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A critical analysis of tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty

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A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF TOURIST SATISFACTION AND DESTINATION LOYALTY

Ahmad Puad Mat Som, Seyedeh Fatemeh Mostafavi Shirazi,
Azizan Marzuki and Jamil Jusoh
School of Housing,Building and Planing, Universiti Sains Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Revisit intention and positive word of mouth recommendation have been regarded as indicators of
destination loyalty. This study considers antecedents of loyalty based on literature review and examines
the significance of image, as one of the basic elements in tourist destination. The objective of this study
was to assess destination loyalty by examining the influence of satisfaction and image factors on
international tourists who had visited Penang. Research findings indicated that there was a strong
relationship between satisfaction, image and destination loyalty. In this study, it was found that
‘friendliness of people’ was significant for foreigners while ‘cleanliness of environment’ was not
significant. It was also found that foreigners who were satisfied with image factor were willing to
recommend Penang to others.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Destination loyalty has been highlighted as one of the most important subjects in tourism researches. In
many studies, revisit intention and positive word of mouth recommendation are noted as indicators of
loyalty (e.g. Yoon & Uysal 2005; Chi and Qu, 2008). Several studies have attempted to identify major
antecedents of revisit intention including satisfaction (Petrick et al., 2001; Kozak 2001), novelty seeking
(Jang & Feng, 2007), image (Chi & QU, 2008), motivation and satisfaction (Yoon & Usal, 2005), safety
(Chen & Gursoy, 2001), overall satisfaction (Campo- Martinez et al. 2010), cultural difference ( Chen &
Gursoy, 2001), perceived value ( Petrick et al.,2001), past vacation experience( Kozak ,2001), and the
like. In this regard, notably, Jang and Feng (2007, p.581) assert that “even though the extent of research
finding is well focused on determinants of repeat visit intention, it can be contested that understanding
tourists’ revisit intention and their behavior remains limited.”

Revisit intention has also been focused as an important issue from economic perspective in tourism
studies (e.g. Darnell & Johnson, 2001). One of the latest research studies underlines that “a 2% increase
in customer retention has the same effect on profits in terms of cost cutting by 10%” (Customer
retention, 2010). In the words of Hsu et al. (2008), preserving loyalty of established customer has been
regarded as a crucial contributor to the achievement and profitability of business. Accordingly, the main
reason why researchers should consider revisit intention is the fact that “globalization of markets,
competitive pressure, brand multiplication and, above all, the ever-changing lifestyles and consumer
behavior have forced companies to develop strategies to keep their clients and create consumer loyalty
programs” (Flambard-Ruaud, 2005, p.55), particularly in tourism industry.

Tourist destination consists of a number of different attributes such as attraction, image etc. Within
each of these elements, there are a number of items that provide tourism products and services at a
destination. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the level of international tourists’ satisfaction
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on Penang’s image as one of the attributes of tourist destination. This article considers satisfaction as
the major antecedent of revisit intention. First, the paper presents a brief review of literature
concerning tourist satisfaction and repeat visitation. Second, it outlines the research method, findings
and conclusion at the end of this article.

2.0 SATISFACTION AND REVISIT INTENTION

Oliver (1981) claims that tourist satisfaction can be seen as a tourist’s post-purchase evaluation of the
destination. In many studies, satisfaction is distinguished as an antecedent of loyalty ( Kozak, 2001; Jang
& Feng,2006). Although Oppermann (2000) states that studies on tourist satisfaction and destination
loyalty have not been thoroughly investigated, Chi and Qu (2008, p. 624) claim that “customer
satisfaction has always been considered an essential business goal because it was assumed that satisfied
customer would buy more.” Although measuring tourist satisfaction is not simple, several studies have
been conducted to examine the influence of customer satisfaction on loyalty (Gummesson, 1993;
Anderson and Fornell, 1994; Um et al., 2006; Hui et al., 2007). Gotlieb et al. (1994) assert that positive
satisfaction has positive influence on tourists’ repurchase intention. Similarly, Baker & Crompton
(2000); Petrick et al. (2001), and Jang & Feng (2006) have highlighted that satisfaction is the primary
antecedent of revisit intention.

Importantly, there is an agreement among several scholars that satisfaction provide a ground for revisit
and positive word of mouth recommendations which are the indicators of loyalty (e.g. Kozak &
Rimmington, 2000; Yoon & Uysal 2005; Chi and Qu, 2008). In another view, Um et al. (2006, p. 1141)
state that “revisit intention has been regarded as an extension of satisfaction rather than an initiator of
revisit decision making process.” Kozak (2001) pointed that level of satisfaction as one of the most
dominant variables in explaining revisit intention. Accordingly, in tourism destination’s researches, it
has been widely underlined that tourist satisfaction, loyalty and revisit intention have strong
relationship (eg. Yoon & Usal, 2005; Awadzi & Panda, 2007), while a few studies disapproved the
positive relationship between tourist satisfaction and revisit intention ( e.g. Um et al., 2006).

In tourist destination researches (e.g. Oliver, 1997; Yoon & Uysal 2005), tourist satisfaction has been
measured by different items such as overall satisfaction, performance, expectation, and positive
recommendation. Notably, Chi and Qu (2008, p.624) maintain that “satisfaction measurement has
recently been displaced by the concept of customer loyalty, primarily because loyalty is seen as better
predictor of actual behavior.” In this respect, Chen and Tsai (2007) conclude that a key effect of tourist
satisfaction that influences tourism intentions for revisit both in short and long term is loyalty to the
destination. Taking into account the importance of satisfaction in revisit intention, this preliminary study
focuses on satisfaction of image that influences international tourists’ decision of whether or not to
revisit Penang.

3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The preliminary research for this study was conducted in the island of Penang (Malaysia). Information
was collected using a questionnaire with closed questions for the reasons of measuring the level of
international tourists’ satisfaction with Penang’s image. A 5 –point Likert scale with 1 being strongly
dissatisfied and with 5 being strongly satisfied was applied. The questionnaire was administered
personally to the respondents in June and July 2010. One hundred fifty questionnaires were obtained
from international tourists at Departure Hall of Penang International Airport. Twenty- seven of
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responses were found unusable. The remaining 123 responses were analyzed. Data analysis was done
using SPSS Version 17.

4.0 RESULTS

The socio-demographic characteristics of international tourists showed that majority of them came from
Europe (56.1%) followed by Australia & New Zealand (21.1%), Asia (17.9%) and North America (2.4%).
Most of the foreigners’ educational background was at least Degree & Master (52.8%). 53% respondents
were married and 35% of them were single. More females (54.5%) than males (43.9%) were
represented in the sample. Table 1 illustrates the frequency and mean for image factor. “Friendliness of
people” was perceived as the important factor for international tourists who visited Penang which
yielded mean value of 4.28. The results showed that “friendliness of people” recorded the highest
mean value, whereas “cleanliness of environment” obtained the lowest mean value, as perceived by the
international respondents on image factor.

Table 1 Frequency of Image items

In order to identify the statistically significant between image of destination and recommendation to
revisit Penang (p < 0.005), analysis of variance (ANOVA) was selected. The results of one way ANOVA are
shown in Table 2. There is statistically significant between three image factors and recommendation to
revisit. These factors were “Distinctiveness of sight or scenes”, “Safety and security”, and “Friendliness
of people”. This was significant because the result of P value was less than 0.05, and there was no
statistically significant between other image factors, due to P value greater than 0.05.
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Table 2 One way ANOVA Analysis

5.0 CONCLUSION

The results of this study underline that tourism destinations must take particular consideration of the
image factor as this will affect international tourists’ satisfaction and their recommendation to revisit to
potential tourists. Positive relationship between satisfaction of image and recommendation was
highlighted. It is assumed that if foreigners are satisfied with image factor, they are more willing to
spread positive recommendations as well as to undertake repeat visitations in future. Accordingly,
tourist satisfaction of image plays an important role in destination loyalty. This finding proposes that it
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would be important for destination mangers to establish positive perceived images that can satisfy
tourists in order to achieve destination loyalty.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research was partially funded by Research University’s grant of Universiti Sains Malaysia.

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