ANALYSIS OF THE ANTECEDENTS OF CUSTOMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY AND ITS APPLICATION TO MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS

Lack of studies concerning destination brand measurement indicates that conceptualizing how tourists? assessment a destination brand is complex. This research investigated empirical information on building the destination brand model through employing customer-based brand equity models by ensuring its reliability and validity. The proposed model was tested with survey sample of, Aqaba, Amman, and the Ajloun in Jordan. The findings offer support for the concept of customer-based brand equity and confirm its application to the destination context. Furthermore, according to the critical analysis of theoretical and empirical literature, there is need to better understand and to evaluate the relationship between destination brand loyalty and the related influencing factors. Theory of Brand Equity Acceptance Model is used as theoretical foundations of this study. Five factors, namely destination brand awareness, destination brand image, destination brand salience, and destination brand satisfaction, toward destination brand loyalty, were tested. The data was collected at Aqaba, Amman, and the Ajloun, Jordan, during July and August 2010. Of the 500 tourists participating in the 54-questions, face-to-face intercept survey, 400 or about 86% responded. After dropping incomplete questionnaires, 350 usable responses were analyzed using SPSS. Multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between destination brand awareness, destination brand image, destination brand salience, destination brand satisfaction, and destination brand loyalty. Results showed significant, positive relationships between destination brand awareness, destination brand image, destination brand salience, destination brand satisfaction and destination brand loyalty. Furthermore, implications of this work and directions for future research are discussed.