Destination Image Components and Word-of-Mouth Intentions in Urban Tourism: A Multigroup Approach

The purpose of this study was to explore differences among three distinct groups, namely local residents, past tourists, and prospective tourists, in their perceptions of cognitive, affective, and overall image of a city destination and their future behavior. Analysis of data generally confirmed previously established structural relationships of cognitive and affective image, overall destination image, and word-of-mouth intentions. However, differences were identified among the three groups in terms of their destination image perceptions and their behavioral intentions to engage in word-of-mouth communications. Specifically, residents who engaged in word-of-mouth were primarily influenced by the cognitive and affective destination image components, while tourists relied on overall image perceptions.