Involvement and brand equity: a conceptual model for Muslim tourists

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a model in which the relationship between Muslims’ involvement with traveling to Islamic destinations and Islamic destination brand equity is investigated. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the existing theoretical and empirical research on involvement and brand equity in tourism marketing and the literature on Muslim tourists’ needs and culture, a conceptual model for Muslim tourists is developed. The model investigates the relationships between Muslims’ psychological motivations for traveling to Islamic destinations and the evaluation of destination Islamic brand. Findings – The study shows that the more Muslims are involved in traveling to Islamic destinations, the more likely they evaluate the key dimensions of destination Islamic brand. This is demonstrated by the influence of Muslims’ involvement on their awareness of Islamic destinations, their image of the Islamic destination attributes, the perceived quality of Islamic offerings, the perceived Islamic value and their loyalty toward Islamic destinations. Practical implications – The study evaluates the Islamic brand equity in the context of Islamic tourism destinations and in relation to Muslims’ interests in traveling to Islamic countries. The study contributes to better understand the Islamic destinations and how to maximize the benefits of their Islamic attributes. It is suggested that Islamic attributes should be highlighted more for Muslim tourists interested in traveling to Islamic countries. Investigating the concepts analyzed will help tourism destinations to integrate marketing and promotional campaigns and build a more powerful Islamic brand in Muslim markets. Originality/value – The relationship between involvement and brand equity has not been yet explored adequately, especially in the context of Islamic branding. This study adds to the previous studies in which the link between personal involvement with a specific destination and destination brand equity was explored. The role of Islamic values in this relationship is highlighted. The study contributes to destination branding studies by being one of the primary works, which applies the concept of brand equity to Islamic destinations.

Perceived Inconveniences and Muslim Travelers’ Loyalty to Non-Muslim Destinations

“…In hospitality studies, Han and Yoon [12] also empirically addressed that desire toward the behavior leads to customers' increased intention to repurchase the product, which is a significant loyalty constituent. However, Muslim tourists' future intention was discussed in some earlier literatures, while their desire to visit non-Muslim destination has still not widely been discovered [1][2][3]. Given this evidence, it can be posited that Muslim travelers' strong desire to travel to a destination is likely to result in loyalty enhancement for a destination.…”

“…Several studies have deeply described such principles of Islam to be practiced by Muslims as their daily guides and instructions extracted from Islamic sources (i.e., Holy Qur'an), classified in two main terms: halal (permitted) and haram (prohibited). For example, Islamic teachings prohibiting the consumption of haram foods (e.g., pork), gambling activities, drinking or selling alcoholic beverages, having any physical contact (i.e., shaking hands) with individuals of the opposite sex, dressing inadequately, sharing lodgings and private rooms by unmarried couples, showing affection in public, adultery, and breaking fast during the holy month of Ramadan daylight (Sharia principles) are recognized to evaluate the value of hospitality and tourism products/services for international Muslim tourists [1][2][3][4]. In a similar vein, Islamic teachings instruct consuming only halal meals, which include a wide range of foods and beverages (i.e., fruits, vegetables, seafood, grains, beans, etc.)…”

“…These practices strongly explain the important interests and needs of Muslim markets globally, which are required to be considered by tourism destination developers and policy makers. Since Muslim travelers' decisions and behaviors are based on these principles (Sharia principles) [3], providing tourism environments by minimizing the Muslim unfriendly aspects of any tourism product is fundamental to boost their favorable experiences in any destination [2,5].…”

“…The availability of these Islamic attributes is part of Muslim tourists' strong traveling needs, which directly and indirectly attract their attention to visiting such developed destinations [2,5]. Hence, Islamic attributes are regarded to be major motivators of Muslim tourists' selection of a tourist destination [3]. If such Islamic attributes are not available, Muslim travelers often experience and perceive inconveniences while traveling to the tourist destination [8,9].…”

Religious tourism – a review of the literature

“…During religious tourism experiences, even non-religious things can take on a religious aspect (Finney and Orwig, 2008). Shafaei and Mohamed (2015) explore the personal relevance of Muslims to the Islamic destination itself with the assumption that their travel motivation will be different for such destinations as opposed to other types of travel, almost linking their travel behaviour to their "identity" as a Muslim. Religious reasons may also deter some people from tourism (Alejziak, 2013;Magableh and Kharabsheh, 2013).…”