Attitudinal and Behavioural Loyalty: Zimbabwe Tourism Brand Performance Ascendancy

Abstract

The study investigated the most common sources of brand loyalty in Zimbabwe’s tourism destination. This was based on two dominant sources of brand loyalty which are attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. The main reason for the study was that Zimbabwe’s tourism brand is underperforming due to various socio-economic and political factors such that authorities should know on the most prevailing source of brand loyalty. This helps in formulating strategies that turn either attitudinal or behavioural loyalty to better Zimbabwe tourism brand performance. The study used a sequential mixed methods research design which is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In-depth interviews were carried out with various experts from the tourism industry in order to come up with the common sources of tourist loyalty in Zimbabwe. The identified variables were personal experience, general perception, media propaganda, word of mouth reference and speculations. These variables were then investigated as sources of brand loyalty through survey questionnaires that were distributed in the Zimbabwe tourism accommodation sector and resorts. The results showed that the most effective source of brand loyalty is media propaganda followed by word of mouth reference then speculation, personal experience and general perception. The most common sources have been classified as attitudinal effects and that study recommended effective media publicity management, sponsored familarisation tours and tourism brand showcasing partnerships at both regional and international levels.