Dialogic features of brand South Africa’s website and tourists’ intentions to visit

Abstract

Purpose Despite the recognisable importance of nation brand websites, they have seemingly not been the focus of dialogic communication interrogations of marketing and communications scholars. This paper is one of the initial attempts to address such research lacuna. The paper aims to examine the dialogic potential of the Brand South Africa website and its effect on the country’s image, as well as the impact of this image on consumers’ (tourists) visiting intentions. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the dialogic communication and impression management theories, the authors applied partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyse data solicited from 672 participants via an electronic survey. Findings This paper demonstrates that the dialogic communication principles of the Brand South Africa website have positive influences on the image impression of South Africa. Country image impression was also found to have a significant effect on intentions to visit. Practical implications This study is of potential benefit to researchers, government agencies and those responsible for nation branding. Originality/value This study contributes to marketing and tourism literatures, by drawing on theories of dialogic communication principles and impression management, to fill the gap regarding the effect of nation brand websites on country image impression and visiting intention of consumers (tourists).

Communication on the university library websites and students’ scientific information-seeking during the Covid-19 outbreak: A comparison of four Asian countries

“…Along with technological developments, communication to build relationships with the public is also done through websites, so dialogic communication principles should be attached to the website's content as well (Kent and Taylor, 1998;Oliveira and Huertas, 2014;Pang et al 2018). Other research revealed that the more an organisation incorporates dialogic principles through its website, the more likely it can foster an interactive relationship with the public (Hinson, et al 2019).…”

“…Several studies in various types of organizations have proven that websites could potentially establish dialogic communication because of their ability to combine one-way mass communication and two-way interpersonal communication (Hinson et al 2019;Ingenhoff and Koelling, 2010;Kent and Taylor, 1998). At least, this dialogic communication can cover the absence of face-to-face communication due to the policy of maintaining social distancing during a pandemic.…”