effect (i.e. direct-only mediation) of affective image and satisfaction on the relationship
between cognitive image and tourist loyalty (
Zhao
et al.
, 2010
).
Discussion
As Chinese tourists have dominated the Korean inbound market, it is urgently necessary for the
Korean tourism industry to look into the processes that determine Chinese tourists’ destination
choices and their perceptions during their trips in Korea. In this study, we investigated the
influence of destination image on Chinese tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty in Korea. Although
numerous studies have investigated the impact of the destination image on tourist behaviors,
this study incorporated the two dimensions of the destination image (i.e. cognitive and affective
images) to explore how they respectively influence Chinese tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty in
the context of Korea. We established a framework to explore the relationships between
cognitive image, affective image, tourist satisfaction and tourist loyalty. According to the
findings of this research, the following remarks can be made.
First, our findings illustrated the sequential relationship whereby cognitive image led to
affective image, concurring with the results of previous qualitative and quantitative
research (
Li
et al.
, 2010
;
Lin
et al.
, 2007
;
Ryan and Cave, 2005
;
San Martín and del
Bosque, 2008
;
Vogt and Andereck, 2003
). The cognitive aspect of destination image is
the perception of tourist destination attributes, which can be functional/tangible (e.g.
accommodation and cultural attractions) and psychological/abstract (e.g. friendly
atmosphere). On the other hand, the affective aspect denotes the emotion evoked by
a tourist destination (e.g. pleasure and excitement). The finding suggests that a
destination image is established by a process including the two distinct components of
the image. The formation process indicates that an individual’s beliefs about a
destination (i.e. cognitive image) induce his/her feeling of a destination (i.e. affective
image). Although the formation of a destination image has been identified in this study,
it should be noted that the relationship of cognitive–affective image is regarded as
casual rather than temporal.
Second, our findings revealed that both cognitive and affective images were significant
antecedents of tourist satisfaction. It is not surprising that the findings are consistent
with the results of many previous studies (
Chi and Qu, 2008
;
Prayag, 2009
;
Prayag and
Ryan, 2012
;
Tasci and Gartner, 2007
), thereby suggesting that as visitors’ perceptions
of place improved, so did their satisfaction levels. In addition, our findings indicate the
multi-level influences of destination image (i.e. cognitive and affective images). Similar
to cognitive image, affective image is also critical for establishing tourist satisfaction.
Moreover, the result points to the partial influence of affective image on the relationship
between cognitive image and tourist satisfaction. This finding suggests the important
role of affective image on satisfaction. Although the components of cognitive image
including infrastructure, accessibility and service levels are important to satisfy tourists,
tourists’ emotions and feelings toward the destination cannot be ignored. As tourists
perceive positive experiences toward a destination, they are more likely to be satisfied.
Third, the cognitive and affective images, however, play different roles in tourist loyalty.
Although affective image has a positive influence on tourist loyalty, any relationship
between cognitive image and tourist loyalty was not found.
Zhang
et al.
’s (2014)
results
of a meta-analysis have reported that the composite cognitive–affective image has an
unstable impact on tourist loyalty. Moreover, most of the previous studies examined the
influence of only cognitive or affective image on tourist loyalty (
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