The Role of Experience-based Marketing Strategics on ecotourists Loyalty (Case Study: Ecotourism in Kurdistan Province)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student in Business Management, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj,Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran.

10.34785/J018.2020.481

Abstract

Today, ecotourism, as one of the most unique and growing species of tourism, has become one of the most important economic sectors in this area, which if taken seriously, can play an important role in sustainable local development and earn money for many From developing countries. In this regard, the present study examines the impact of experience-based marketing strategies on the loyalty of ecotourists. This research is analytical-survey and its data is selected in a sample of 98 individuals of Ecotourists in several Ecotourism trips in Kurdistan Province using available sampling method. The required data were collected by distributed questionnaires, and in order to analyze the data, first, the reliability and validity of each of the model structures were examined. Finally, the hypotheses were analyzed using nonparametric test of phi and cramer v has taken. The results of the study showed that the Experience-based Marketing Strategics in ecotourism, namely, perceived service strategies for experience creativity, perceived price of services, perceived interactions of people involved in the provision of services, perceived physical attractiveness of services and perceived processes of service with loyalty of the ecotourist has a significant relationship. But there is not a meaningful relationship between the perceived service promotion Strategy and the ecotourist loyalty.

Keywords

References

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Reid, R., & Bojanic, D. (2010) . Hospitality Marketing Management (5 th edition). Hoboken,
New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, inc.
Rodriguez, A. (2013). Tourism and the Marketing Mix. Retrieved from
http://www.freenomads.com / blog / p=296sthash.MyMLkbAk.dpbs. Accessed on 12.04.2015
Sarkhoshsara, A., Nasrollahi, Kh., Azarbaijani, K. (2018). Analysis and review of the relation between income and expenditure of tourism sector with economic growth. Journal of Tourism and Development, seventh year, number three, 24-24. (in Persian)
Tsaur, S. H., Chiu, Y. T., & Wang, C. H. (2007). The visitors behavioral consequences of experiential marketing: An empirical study on Taipei Zoo. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 21(1), 47-64.
Shiri, Ardeshir.,
Dehghani Soltani,Mehdi.,Soltani Benavandi, a'azam & Azadi, younes(2017). The impact of customer service on customer loyalty with the mediating role of service quality in the hotel industry. Journal of Tourism and Development, 6(11), 39-62. (in Persian)
Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2008). Service-dominant logic: continuing the evolution. Journal of the Academy of marketing Science, 36(1), 1-10.
World Tourism Organization. (2009) Information retrieved April11, 2007
http://www.unwto.org /index.php. Zahedi, Sh. (2003). Challenges of Sustainable Development from an Ecotourism Perspective, Modares Journal, 7(3). (in Persian)
Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J., Gremler, D.D., & Pandit, A. (2000). Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm.
& Al Qurneh, M. (2012). Assessing the relationship between marketing mix and loyalty through tourists satisfaction in Jordan curative tourism. American academic & scholarly research journal, 4(2), 1.
Azhar, M. E., Prayogi, M. A., & Sari, M. (2018). The role of marketing mix and service quality on tourist satisfaction and loyalty at Samosir. Revista de turism-studii si cercetari in turism, (26).
Bachelor of Management Studies Team. (2014). Physical evidence of Tourism . Retrieved from http://www.bms.co.in/physical-evidence-of-tourism/ Accessed on 2.03.2015 Othman, B., Harun, A., Rashid, W., Nazeer, S., Kassim, A., & Kadhim, K. (2019). The influences of service marketing mix on customer loyalty towards Umrah travel agents: Evidence from Malaysia. Management Science Letters, 9(6), 865-876.
Davari, A., & Rezazadeh, A. (2013). Structural Equation Modeling with PLS Software, Tehran University Press, Jihad Publishing.(in Persian)
Devashish, D. (2011). Tourism Marketing. India: Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd Ebrahimpour, Habib., Sayed naghvi, Mir Ali and Yaghoobi, Noor Mohammad (2011). Factors Affecting Satisfaction and Loyalty of Tourists in Ardebil Province. Quarterly Journal of Tourism Studies, 14, 69-69.(in Persian) Ecotourism of Iran (2017). Nature based tourism, the contribution of one percent of Iran in nature based tourism. (in Persian) Esmaili, S., Rezaei, N., Abbasi, R., & Eskandari, S. (2017). The impact of marketing mix on perceived value, destination image and loyalty of tourists (case study: Khalkhal City, Iran). Modern Applied Science, 11(11), 96-108.
Farajzadeh Asl, M., Rafiq Panah, K. (2008). Analysis of appropriate areas of ecotourism development in Kurdistan province using Geographic Information System, Natural Geography Research, 65, 55-33. (in Persian) Fyall, A., & Garrod, B. (2005). Tourism Marketing: A collaborative approach. Cromwell Press: Great Britain.
Ghahraman, A., Ezam Kary, F., & Effati, S. (2018). Sociological analysis of factors affecting the loyalty of tourists to tourism destinations. Two Journal of Social Tourism, Fall and Winter, 6 (12), 145-172. (in Persian)
Golzadeh, M., Abdollahzadeh, Gh. H., Mohammadian, H., & Medadi, S. (2018). Investigating the Influence of Arasbaran Area in the Development of Sport Tourism, Journal of Geography and Planning, 22(63), 241-263. (in Persian)
Hosseini, S. M., Nabavi, S. A. & Nili, M. (2013). Measure brand trustworthiness of insurance companies on the customer loyalty pledge. Management, 10 (29), 13-24. (in Persian) Hosseini, M. H., & Ahmadinejad, M. (2008). Investigating the Impact of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Trust on Brand and Brand-specific Value in Customer Behavioral and Attitudinal Loyalty (Case Study: Bank of Refah). Commercial Reviews, 33: 42-51. (in Persian)
Keller, K. L. (1998). Strategic Brand Management: Building Meaning and Managing Brand Equity, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River,
NJ. Kohzadi, Salar. (2013). Tourist guide for villages of Kurdistan province tourism destination. Sanandaj, Daxer. (In Persian)
Konecnik, M., & De Chernatony, L . (2010). A Systematic Approach to Branding Slovenia, Paper Presented at 2010 Thought Leaders International Conference on Brand Management,
Lugano, Switzerland Kotler, Ph., & Armstrong, G. (2010). Marketing principles. ( Translated by Mehdi Zare). Tehran, Publishing Director of Farda, First edition. (in Persian) Kumar, R. (2008). How experiential marketing can be used to build brands– A case study of two specialty stores, Innovative Marketing, 4 (2):70-76.
McNickel, D. (2004), Hands on Brands, May, available at: http://www.marketingmag.co.nz Markgraf, B. (2015). Eight P's in marketing tourism. Texas: Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved April, 20, 2017.
Middleton, V. T. C., & Clarke, J. (2001). Marketing for travel and tourism–3rd Edition”. Bodmin: MPG Books Ltd.
Mohammadi, M. (2017). The Role of Physical Evidence in the Dimension of Visitor Loyalty in Ramsar Tourist Destinations. Journal of Research in Pedagogy, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Salshhm, 11, 22. (in Persian)
Movahed, A., Kohzadi, S., Abedinzadeh, F. (2014). Strategies for ecotourism development in Kurdistan province using SWAT and QSMM model. Applied Geosciences Research Journal. Fourteenth, 32. (in Persian)
Movahedi, S., Kashani Hamedani, M., Shah Zeidi, M. (2017). Creation of experiential- oriented residential services through the revival of historic houses. Tourism and Development Scientific and Research Papers, 6 (10), 117-99. (in Persian)
Mukhles, A. (2013). Service Quality and its Impact on Tourist Satisfaction. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4(12), 164-177.
Oliver, R.L. (1999). ‘Whence consumer loyalty’, Journal of Marketing, 63 (Special Issue): 3-44. Peng, K. H., & Tzeng, G. H. (2017). Exploring heritage tourism performance improvement for making sustainable development strategies using the hybrid-modified MADM model. Current Issues in Tourism, 22(8), 921-947.
Pouya, A., Irandoust, M., Soltanpanah, H., & Shafe’e, R. (2019). Designing a Model of Customer Experience-based Marketing in Kurdistan Province Ecotourism, Journal of Tourism and Development, 8(20), 45-69. (in Persian)
Ranjbarian, B., Emami, A., & Ghaffari, M. (2014). Consumer Behavior in Tourism, Mahkameh Publication, First Edition. (in Persian)
Reid, R., & Bojanic, D. (2010) . Hospitality Marketing Management (5 th edition). Hoboken,
New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, inc.
Rodriguez, A. (2013). Tourism and the Marketing Mix. Retrieved from
http://www.freenomads.com / blog / p=296sthash.MyMLkbAk.dpbs. Accessed on 12.04.2015 Sarkhoshsara, A., Nasrollahi, Kh., Azarbaijani, K. (2018). Analysis and review of the relation between income and expenditure of tourism sector with economic growth. Journal of Tourism and Development, seventh year, number three, 24-24. (in Persian) Tsaur, S. H., Chiu, Y. T., & Wang, C. H. (2007). The visitors behavioral consequences of experiential marketing: An empirical study on Taipei Zoo. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 21(1), 47-64.
Shiri, Ardeshir.,
Dehghani Soltani,Mehdi.,Soltani Benavandi, a'azam & Azadi, younes(2017). The impact of customer service on customer loyalty with the mediating role of service quality in the hotel industry. Journal of Tourism and Development, 6(11), 39-62. (in Persian) Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2008). Service-dominant logic: continuing the evolution. Journal of the Academy of marketing Science, 36(1), 1-10.
World Tourism Organization. (2009) Information retrieved April11, 2007
http://www.unwto.org /index.php. Zahedi, Sh. (2003). Challenges of Sustainable Development from an Ecotourism Perspective, Modares Journal, 7(3). (in Persian)
Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J., Gremler, D.D., & Pandit, A. (2000). Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm.
Consumer Behavior Studies Journal
Volume 7, Issue 1
June 2020
Pages 1-21

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