of Travel Research, 17 (4), 18-23.
DANN, G. (1996). Tourist Images of a Destination: An Alternative Analysis. In: Fesenmaier, D., O’Leary, J.T. and Uysal, M.(editors), Recent Advances in Tourism Marketing Research. The Haworth Press: New York: 45–55
DRISCOLL, A., R. LAWSON, and B. NIVEN (1994). “Measuring Tourists’ Destination Perceptions.” Annals of Tourism Research, 21 (3): 499-511.
ECHTNER, C. M. and RITCHIE J.R.B.(1991).“The Meaning and Measurement of Destination Image.” Journal of Tourism Studies,2:2-12.
ECHTNER, C. M. and RITCHIE J. R. B. (1993). “The Measurement of Destination Image: An Empirical Assessment.” Journal of Travel Research, 31 (4): 3-13.
ECHTNER, C. and RITCHIE, J. R. (2003, May). The Meaning and Meaasurment of Destination Image. The Journal of Tourism Studies, 14(1), 37‐48.
FAKAYE, P.C. and CROMPTON, J.L. (1991) Image differences between prospective, first-time and repeat visitors to the lower Rio Grande valley, Journal of Travel Research, 30 (2), 10-16
GALLARZA, M.G., GIL SAURA, I. and CALDERON GARCIA, H. (2002). Destination Image: Towards a Conceptual Framework. Annals of Tourism Research 29 (1): 56-78
GARTNER, W. C. (1989). Tourism image: Attribute measurement of state tourism products using Multidimensional scaling techniques. Journal of Travel Research, 28(2) (Fall), 16-20.
GARTNER, W.C. (1993). Image formation process. Journal of travel and tourism marketing, 2, 191-215.
GROSSPIETSCH, M. (2006). Perceived and Projected Images of Rwanda: Visitor and International Tour Operator Perspectives. Tourism Management, 27, 225–234.
GUNN, C. A. (1972), Vacationscape-Designing Tourist Regions. Austin, Texas: University of Texas.
HOSANY, S., EKINCI, Y. and UYSAL, M. (2006), “Destination image and destination personality: an application of branding theories to tourism places”, Tourism Management, Vol. 59, 638- 42.
HOSANY, S., EKINCI, Y. And UYSAL, M. (2007). Destination Image and Destination Personality. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1(1), 62‐81
HENDERSON, J. (2007), ‘Uniquely Singapore? A case study in destination branding’, Journal of Vacation Marketing, 13, 261-27
HUNT, J.D. (1975) Image as a factor in tourism development, Journal of Travel Research, 13, 1-7
JENKINS, O.H. (1999). Understanding and measuring tourist destination images. International journal of tourism research, 1, 1-15
KONECNIK, M. and GARNTER, W.C. (2007). Customer-based brand equity for a destination. Annals of Tourism Research, 34, 400-421.
LEE, C.K., LEE, Y.K. and LEE, B.K. (2005), “Korea’s destination image formed by the 2002 World Cup”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 32, 839-58
LI, M., CAI, L. A., LEHTO, X. Y. and HUANG, J. Z. (2010). A missing link in understanding revisit intention - The role of motivation and image. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 27(4), 335-348.
LIN, C. H., MORAIS, D. B., KERSTETTER, D. L. and HOU, J. S. (2007). Examining the role of cognitive and affective image in predicting choice across natural, developed, and theme-park destinations. Journal of Travel Research, 46(2), 183-194.
MARTIN, H.S. and BOSQUE, I.A.R. (2008), “Exploring the cognitive-affective nature of destination image and the role of psychological factors in its formation”, Tourism Management, Vol. 29, 263-77
MACKAY, K. and D. FESENMAIER (1997). “Pictorial Element of Destination in Image Formation.” Annals of Tourism Research, 24: 537–65
MILMAN, A. and PIZAM, A. (1995). The role of awareness and familiarity with a destination: the central Florida case. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 21-27
MORRISON A. M.AND ANDERSON D. J. (2002). Destination Branding. Paper presented at the Missouri Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus Annual Meeting.
O’ LEARY, S. and DEEGAN, J. (2003). People, Pace, Place: Qualitative and quantitative images of Ireland as a tourism destination in France. Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 9, No. 3, 213-226.
PEARCE, P. L. (1982). Perceived changes in holiday destinations. Annals of Tourism Research, 9(2), 145- 164.
PEARCE, P. L. (1988), The Ulysses Factor: Evaluating Visitors in Tourist Settings. New York: Springer-Verlag
PIKE, S. (2002). Destination image analysis: A review of 142 papers from 1973-2000. Tourism management, 23, 541-549.
PIKE S. (2007). Consumer-based brand equity for destinations: Practical DMO performance measures. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 22, 51-61
PIKE, S. and RYAN, C. (2004). Destination positioning analysis through a comparison of cognitive, affective, and conative perceptions. Journal of Travel Research, 42(4), 333–342.
PHILLIPS, W. and JANG, S. (2008), “Destination image and tourist attitude”, Tourism Analysis, Vol. 13,. 401-411.
PREBENSEN, N.K. (2007), “Exploring tourists’ image of a distant destination”, Tourism Management, Vol. 28 No. 3,. 747-54.
REIN, I., KOTLER, P. and HAIDER, D. (1993). Marketing Places: Attracting Investment, Industry, and Tourism to Cities, States, and Nations. The Free Press.
REZENDE-PARKER, A.M., MORRISON, A.M. and ISMAIL, J. (2003), “Dazed and confused? An exploratory study of the image of Brazil as a travel destination”, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 243-59.
SMALLMAN, C. and MOORE, K. (2010). Process studies of tourists’ decision-making. Annals of Tourism Research, 37(2), 397–422.
TASCI, A. D. A., GARTNER, W. and CAVUSGIL, S. T. (2007). Conceptualization and operationalization of destination image. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 31(2), 194-223
TASCI, A. D. A. AND GARTNER, W. C. (2007). Destination image and its functional relationships. Journal of Travel Research, 45(4), 413-425.
EKINCI, Y. (2003). “From destination image to destination branding: An emerging area of research. e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 1, No.2, 21-24
WALMSLEY, D. J. and Jenkins J. M.. (1993). “Appraisive Images of Tourist Areas: Application of Personal Constructs.” Australian Geographer, 24(2): 1-13