The effects of the ımage of destination on tourist satisfaction and loyalty: the case of Cappadocia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of the destination image on satisfaction and loyalty. The destination image in the study has been examined as cognitive and emotional image and has been investigated the effect of both factors on the components of satisfaction and loyalty. The sample consists of 170 tourists who visited Cappadocia. With this aspect, the work has got differences among similar studies. The survey has been obtained from the region adaptation of the scale used in studies with similar characteristics. The factor and regression analysis was used for the data analysis. According to the results of factor analysis, the cognitive image has been composed of six factors. According to the results of regression analysis, cognitive and emotional image affects satisfaction. The most important factors are the possibilities of tourist attractiveness and touristy substructures access. Emotional image in the same way has an effect on satisfaction. Tourist attractiveness, having multi-faceted impact, in part affects satisfaction and also affects loyalty. Satisfaction has a significant effect on loyalty. At the conclusion, the author makes suggestions about enriching the tourist appeal and the corrective work to be done. There are two constraints of the study. First, a single language (English) is used to prepare a questionnaire and the second it covers only tourists who travel with tourist guides.