Journal of Business Research xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Business Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres
Exploring the dialogic communication potential of selected African
destinations' place websites
Robert E. Hinsona, Ellis L.C. Osabuteyb,⁎, John Paul Kosibac
aUniversity of Ghana Business School, Accra, Ghana
bUniversity of Roehampton Business School, London, SW15 5SL, UK
cUniversity of Professional Studies, Accra, P. O. Box LG 149, Accra – Ghana
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: As websites have become increasingly popular as a source of information for customers, place websites can play
Dialogic communication a critical role in the choices potential visitors/tourists make about destinations. This study aims at understanding
Place identity how the dialogic communication potential of four African destinations' place websites relates to destination
Place website image from the perspective of potential visitors/tourists. The study employed a quantitative research approach
Destination image for data collection and analyses. Specifically, data was analysed using the structural equation modelling ap-
Visiting intention
proach. The dialogic communication principles of a website serve as an antecedent to forming customer per-
ceptions about a destination. The destination image impression of a country positively relates to visiting in-
tentions; an indication that perceived destination image is another antecedent of visiting intentions. Place
websites have surprisingly not adequately featured in academic and practitioner interrogation with respect to
brand marketing and communications and this paper is one of the attempts to address this research lacuna.
Significant implications for researchers and managers promoting destinations have been highlighted.
1. Introduction positively positioned and differentiated from competitors (Calantone,
Di Benedetto, Hakam, & Bojanic, 1989; Govers, Go, & Kumar, 2007)
Tourists are often faced with uncertainty with regards to the ben- and this can be achieved by developing destination websites that show
efits of visiting a particular destination (Cho, Wang, & Fesenmaier, key elements of identity and image (Foroudi et al., 2018). Offline in-
2002; Fesenmaier & Jeng, 2000). Since tourists are increasingly using formation does not permit the flexibility of dialogic engagement and
the internet as a source information many countries are also beginning relationship building which the web permits (Buhalis & Law, 2008).
to rely on destinations' place websites to plan their communication These expectations require effective website designs to address tra-
activities to project a positive image about themselves to potential vellers' needs (Dickinger & Stangl, 2013; Park & Gretzel, 2007). Studies
tourists through the development of visually pleasing websites char- on websites suggest that the use of dialogic strategies could lead to
acterised by richness of information and ease of navigation (Cyr, 2013) greater interactive communication, resulting in greater engagement
whilst emphasising the natural assets and attractions of the destination. and relationship building between organisations and visitors (e.g.
Although, most websites fail to help achieve these objectives (Hausman Bortree & Seltzer, 2009; Saxton & Waters, 2014). A website with effect
& Siekpe, 2009), countries have not stopped using place websites as a dialogic communication principles could help countries exploit their
way to enhance destination image and influence visiting intentions. tourism potential.
Place websites, therefore, have a strategic marketing communication's Thus, in this paper we focus on two research questions: 1) Do place
role to promote a tourism destination. website dialogic communication principles influence destination image
The burgeoning literature on tourism provides theoretical and impression? 2) Does destination image impression influence visiting
practical arguments supporting the effect of online presence on indirect intentions of individuals? Currently, there are few studies that explore
tourism experiences (Bastida & Huan, 2014). That is to say, these online defensive website strategies and their impact on image impression and
visits are imitations of actual visits that give the potential tourists the visiting intentions (Foroudi et al., 2018), but there is limited studies
opportunity to access and evaluate the destination before the actual that investigate place website's dialogic communication principles' ef-
visit (Cho et al., 2002). Successful destinations or places need to be fect on destination image impression. Additionally, the dialogic
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: rhinson@ug.edu.gh (R.E. Hinson), e.osabutey@mdx.ac.uk (E.L.C. Osabutey).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.03.033
Received 22 February 2017; Received in revised form 20 February 2018; Accepted 27 March 2018
0148-2963/ © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Hinson, R.E., Journal of Business Research (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.03.033
R.E. Hinson et al. Journal of Business Research xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
principles have been employed in various fields to include the insurance more modern and integrated communications strategies.
industry (Hinson, van Zyl, & Agbleze, 2014), the banking industry Pang, Shin, Lew, and Walther (2018) notes that the link between
(Hinson, Madichie, & Ibrahim, 2012), the security industry - police dialogic communication and relationship development and image
(Madichie & Hinson, 2014), as well as non-profit organisations (Kent, building had not been empirically tested. In addition, despite the
Taylor, & White, 2003; Taylor, Kent, & White, 2001). They have also growing research on place website interactivity and its potential effects
been used in examining organisation's social networking services (SNS) on destination image (Foroudi et al., 2018), there is paucity of research
such as Facebook and Twitter (see Cha, Yeo, & Kim, 2014; Kim, Kim, & that examines website dialogic communication principles' influence on
Nam, 2014; Sundstrom & Levenshus, 2017). However, research that both destination branding and visiting intentions. Place websites have
investigates the importance of the dialogic principles in place destina- surprisingly not adequately featured in academic and practitioner in-
tion websites and whether they promote destination image are scarce. terrogation of brand marketing and communications. Ivanov and
The results of this study provide support for using place website's dia- Webster (2013) found that Africa had the highest contribution of
logic communication principles as a platform for optimising the impact tourism to economic growth compared to other regions. Nevertheless,
of website influence on destination image. there is unfulfilled tourism potential (Osei & Gbadamosi, 2011) and
This paper provides implications useful for both practice and theory studies that explore the communication elements are scarce. This study,
alike. From a practice perspective, managers of countries' brands can therefore, employs dialogic communication elements proposed by Kent
use it for insight into how the place website can currently employ and Taylor (1998) to evaluate how dialogic principles could influence
dialogic communication principles in building the image of a country. visiting intentions of African destinations through websites.
The paper also provides a validated model depicting the relationship
between place website, place identity, and behavioural intentions 2.2. Brand image, brand identity, and nation-brand
thereby contributing to the theoretical perspectives of the growing body
of knowledge. Brand image, brand identity, nation-brand, are interrelated con-
To present the practical and research implications, the paper is or- cepts. Arguably, whilst identity depicts the true essence of an entity,
ganised as follows: the next section reviews relevant literature which image symbolises how the entity is perceived. It is not surprising that
evaluates the existing theoretical underpinning to develop hypothesis the gaps between the identity and image could be misconstrued (often
for this study. The paper then discusses the context of study before negatively). Therefore, congruence between brand image and brand
describing the methodology. The succeeding sections present the results identity, invariably, leads to building a strong brand that creates a bond
followed by the discussions. Finally, the paper draws conclusions with between the brand and consumers (Roy & Banerjee, 2007). Conse-
theoretical and practical implications and sets an agenda for future quently, when the communications of brand image and brand identity
research. are not consistent, expected outcomes are not achieved (De Chernatony,
1999; Grönroos, 2007). A brand connects a product or service with a
2. Literature review and hypothesis development unique identity. What makes a brand valuable to marketers is the equity
it engenders among consumers, therefore destination marketers com-
2.1. African destinations' place website monly agree that the general principles of consumer branding can be
applicable in the context of destination marketing (Dioko & So, 2012).
Tourism contributes significantly to the economic growth in Africa For tourism purposes, destination branding identifies and differ-
compared to other regions (Ivanov & Webster, 2013), however, con- entiates and communicates the image of a destination to tourists by
flicting brand image and brand identity (De Chernatony, 1999; highlighting distinctive and attractive features (Blain, Levy, & Ritchie,
Grönroos, 2007) could explain the under exploitation of tourism po- 2005; Hall, 1999). The identity of the location and the brand story
tential in Africa. Potential tourism opportunities in Africa and their reflects the destination's culture and image (Morgan, Pritchard, &
related benefits have consequently not been realised (Adegoju, 2017; Piggott, 2002). The culture, heritage and community history are also
Hinson, Abdul-Hamid, & Osabutey, 2017; Osabutey, Williams, & important components of destination branding because they provide
Debrah, 2014; Osei & Gbadamosi, 2011; Santos & Campo, 2014), partly historical accounts of locations (Runyan & Huddleston, 2006). There-
due to the poor destination branding. In a related study, Pitt, Opoku, fore, whether the destination is national, sub-national or a local area,
Hultman, Abratt, and Spyropoulou (2007) looked at the effectiveness of marketing and promotional activities are geared toward the production
how some African countries have communicated their brand person- of a distinctive and competitive place identity (Dredge & Jenkins,
alities and concluded that whilst some destinations have specific brand 2003); for example, Hershey, Pennsylvania is known as the “Sweetest
personalities they communicate, others fail to do so succinctly. On the Place on Earth”, Arlington, Texas, the “Bowling Capital of the World”,
issues of the effectiveness of communication, Opoku and Hinson (2006) San Diego, California, the “City with Sol”, Canada, “Mounties, moose
found that not all African countries have official websites. Arguably, the and snow-capped mountains” (Deloitte & TIAC, 2007), Egypt, “Pyr-
absence of good official country websites would make the commu- amids”, Emirates Airline, “Brand Ambassador for Dubai” (Balakrishnan,
nication of brand personalities less effective. 2008), France, “number one destination for overseas tourists” (Uzama,
Most countries in Africa need a brand identity especially because 2009) and Western Canada “Okanagan Valley as the wine region” (Getz
most non-Africans often easily assume that Africa is a country rather & Brown, 2006). Accordingly, Foroudi et al. (2018) argued that a place
than a continent (Osei & Gbadamosi, 2011). In addition, adverse events website can shape place identity. Place identity is also a core concept in
such as wars, famine and catastrophes have marred the image of Africa the field of environmental psychology which identities how a place
(Maeda, 2000; Mou, 2014; Osei & Gbadamosi, 2011). Such events in relates to the environment (Gieseking, Mangold, Katz, Low, & Saegert,
parts of Africa have resulted in negative perceptions that lead to erro- 2014).
neous views about the majority of destinations in Africa. Consequently, Since the introduction of the “place-identity” theory, it has been a
trade, investment, and tourism within this region have generally suf- dominant model used in explaining identity in the environmental psy-
fered (Lepp, Gibson, & Lane, 2011). Nonetheless, African nations that chology literature (Hauge, 2007). Place-identity theory does not give
have destination websites are aggressively seeking to counteract such much insight into explaining identity with respect to structure and
perceptions via their websites (Lepp et al., 2011). As Anholt (2007) process (Twigger-Ross, Bonaiuto, & Breakwell, 2003), yet alludes to the
posits, the image of a destination signifies how a government prioritises “schemata” that Neisser (1976) and Piaget (1954) describe as percep-
travel and tourism. It could, therefore, be argued that a destination with tions and ideas that relate to the physical environment. Place identity,
an eye-catching online presence would attract more visitors. Countries therefore, refers to “an individual's strong emotional attachment to
in Africa could exploit their tourism potential better if they adopted particular places or settings” (Proshansky, Fabian, & Kaminoff, 1983, p.
2
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61). Place can be a piece of a person's character; social cooperation and visits significantly influences the number of user responses to each
individual encounters can create a bond between an individual and a other.
specific place (Rubinstein & Parmelee, 1992; Yuksel, Yuksel, & Bilim, Ease of interface use principle postulates that website visitors should
2010). Even though the connection to a specific place often begins after find the sites easy to access and understand. Previous literature shows
at least one visit, it is conceivable that people may have characteristic that perceived ease of use is particularly vital in user satisfaction with
compelling passionate connections to a specific place they are yet to information system (IS) (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh & Davis, 1996).
visit (Changuklee & Allen, 1999). This emotional connection could be Therefore, a user who perceives an IS easy to use, is more likely to be
founded on stories, recollections or suggestions from companions and satisfied with it than one who does not, and would be more likely to use
relatives, or from the media (Yuksel et al., 2010). Place identity is, the IS for dialogic engagement (Calisir & Calisir, 2004).
consequently, an interactive process and although various studies use Conservation of visitors states that websites should include only
the concept of place and identity, a handful encapsulate the relation- “essential links” with marked paths that guarantee visitors return to the
ship between identity and place (Foroudi et al., 2018). Nonetheless, “a site, and should avoid “links” that can put them off. When a website
better understanding of the relationship between place identity and contains useful links potential tourists spend more time navigating and
place brands might advance the theory of destination/place branding” learning about a product or service which eventually leads to dialogic
(Kavaratzis & Hatch, 2013, p. 71). This current research, therefore, communications.
seeks to evaluate the conceptualisation of the relationship between
place identity and place websites.
2.4. Place website and destination image
Kavaratzis and Hatch (2013) argue that place identity should be
thought of as a complex process of identity construction rather than a
High-quality websites are critical because today's travellers reg-
specific outcome. As a result, place identity and place branding are
ularly search for information online and purchase tourism related items
understood as dialogue between stakeholders (Kavaratzis & Hatch,
and services (packaged tours, hotels, airline tickets and restaurant
2013). Markwick and Fill (1997) indicated that corporate identity is
services) (Bieger & Laesser, 2004; Dickinger & Stangl, 2013; Gursoy &
portrayed to stakeholders by using a number of cues. Yet, incon-
McCleary, 2004). In the online shopping context, greater dialogic in-
sistencies in the communication between brand image and brand
teractions between consumers and online vendors have now provided
identity could inhibit the extent to which such objectives could be
the mechanisms for expanding business activities (Hausman & Siekpe,
achieved (De Chernatony, 1999; Grönroos, 2007). Current approaches
2009). Dailey (2004) suggests that online vendors should consciously
fail to encapsulate the various constituencies that embody and com-
design web environments to facilitate dialogic communication in order
municate the plurality of a place through a website. This study is based
to improve shopping experiences. The same argument should apply to
on the premise that a dialogic communication strategy can make use of
destination marketing.
a place website to connect nations/destinations and potential custo-
The image of a destination is important for building and main-
mers/visitors/tourists via a number of cues as a result of deliberately
taining positive relationships with its local and international audiences.
planned messages that portray the identity of a destination.
Hunt (1975) defines destination image as perceptions held by in-
dividuals about an area. Baloglu et al. (2014, p. 1058) also define the
2.3. Theoretical foundations and conceptual model development
concept as the “perception of a person or a group of people regarding a
place”. According to Baloglu et al. (2014) and Sahin and Baloglu
Increasingly, small and large companies are using websites to fa-
(2011), individuals form an image about a destination based on beliefs
cilitate dialogic communication with their stakeholders (Rybalko &
and knowledge about objective attributes. Hence, if a potential visitor/
Seltzer, 2010). In much the same way, dialogic communication re-
tourist, for instance, is exposed to positive information about a desti-
lationships with stakeholders (visitors/tourists) through the use of
nation, he/she would form positive image evaluations of that destina-
strategically designed websites can improve the attractiveness of a
tion and vice versa.
given destination. Kent and Taylor's (1998) five dialogic communica-
Destination image can be viewed as one of the primary aims of a
tion principles can help facilitate positive image formation and re-
tourism destination strategy which influences potential tourists' deci-
lationship building. The framework uses the five features of these
sion-making process. This would then lead to positive reactions which
websites namely, ‘dialogic loop’, ‘usefulness of information’, ‘return
allow destination image to influence the impression of a tourist about a
visits’, ‘ease of interface use’, and ‘conservation of visitors’ to examine
particular destination (Lawson & Baud-Bovy, 1977). Echtner and
place/destination websites.
Ritchie (2003, p. 38) explain that destination images stem from a “flood
The dialogic loop allows visitors to raise queries and more im-
of information” sourced from promotional literature (travel brochures,
portantly, gives an opportunity to respond to questions and concerns. A
posters), the opinions of others (family/friends, travel agents) and the
dialogic loop offers an opportunity of interactivity, engagement, com-
general media (newspapers, magazines, television, books, movies). In
munication and learning (Tanev et al., 2011). It facilitates dialogue
this vein, Rodríguez-Molina, Frías-Jamilena, and Castañeda-García
which helps in the development of trust among participants
(2015) argue that a place website can be one of the essential tools that
(Ballantyne, 2004) and stimulates a negotiated exchange of ideas and
the tourism industry of a country can use to assist tourists by providing
opinions with publics (Kent et al., 2003; Kent & Taylor, 1998).
clear information about the positive destination image to the potential
Usefulness of information, (another principle), provides website
tourists. Thus, the perceptions of a place can be enriched by designing
visitors with contact details of relevant departments and agencies.
new websites or improving existing ones (Foroudi et al., 2018). Al-
Useful information to website visitors helps facilitate dialogue. Website
though Foroudi et al. (2018) conceptualised and provided empirical
visitors are likely to leave a site if the information provided is not
support for the relationship between place websites and image forma-
useful. Accordingly, Cox and Dale (2002) argue that where website
tion processes they did not use dialogic communication principles.
information is insufficient, misleading or irrelevant, customers are more
Their work did not evaluate the changing dynamics of the dialogic
likely to visit a competitor's site.
nature of websites. We argue that place websites with strategic dialogic
Return visits involves the provision of exciting and attractive features
communications, with respect to interactivity and relationship building
on a website to encourage repeat visits for updated information,
effects, can influence the image of a destination. We therefore hy-
changing issues, special forums, new commentaries, on-line question
pothesise that:
and answer sessions, and on-line “experts” to answer questions. More
visits to sites are likely to lead to the engagement in dialogue. Bortree H1. A place website's dialogic communication principle is significantly
and Seltzer (2009) found that on a Facebook advocacy group, return associated with a destination image impression.
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2.5. Place website, destination image and visiting intentions non-southern destinations in Africa.
The association between destination image and behaviours such as
visit, purchase or investment intentions are well established in the lit- 3. Methodology
erature (see Baloglu et al., 2014; Chen & Tsai, 2007; Chi & Qu, 2008;
Lee, 2009). For instance, in a study on the influence of the country-of- 3.1. Measures and pilot testing
origin image, product knowledge and product involvement on con-
sumer purchase decisions, Lin and Chen (2006), found that country-of- The measuring scales were extracted from Kent and Taylor's (1998)
origin image has a significantly positive effect on consumer product seminal publication on building dialogic relationships through the
evaluations and purchase decisions. The study of Baloglu et al. (2014) World Wide Web and modified to suit the place website context. The
on Jamaica's destination image and brand personality also discovered original Kent and Taylor data instrument had five sections, usefulness
that destination image was positively related to visiting intentions, and of site, dialogic loop, ease of interface, return visit and conservation of
potential tourists are likely to visit if they possess a favourable image of visitors. Usefulness of site in the original Kent and Taylor questionnaire
the destination. This assertion is also supported by Court and Lupton had eight items; dialogic loop also had eight items, with the other three
(1997) who found that destination image can positively affect tourists' sections comprising four items. We adapted destination image and
intentions to visit the same destination in the future. However, these visiting intention measures from Hutter, Hautz, Dennhardt, and Füller
studies were not based on image impression formed from an online (2013), Lu, Chang, and Chang (2014), and Davis, Golicic, and
context; given that online presence and websites have transformed Marquardt (2009) because of the related focus of this study.
considerably over the last two decades. To this end, the second and To ensure instrument validity of the measurement scales, pre-tests
third hypotheses for this current study state that: were carried out using the Executive Master of Business Administration
(Marketing) class of 21 working professionals from varied sectors such
H2. A destination image impression is significantly associated with as manufacturing, educational, telecommunications, banking, in-
visiting intentions of individuals. surance, etc. at the University of Ghana Business School. Given that
H3. A destination image impression mediates the relationship between “small samples (5–15 participants) are prone to missing even fairly
the place website dialogic communication principles. common problems” (Perneger, Courvoisier, Hudelson, & Gayet-Ageron,
2015, p. 150), a sample size of 21 for pre-test was deemed appropriate.
They had a cumulative travel experience of over a hundred years, had
travelled to fifteen (15) African countries and were not only technolo-
2.6. Southern and non-southern Africa place website, destination image and gically savvy, but also active on social media (Facebook, Twitter, In-
visiting intentions stagram, Snap Chat, etc.). Based on their suggestions, modifications to
question wording were made to fit the place website context. The final
Generally, regional travellers continue to be Africa's biggest single survey consisted of four parts covering the following issues: dialogic
market in the area of ‘international tourism’ (UNWTO, 2006). Despite communication elements, destination image, visiting intention, and
Africa's progressive increase in regional travel and tourism perfor- demographics. All items were measured on a seven-point Likert Scale,
mance, sub-Saharan Africa remains, on aggregate, the region where ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Table 2 pre-
travel and tourism competitiveness is, relatively, the least developed sents the final measurement items (Fig. 1).
(World Economic Forum, 2017). Southern Africa remains the strongest
sub-region, followed by Eastern Africa and then Western Africa (World
3.2. Sampling and data collection
Economic Forum, 2017). This is not surprising because within southern
Africa, diverse ways to developing tourism joint ventures have emerged
An online questionnaire survey was employed in collecting the data
(Ashley & Jones, 2001).
using LimeSurvey. The use of online survey has become increasingly
In Southern Africa, the countries are fairly large in physical area,
popular because it reduces the costs associated with locating appro-
except three smaller landlocked states: Lesotho, Swaziland, and
priate respondents, increases response rates, and ensures immediate
Malawi. The larger countries—South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique,
availability of the respondents. Simultaneously, its popularity does not
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Angola—all have extensive mineral
mean that the method is inherently valid and reliable due to some
deposits, and these countries have vast mineral resources making them
problems that are associated with this sampling method (e.g., control
one of the wealthiest regions of Africa with the greatest potential for
and representativeness issues) (De Gregorio & Sung, 2010). Despite the
economic growth (University of Minnesota, 2016). In South Africa, “as
difficulties associated with online survey, the current study employed
well as in other Southern African countries, tourism has become an
this method because the objective was to obtain a large sample fea-
important sector of the economy” (Hottola, 2009, p. 217). It could be
turing a variety of demographic and socialisation characteristics from
argued that the growth in Southern Africa's regional and international
across the nation (De Gregorio & Sung, 2010).
tourism could be linked to the favourable place identity and image of
Given that there is untapped tourism potential across Africa, the
the destination. These arguments lead to hypothesis 4:
study sought to not focus exclusively on preforming or non-preforming
H4. H1, H2 and H3 will be significantly different across southern and destinations, but African destinations with place websites. We focused
H1 H2
Place website dialogic Destination image Vising intentions
communication principles
H3
Fig. 1. Place website dialogic communications, destination image and visiting intentions.
4
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Table 1
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) country reports, for March 2017.
Country GDP Direct contribution
South Africa The direct impact of Travel and Tourism to GDP “was ZAR127.9bn (USD8.7bn), 3.0% of the total GDP in 2016 and is forecast to rise by 2.7%, and then by 4.5% pa,
from 2017 to 2027, to ZAR204.4bn (USD13.9bn), 3.8% of total GDP in 2027” (WTTC, 2017a).
Botswana The direct impact of Travel & Tourism to GDP “was BWP6, 278.9mn (USD573.5mn), 3.9% of total GDP in 2016 and is forecast to rise by 8.5% in 2017, and then by
5.1% pa, from 2017 to 2027, to BWP11, 208.0mn (USD1,023.7mn), 4.3% of total GDP in 2027” (WTTC, 2017b).
Cameroon The direct impact of Travel & Tourism to GDP “was XAF682.1bn (USD1.2bn), 3.7% of total GDP in 2016 and is forecast to rise by 5.2% in 2017, and then by 5.3%
pa, from 2017 to 2027, to XAF1,204.5bn (USD2.0bn), 3.8% of total GDP in 2027” (WTTC, 2017c).
Kenya The direct impact of Travel & Tourism to GDP was “KES257.4bn (USD2.5bn), 3.7% of total GDP in 2016 and is forecast to rise by 6.0% in 2017, and then by 6.0%
pa, from 2017 to 2027, to KES487.1bn (USD4.8bn), 3.7% of total GDP in 2027” (WTTC, 2017d).
on official destination place websites of African countries because, de- monitor/study participant's eye movements (Dahal, 2011).
spite the popularity of social media, most countries still redirect po- Data collection occurred between 15th and 30th October 2016. Of
tential tourists to their websites. To reduce limitation related to single the 7641 responses received, 2687 completed the survey. Incomplete
country studies, four African destinations were selected, and this was questionnaires, which may have resulted from respondents' lack of the
deemed adequate as similar studies have used samples from three, four knowledge to answer correctly, created missing data. We could not
or five country destinations (see in Hu et al., 2004; Bastida & Huan, attribute specific trends or reasons for the missing data and the ex-
2014). English speaking countries (because respondents are English amination of sampled incomplete questionnaires did not reveal any
speakers) with place websites where grouped into southern and non- preconceptions. The remaining responses were adequate for statistical
southern destinations, particularly, because we hypothesise a perfor- significance of our study. Consequently, after data cleaning, we re-
mance difference between southern and non-southern destinations. moved unengaging responses and incomplete questionnaires to address
Two destinations were selected from each group using simple random the issue of control (i.e. responses with a standard deviation equal to
sampling without replacement to avoid sample bias. The four African zero). The study therefore used 1827 engaging and fully completed
countries selected had known and established tourist destinations and responses. The majority of the respondents were studying for a
reliable and functional place websites. The selected countries with their Bachelor/Master (70.7%), the average income level was below 250 USD
websites are South Africa (https://www.brandsouthafrica.com); Bots- (83.3%), and the average of the respondents' ages was between 20 and
wana (http://www.bitc.co.bw); Cameroon (http://www. 24 years (51.6%). The female respondents (52.3%) were more than the
brandcameroon.com) and Kenya (http://www.brandkenya.go.ke). male respondents. The demographics used in this study relate to work
Tourism is one of the major industries in each of these four countries by Foroudi et al. (2018) where a high percentage of respondents were
(BBC, 2016; One World Nations Online, 2016) and it directly con- students and majority were female. In addition, Ye, Barreda, Okumus,
tributes to the gross domestic product (GDP) of these countries (see and Nusair (2017) also, similarly, used data with majority (51.7%) fe-
Table 1). As a result of the importance of the sector in the selected male respondents. Also 40% of their study's respondents had ages be-
countries, it would seem logical that country brand promotions agen- tween 26 and 35 years with 43.3% being 25 years or younger. In ad-
cies would have dialogic communication websites to encourage sub- dition, most of the respondents were bachelor's degree holders.
sequent visits.
The links to the questionnaire for each destination and corre- 3.3. Common method bias
sponding place websites were sent to potential visitors/tourists to
gather information on perceptions in relation to the influence of place Common method variance may exist due to the use of a single
websites on destination image and future visiting intention. Target re- survey method. Concerns of common method variance were examined
spondents include 100 working and part-time postgraduate students in using Harman's one-test factor for this study (Podsakoff, MacKenzie,
the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003). This is to assess whether majority of the var-
Ghana Business School (UGBS) comprising of Master of Philosophy, iance could be accounted for by one general factor. The results of the
Executive Master of Business Administration, Master of Business analysis revealed three factors with eigenvalues > 1 which explained
Administration and Master of Arts in Marketing Strategy. The 55.878% of the total variance. The first factor accounted for 39.287%
University of Ghana, the premier university, is noted for attracting ju- (< 50%) of the variance which did not account for the majority of the
nior and senior managers for top-up undergraduate and postgraduate variance. In conclusion, the data for the study did not suffer from
studies which allowed the study to capture a considerable number of common method bias (see in Podsakoff et al., 2003).
technologically savvy individuals with the requisite travel and tourism
exposure. The online questionnaire was also sent to 1114 UGBS and 100
Political Science undergraduate students. The lead collaborator also put 4. Data analysis and results
the link on his Facebook page, potentially exposing the questionnaire to
5000 Facebook contacts. To reduce drawbacks of online surveys, For each destination, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was first
questionnaires were administered to di erent groups of individuals (i.e. fit for the model using the Analysis of Moments of Structures (AMOS)ff
undergraduates, postgraduates, Facebook contacts) to eliminate the software package (Version 22) as well as maximum likelihood estima-
issue of representativeness. tion procedure. The dialogic communication principle was con-
Respondents were required to spend a minimum of 120 s sur ng a ceptualised as a higher order construct in the research model. All fourfi
destination's website before lling the questionnaire. The minimum samples obtained acceptable model fits: Botswana: χ
2/df= 1.353,
fi
time provided was deemed adequate as Lindgaard, Fernandes, Dudek, CFI= 0.979, SRMR=0.040, RMSER=0.030 and PClose 1.000;2
and Brown (2006) found that web site impressions are created within Cameroon: χ /df= 1.807, CFI= 0.955, SRMR=0.048,2
50 s of contact. Moreover, Missouri University of Science and Tech- RMSER=0.048 and PClose 0.663; Kenya: χ /df= 1.801, CFI= 0.963,
nology in a study indicated that it took online visitors less than two- SRMR=0.045, RMSER=0.045 and PClose 0.822; and South Africa:2
tenths of a second to form a rst opinion of a brand once they perused χ /df= 1.705, CFI= 0.968, SRMR=0.038, RMSER=0.032 andfi
the organisation's website and another 2.6 s to reinforce that PClose 1.000. Subsequently, the data was grouped in order to assessfirst im-
pression, using eye-tracking software and an infrared camera to reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity test with
factor loadings as presented in the Tables 2 and 3.
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R.E. Hinson et al. Journal of Business Research xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Table 2 reliability and average variance extracted for all latent variables (see
Scale items and loadings. Table 3). The reliability measures in this study were above the accep-
Construct Loadings T-values table satisfactory levels (Cronbach's alphas (CA) > 0.70, composite
reliability (CR) > 0.70 and average variance extracted > 0.50) as
Dialogic elements (2nd order) recommended by Fornell and Larcker (1981), and Bagozzi and Yi
Usefulness of information 0.803 (1988).
Dialogic loop 0.857 20.435
Ease of interface use 0.785 17.415 With the acceptable measurement model established, this study
Return visits 0.816 17.888 proceeded to estimate the structural model method, however, the da-
Conservation of visitors 0.828 18.971 taset was separated into two groups to create a sample that assesses and
Usefulness of the site differentiates Southern Africa's place websites (Botswana and South
The country's brand identity is consistently presented 0.695 Africa) from non-southern Africa's place websites (Cameroon and
throughout the website Kenya). All two samples obtained acceptable model fits: Southern part
The country's site weaves a story about its brand's history, 0.688 23.394 of Africa: χ2/df= 1.931, CFI= 0.978, SRMR=0.032, RMSER=0.029
heritage, character or attitude 2
The country communicates its key brand values on the 0.65 22.477 and PClose 1.000; Non-southern part of Africa: χ /df= 2.121,
website CFI= 0.976, SRMR=0.036, RMSER=0.039 and PClose 0.999.
Dialogic loop
The country's website creates an engaging, and interactive 0.718 4.2. Structural model estimation and findings
consumer experience
The country's site creates a sense of community and 0.732 26.536 With the acceptable measurement model established, the study
provides ample opportunities for community members proceeded to estimate the multi-group structural model for the southern
to interact with each other over time
The country's site has chat rooms 0.653 24.179 and non-southern place websites. The same set of fit indices used in
assessing the CFA was employed to examine the fit of the structural
Ease of interface 2
The country's website map is easy to nd and use 0.603 model - χ /df= 1.937, CFI= 0.999, SRMR=0.014, RMSER=0.023fi
The search engine on the website is effective 0.687 20.631 and PClose 0.998. A step by step process was used to test the proposed
The website's navigation is intuitive and consistent 0.69 20.678 hypotheses. The first stage of the analysis was to examine the control
Return visit variables namely, gender, age and travel experience which is contained
The country's site has directories with hypertext links to 0.639 in model 1. The second stage is the introduction of the direct effect and
specific pages on other sites the third stage is the inclusion of the mediating variable representing
The website is personalized to suit visitors' preferences 0.715 20.584 model 2 and model 3 respectively.
(wallpaper, first page viewed, customized content,
etc.) Among the three models examined, model 3 has the highest R
2
value, therefore, it was used in interpreting the hypotheses. Although
Conservation of visitors
I believe the website makes it easier for me to transact 0.646 not hypothesised for, we examined the relationship between place
business with the country website and visiting intention. The result did not support the fact that
I believe the website encourages me to bookmark the site. 0.806 25.914 place website significantly influences visiting intentions of southern
I believe the website encourages me to sign up for a 0.706 24.065 (β=−0.06, p < 0.09) and non-southern (β=−0.03, p < 0.49)
newsletter or consistent streams of information from destinations. The analysis however shows that destination websites'
the country.
dialogic communication principles relate significantly to destination
Destination image image impressions for both the southern destinations (H1: β=0.87,
In comparison to other countries, this country seems to 0.715
have higher service quality standards p < 0.00) and non-southern destinations (H1: β=0.91, p < 0.00),
This country has a rich history 0.704 26.323 indicating that online dialogic communication is an important ante-
A visitor (I) can reliably predict what to expect if they visit 0.727 27.015 cedent of destination image impression, providing support for H1. The
this country. proportions of variance of the endogenous variables accounted for by
Visiting intention the hypothesised influences were as follows: R2 southern countries destination
I plan to take a vacation to this country 0.829 2
image= 0.763 and R non-southern countries destination image= 0.840. The
I intended to visit this country in the future 0.865 41.584
findings also provide support for H2 as the study revealed that desti-
I am willing to recommend others to visit this country 0.826 39.634
nation image impression also had a strong positive effect on visiting
intentions for both the southern destinations (H2: β=0.79, p < 0.00)
Table 3 and non-southern destinations (H2: β=0.85, p < 0.00). In support of
Construct intercorrelations and reliabilities. H3, results show that the significant positive relationship between the
dialogic communication principles and visiting intention is fully
Destination image Dialogic Visiting intention
mediated by destination image impression (β=0.78, p < 0.00)
Destination image 0.821 (Table 4).
Dialogic 0.635 0.606 We examined a series of nested models against our baseline model
Visiting intention 0.604 0.552 0.896 through sequential chi-square tests with the parameter constraints of
CA 0.888 0.758 0.876
CR 0.759 0.910 0.878 interest in this study, following the method suggested by Anderson and
AVE 0.512 0.669 0.706 Gerbing (1988). As shown in Table 5, the chi-square difference between
Southern African destinations and non-Southern African destination
Note: On the diagonal in bold is the square root of AVEs; the correlations are was significant (Δχ2= 17.592, Δd.f. = 6, p < 0.007). Since the
off-diagonal. For discriminant validity, diagonal elements should be greater southern and non-southern models were statistically significantly dif-
than off-diagonal elements. ferent, we check the path difference using a z-score. The findings of the
z-score show that there are differences between the 2 groups in terms of
4.1. Validity and reliability of final measurement model the relationship between the dialogic communication principles and
destination image (2.094**) and also in terms of relationship between
The intercorrelations among the latent constructs are included in destination image and visiting intentions (−3.249***). This is an in-
Table 3. Fornell and Larcker's (1981) tests for discriminant validity dication that the dialogic communication principles differ across place
were all found to be acceptable with results reported for composite websites and this in turn, affects destination image impression and
6
R.E. Hinson et al. Journal of Business Research xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Table 4
Findings on hypotheses testing.
Independent variables Dependent variable: visiting intentions
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Southern Non-southern Southern Non-southern Southern Non-southern
Control paths
Gender 0.019 0.062 0.033 −0.007 0.034 −0.006
(0.536) (0.096) (0.139) (0.757) (0.068) (0.769)
Age 0.101 0.165 0.023 −0.017 0.005 0.002
(0.002) (0.055) (0.285) (0.508) (0.815) (0.931)
Travel experience −0.025 −0.023 −0.013 −0.060 0.003 −0.026
(0.440) (0.570) (0.570) (0.017) (0.877) (0.206)
Dialogic communication 0.679*** 0.777***
Mediator
Destination image 0.696 0.782
(0.001) (0.001)
R2 0.013 0.008 0.464 0.606 0.636 0.840
ΔR2 0.451 0.598 0.172 0.234
Note: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
Table 5 strategic tools for building a destination image. Our study advances
Nested model comparisons. Kavaratzis and Hatch's (2013) identity-based approach to place
Model DF CMIN P NFI IFI RFI TLI branding theory which states that place branding is best understood as
Delta-1 Delta-2 rho-1 rho2 a dialogue. Thus, through dialogic communication features of a place
website, a destination's identity can be understood. This study validates
Structural weights 6 17.592 0.007 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 the role of website dialogic components as an antecedent of destination
image. The study, therefore, contributes to the growing body of
knowledge on place website, place identity, and behavioural intentions
visiting intentions in different ways. in several ways by testing the mediating effect of perceptions (image
destination) proposed in the model - the relationship between dialogue
5. Discussions and conclusions and behaviours. The mediating role of perceptions on a theoretical
model incorporating dialogic communication of place website and be-
The study investigated how the nature and quality of African place haviours have been under researched, and this study paves the way for
websites could facilitate destination image formation and consequently related future studies.
the intention to visit. The research results confirm that dialogic com- Our findings have practical implications for governments and their
munication principles are essential for communicating destination institutions responsible for the promotion of image, tourism and foreign
image which leads to an increasing propensity to visit a destination. investments. Practically, to portray a good national image, government
Findings from this study suggest that dialogic communication principles agencies and other relevant stakeholders must ensure place websites
are critical for communicating place identity. Since congruence be- have inbuilt systems that encourage interactivity, timely communica-
tween brand image and brand identity leads to developing strong tion and contain relevant information that is easily accessible.
brands (Roy & Banerjee, 2007), dialogic communication through place Organisations need to ensure that dialogic communication principles
websites ensures the consistency between identity and image and are incorporated in the development of websites with specialised and
therefore destination branding. As ascertained in the literature, a better dedicated employees to provide timely customer and technical services.
understanding of the relationship between place identity and place Therefore, there is the need for a shift from websites as mere in-
brands might advance the theory of destination/place branding formation portals to use as a strategic means of communication with
(Kavaratzis & Hatch, 2013). Our findings emphasise the importance of stakeholders aimed at image formation. This follows the suggestion by
the quality and nature of websites in connecting identity, image and Kinsey and Chung (2013) that to build and manage national image,
brand. Dialogic communications principles, therefore, ensures sustain- governments need to invest resources in understanding perceptions of
able image formation. Dialogic elements such as dialogic loop, useful- international audiences through effective communication strategies.
ness of information, return visits, ease of interface and conservation of More resources are required to build websites that have the ability to
visitors would go a long way to help build and manage a nation's image. interact with stakeholders. This would, serendipitously, create more
Given the rather poor image of Africa created in the mainstream media believable impressions about nations if previous foreign visitors can
and other related literature (Adegoju, 2017; Browning & de Oliveira, communicate their impressions on well-developed websites. Indeed, to
2016; Osei & Gbadamosi, 2011), applying the dialogic communication be able to manage impressions, there should be an avenue of dis-
principles to a place website would help build the image of African covering the impressions held by international audiences. Developing
destinations. Since the internet broadens the geographical scope of countries such as those in Africa need to ensure that they follow the
communications, it gives developing countries such as those in Africa, advice of Adegoju (2017) to ‘tell their own story’, given that there are
the opportunity to manage impressions. The findings of this study make numerous potential tourist attractions in Africa which remain un-
theoretical contributions with significant implications for research, known. In addition, such activities could go a long way to change ne-
practice and society. gative stereotypes about the African continent.
From a theoretical perspective, this was one of the first studies to Our study has research implications. More research needs to be
use the dialogic communication principles to confirm the relationship done on perceptions of international audiences on Africa in general
between place website and destination image. As noted in the litera- with particular emphasis on how websites could support impression
ture, although the components of online dialogic communications have management. The use of online survey and sampling, as discussed in the
received considerable attention, they have seldom been examined as
7
R.E. Hinson et al. Journal of Business Research xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Methodology section, present limitations which suggests that future Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 12(6), 373–385.
studies could use social media sites to target a wider and more varied Dahal, S. (2011). Eyes don't lie: Understanding users' first impressions on website design using
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