Measuring tourist perceptions of South Africa's tourism brand equity and identity

Abstract

Destinations are constantly competing for the valuable time and money of tourists in a competitive international arena. Consequently, destinations have turned to destination branding. Brand equity and brand identity play a pivotal role in the creation of strong, distinctive destination brands. Measuring tourist perceptions of South Africa’s tourism brand equity and identity, is one of a few studies addressing the concepts of brand equity and identity. The study offers in-depth analyses of South Africa’s brand equity and identity as a tourism destination, based on the perceptions of international tourists who have previously visited the country. This study is unique since it is the first to measure South Africa’s tourism brand equity by means of brand awareness, loyalty, association, perceived quality and affinity. It is also the first to measure the country’s tourism brand identity by means of the current tourism logo and slogan. A thorough research process was followed to ensure that the goal of the study was achieved. The research followed a descriptive and causal design, based on the quantitative research method. Data was collected by means of an online survey, which was created on Google Forms and distributed via social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. COVID-19 restrictions prevented the physical distribution of questionnaires as originally planned. A total of 386 usable responses were recorded. The data was captured in Microsoft Excel and analysed with SPSS. The descriptive results revealed that the respondents were mainly professionally employed females, originating from the UK, with an average age of 51 years. They obtain travel news about South Africa through electronic media. They visited South Africa recently for the first time for leisure purposes, where they preferred to travel by air and stay in lodge accommodation. They had overall favourable perceptions regarding the country’s brand equity; but less favourable perceptions regarding the country’s brand identity. The exploratory and inferential results revealed that older respondents had more positive perceptions of South Africa’s brand equity and identity. Higher-educated respondents evaluated the country’s brand equity and identity more critically. Those who obtain travel news about South Africa from electronic and printed media, have positive perceptions of the country’s brand equity. Respondents who obtain travel news about South Africa from friends and family; prefer to stay with friends and family during their visit; and those who travelled to SA to visit friends and family, held less positive perceptions of the country’s brand equity. International tourists that visit South Africa for nature and adventure reasons, perceive the country’s brand equity favourably. Those who visit for leisure purposes, hold positive perceptions of the country’s brand identity. The country’s brand equity and identity are interrelated, where the South African tourism logo makes the strongest contribution to the country’s brand equity.