EFFECTS OF DESTINATION STRENGTHS AND TRAVEL MOTIVATION ON TOURIST BEHAVIORS

Abstract

The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory is adopted to develop a destination marketing strategy that explains how tourists form destination image and travel willingness by receiving stimulation from a destination. The factors of destination strengths, tourists’ feelings and future travel willingness are discussed based on questionnaire surveys with convenient sampling. A total of 217 valid responses were obtained. Structure equation models were analyzed for testing all hypotheses. The results verify the S-O-R relations and confirm the mediating roles of the organism factors (i.e., pleasure and destination image). In addition, travel motivations (i.e., novelty-seeking and escape) are also examined as moderating factors. The results reveal that novelty-seeking moderates the relationship between destination uniqueness and tourists’ pleasure. Furthermore, escape moderates the relationship between destination attractiveness and tourists’ pleasure.