WHAT DETERMINES DESTINATION LOYALTY? REVISITING THE INVESTMENT MODEL IN A DESTINATION CONTEXT

Building on Li and Petrick's earlier work, this study applies the investment model to a destination context. Specifically, this study proposes that tourist satisfaction, perceived investment in a destination, and perceived quality of alternatives can be used to explain tourist loyalty to a destination. An alternative approach that indirectly measures quality of alternatives is proposed and compared against the direct approach used by other researchers. The proposed relationships were tested through an online panel, surveying American travelers on their perceptions of a southeastern US state as a vacation destination. Results provide empirical evidence to (i) support the use of an investment model as a theoretical foundation to explain destination loyalty and (ii) show that the indirect measure of quality of alternatives is more robust than the direct measure employed in this study. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.