COUNTRY IMAGE AND RECREATIONAL TOURISM TRAVEL MOTIVATION: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF SOUTH AFRICA'S PLACE BRAND DIMENSIONS

Abstract

Purpose – Global competition highlights the importance of country image as a heuristic criterion for information symmetry in tourist decision making. However, there is limited academic inquiry into the interaction between country images and place brands in tourists’ travel motivation. This study explores the mediating effect of the place brand in the image-travel motivation nexus. Design/Methodology – The quantitative-deductive study generated data from a convenient sample of n=233 tourists. Survey data were analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses; followed by parallel mediation analysis to examine the mediating effect of place brand in the relationship between country image (exogenous variable), and travel motivation (endogenous variable). Approach – This study models country image and place brand dimensions as perceptual variables influencing leisure-oriented recreational tourism travel motives. Findings – South Africa's socio-cultural and competitive advantages as place brand dimensions have a partial intervening effect on the influence of South Africa's image on leisure-oriented recreational tourists’ travel motives; thus, implying the need to manage both dimensions as antecedents of leisure tourists' recreational travel motivation. Originality of the research – Evidence and knowledge gaps in the literature are addressed by modelling the direct (country image) and indirect (place brands) influence of tourists’ perceptions on their extrinsic travel motives.