Investigating and analyzing the brand equity of rural tourism: Case study of Torghabe and Shandiz villages

Rafiei Darani, Hadi

doi:10.30490/rvt.2023.360822.1502

Investigating and analyzing the brand equity of rural tourism: Case study of Torghabe and Shandiz villages

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Hadi Rafiei Darani

Assistant Professor of Tourism Economic Department, Institute of Tourism Research at ACECR (Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research) Khorasan Razavi &ndash; h.rafiei@acecr.ac.ir

10.30490/rvt.2023.360822.1502

Abstract

Brand equity as a tool is important in examining and analyzing the position of the brand and predicting its performance in the future. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the brand equity of rural tourism in Torghabe and Shandiz villages. The research tool is a questionnaire that was obtained from 403 tourists through face-to-face interviews. Statistical analysis and information were analyzed through structural equations.
The results showed that the brand equity of rural tourism brands is affected by various indicators such as brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and the image of the rural tourism brand, and the mentioned indicators have a positive and significant effect (as direct and indirect) on the brand equity of rural tourism, and the effectiveness of the mentioned indicators is respectively: 0.616, 0.282, 0.106 and 0.611. Therefore, two indicators of brand awareness and image of the brand play a role as two main indicators affecting the brand equity. Also, the results show that brand awareness has a significant effect on perceived quality (coefficient value: 0.225) and brand equity (coefficient value: 0.084), and both coefficient values are significant. According to the results, the following suggestions were presented: maintaining and improving the environmental functions of tourism villages, preserving the rural characteristics of areas, preventing the urbanization of tourist villages, periodically evaluating the image of tourists from the villages and implementing a comprehensive program in connection with the community to improve the quality level of tourism services.

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