Exploring the impacts of national image,service quality,and perceived value on international tourist behaviors: A Nepali case

Abstract

The dominant paradigm on tourist behaviors depicts a sequential relationship among image, quality, satisfaction, and post-purchase behavior while the alternative view argues that consumer behaviors are better understood through perceived value. Using Nepal as a case, we tested a synthetic model of tourist behaviors and applied the Fombrun-RI Country Reputation Index (CRI) that was developed in the field of nation branding to measure destination image, an elusive concept in tourism literature since long. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) shows that the data largely supported the model, and national image has impacts on tourist behaviors. However, service quality is not a significant predictor of tourist behaviors. This corroborates the argument that perceived value is a better way to analyze tourist behaviors. The research has practical implications for nation branding programs in the less-developed nations.

Keywords

CRI national image Nepal perceived value service quality SEM tourism

Introduction

Literature on tourist behaviors has developed a dominant paradigm that depicts a sequential relationship among a number of key variables, namely image, quality, satisfaction, and post-purchase behavior (Bigne et al., 2001). An alternative view to the service quality and satisfaction-centered model argues that consumer behaviors are better understood through perceived value (Gallarza and Saura, 2006). There are also attempts to synthesize the two approaches by including destination image and perceived value into the “quality–satisfaction–behavioral intention” paradigm (Chen and Tsai, 2007). These competing views on tourist behaviors have policy implications, in particular, for some less-developed nations whose economy heavily relies on tourism. As Chen and Tsai (2007: 1115) noted, “Tourism has been seen as the driving force for regional development. Successful tourism can increase destination’s tourist receipts, income, employment and government revenues. How to attract the tourists to revisit and/or recommend the destination to others is crucial for the success of destination tourism development.”

In the literature of international tourism, less-developed nations have received little attention. Pike (2002) reviewed 142 destination image papers published between 1973–2000, and concluded that most of the studies focused on the developed nations. Five years later, studies continued to focus more on developed countries of Europe, Asia, and North America (Pike, 2007). A more recent metanalysis (Li et al., 2015) of destination image literature from 1999–2011 found no studies on less-developed countries.

In the past decade, the world economic and political landscape has significantly changed. Some developing countries, such as China, have made significant progress in economic growth. As a result, they have seen increased interest in country image studies. Overall, however, the less-developed nations continue to be marginalized in the literature. Lu et al. (2016) reviewed 554 articles on country image published in academic journals between 1978–2013. They found that the top countries for data collection were USA (39 percent), Canada (7 percent), and Australia (7 percent). Between 2004–2013, the UK and China became more popular. The five most frequently studied countries were USA, Japan, Mexico, the UK, and Italy. Rapidly developing countries in the Far East grew in prominence, while African countries and other developing economies, as well as countries in the Middle East, were rarely evaluated. Such a lacuna is inconsistent with the significant development needs of the less-developed nations, for which tourism has become an important source of income and a tool to reduce poverty and the rich-poor gap (Ball, 2009; Hugo and Nyaupane, 2016). As such, more studies are needed to explore how to effectively promote international tourism in less-developed nations.

In addition to the issue of limited attention to less-developed nations, destination image has long been an elusive concept in tourism research. In the 1990s, some studies concluded that researchers had not yet been successful in operationalizing destination image (Echtner and Ritchie, 1993). The concept is widely used in the empirical context; but it is loosely defined, and it lacks a solid conceptual structure (Beerli and Martin, 2004). We argue that at least for international tourism, the issue can be addressed by the public diplomacy literature that focuses on national image. In recent years, the world has seen significant growth in the practice and research of public diplomacy. Nations have actively invested in public diplomacy programs, campaigns, and personnel trainings. One of the goals of public diplomacy is to cultivate national images and promote national brands (Kunczik, 2016; Manheim, 1994), and a growing body of literature has emerged around this topic.¹ Researchers have developed a number of conceptualizations of national image and instruments to measure it, such as Anholt-GFK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI) (Anholt, 2006) and the Fombrun-RI Country Reputation Index (CRI) (Passow et al., 2005). Such conceptualizations and instruments have been widely used in public diplomacy studies (Fullerton and Kendrick, 2017; Kang and Yang, 2010; Kiambi and Shafer, 2018; Yang et al., 2008). They may as well be applied to the research in international tourism.

In the current study, using Nepal as a case, we attempt to achieve the following goals: 1. to test the validity of a synthesized model of tourist behavior that encompasses national image, service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in the context of a less-developed nation; and 2. to examine the applicability of the conceptualization and measuring instruments of the Fombrun-RI Country Reputation Index (CRI) to the model of tourist behaviors. The overall question that guides the research is: In the context of a less-developed nation, do image, service quality and perceived value significantly predict international tourists’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions? Conceptually, the research contributes to testing the models of tourist behaviors and to bridging the literature on international tourism marketing and public diplomacy. Practically, it may contribute to the less-developed nations’ tourism marketing programs so that they can turn international tourists into image ambassadors, thereby, hopefully, helping to attract more tourists to the country. This paper is structured as follows: First, we introduce the theoretical framework and review the relevant literature. Next, we introduce the research method, presenting Nepal, a country that has long captured the tourist imagination, as a case study. We then present the findings. Finally, results are discussed, and some policy recommendations are made.

Theoretical framework and literature review

Two competing models toward tourist behaviors

Past literature shows that there exist at least two competing models on tourist behaviors. One is the service quality-centered model; the other one is the perceived value-centered model. The service quality-centered model has established this sequence regarding tourist behaviors: image ==> quality ==> satisfaction==> post-purchase behavior. However, some scholars have cautioned about the last link (Bigne et al., 2001). In this sequence, image is a direct antecedent of perceived quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention (Bigne et al., 2001) and has a direct and indirect relationship with future behavior (Assaker et al., 2011). It also has a significant effect on tourist loyalty (Zhang et al., 2014).

The service quality-centered model has been challenged by the perceived value-centered model. In their comprehensive study on value dimensions, perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty, Gallarza and Saura (2006) noted that although service quality and satisfaction have been the dominating constructs since the earliest studies of tourism marketing, in recent years, it has been recognized that consumer behavior is best understood when analyzed in terms of perceived value. In their conceptual model, service quality is one dimension of the overall tourism value instead of being an independent construct in the chain. Based on many earlier studies, Gallarza and Saura (2006) argued that “indeed, both for marketing practitioners and researchers, the construct of perceived value has been identified as one of the more important measures” (p. 437). It is necessary to note that Gallarza and Saura (2006) did not consider image in their conceptual model. They only examined the relationship between perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty. This likely has to do with the fact that destination image has long been an elusive concept in the literature of tourism marketing, as Beerli and Martin (2004) observed.

As an attempt to synthesize the two theoretical approaches, Chen and Tsai (2007) proposed an integrated tourist behavior model by including destination image and perceived value into the “quality–satisfaction–behavioral intentions” paradigm and the model examined the structural relationships between all variables. They concluded that the path “destination image–trip quality–perceived value–satisfaction–behavioral intentions” appears evident in their study. Chen and Tsai (2007: 1115) defined tourist behavior as “an aggregate term, which includes pre-visit’s decision-making, on-site experience, experience evaluations and post-visit’s behavioral intentions and behaviors.” Tourist behaviors “include the choice of a destination to visit and subsequent evaluations and future behavioral intention. The subsequent evaluations include the travel experience or perceived trip quality during the stay, perceived value and overall satisfaction while the future behavioral intentions include the intention to revisit and the willingness to recommend.”

Proposed model of national image and tourist behaviors

Based on the conceptual model developed by Chen and Tsai (2007) and the conceptualization of national image by the CRI, we proposed the following model to represent the research hypotheses and guide data analysis: national image ==> service quality ==> perceived value ==> satisfaction ==> loyalty (see Figure 1). The major difference between the current model and the models it draws upon lies in two aspects. First, Gallarza and Saura’s (2006) value-centered model does not include image; the proposed model starts with the image, thus encompassing the entire chain from image to loyalty. Second, the proposed model uses the CRI’s conceptualization and measuring instruments of national image instead of the destination image that is developed in the tourism literature, such as in the model developed by Chen and Tsai (2007).

Figure 1.

Proposed model and hypotheses.

The use of CRI in the model is based on at least three rationales. First, if a positive national image resulted in stronger intentions to support the country—intentions to visit the country and to purchase products made in the country—as Yang et al. (2008) found, it should as well be an antecedent in international tourists’ behaviors in terms of overall value, satisfaction, and loyalty. Second, although national image has been an important topic in the field of public diplomacy research, its behavioral effects are rarely examined. This is not consistent with its original thrust; nation branding as a concept and practice was first developed to promote tourism, attract investment, and encourage exports. Third, destination image in tourism literature has mainly developed at the local and regional levels and may not be applicable at the national level. Using national image in the conceptual model addresses this gap. The following sections introduce the literature on the variables of the model:

National image

In public diplomacy research, national image may refer to the “cognitive representation that a person holds about a given country” (Kunczik, 2003: 412), the set of beliefs and opinions that a person has about that nation (Kotler and Gertner, 2002), or the climate of opinion formed by the collective expressions of perceptions and judgements of a country by its overseas publics (Wang, 2008). Researchers have developed different conceptualizations and measuring instruments of national image. One is the Anholt-GFK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI) developed by Simon Anholt, in coordination with the GFK Group (Anholt, 2006). The index conceptualizes a country’s image as a composite perceptions of its culture, governance, people, exports, tourism, investment, and immigration. Another is the Fombrun-RI Country Reputation Index (CRI), which is adapted from the Harris-Fombrun Reputation Quotient (Fombrun and Gardberg, 2000). The index conceptualizes national image as including six dimensions: emotional appeal, physical appeal, financial appeal, leadership appeal, cultural appeal, and social appeal (Passow et al., 2005). The current research adopts the CRI’s measurement of national image for two reasons. First, it was developed using the context of the principality of Liechtenstein, a landlocked country in Central Europe (Passow et al., 2005), which shares some similarities with the current case. Second, the index has been well applied in recent scholarly studies and its measuring items have been fine-tuned in different contexts. For example, applying the CRI to measure South Korea’s reputation, Yang et al. (2008) identified emotional appeal, physical appeal, financial appeal, leadership appeal, cultural appeal, political appeal, and global appeal as the constructs that should be used to measure a country’s image. Fullerton and Kendrick (2017) applied the index to examine the role a country’s reputation plays in moderating the effects of tourism advertising for that country as well as attitude toward its government and citizens. They found that leadership moderated the effectiveness of the tourism ad for Australians’ interest in traveling to the USA as well as for attitude toward the US government. Kiambi and Shafer (2018) applied the index to measure four African countries’ reputation (Angola, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria). They added “security appeal”, “people appeal”, and “sports appeal”. For the current research, taking into account the fact that Nepal is the birthplace of the Buddha and hosts important religious sites for Hinduism and Buddhism, we added the “religious appeal” dimension to the index to replace “financial appeal”. At the same time, the “leadership appeal” dimension is not included because of Nepal’s rather limited leadership presence, both internationally and regionally. The country is among one of the world’s least developed nations, sandwiched between China and India.

Service quality

Service quality refers to the “visitor’s assessment of the standard of the service delivery process in association with the trip experience” (Chen and Tsai, 2007: 1116). It is one of the most debated and controversial topics in service marketing (Brady and Cronin Jr., 2001), but conceptual models of service quality all agree that it is inherently linked to the measurement of consumer quality perceptions (Martínez and Martínez, 2010). The current research adopts Gallarza and Saura’s (2006) conceptualization, which has been used to measure 10 aspects of service quality.

Perceived value

In recent years, perceived value has become an increasingly important construct as part of tourist behaviors. In tourism literature, research on perceived value is relatively important and thorough (Gallarza and Saura, 2006). Studies show that perceived value plays a moderating role between quality and satisfaction (Caruana et al., 2000). It is a better predictor of repurchase intentions than of satisfaction or of quality (Cronin et al., 2000). Holbrook (1999) identified eight dimensions in consumer value: efficiency, quality, play, aesthetics, esteem, status, ethics, and spirituality. Sweeney and Soutar (2001) identified four: emotional value, social value, monetary value, and performance/quality value. The current paper adapts Gallarza and Saura’s (2006) conceptualization of perceived value, which includes efficiency, spirituality, recreation, aesthetics, money, and perceived risks.

Satisfaction

Satisfaction is one of the most researched topics in tourism management. In tourism, it is the subjective amalgamation of the whole tourism experience based on the post-consumption evaluation (Tapar et al., 2017). Most often used in the analysis of tourist satisfaction is the expectancy–disconfirmation paradigm, which contrasts the difference between expectation and service performance (Eusébio and Vieira, 2013). Very often, however, such difference is hard to measure. Researchers instead adopt the direct measure by asking tourists how satisfied they are with the destination (Qiu et al., 2018). The current study takes such an approach.

Behavioral intentions

The behavioral intention is the visitor’s judgments about his or her likeliness to revisit the same destination or the willingness to recommend the destination to others (Chen and Tsai, 2007). It is, in a way, equivalent to loyalty, which constitutes the final outcome on the chain involving dimensions from image to satisfaction (Gallarza and Saura, 2006). Loyalty is categorized into behavioral loyalty (e.g. revisit), attitudinal loyalty (e.g. intention to recommend), and composite loyalty (both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty). It is often operationalized as revisit intention (RVI) and recommendation (Zhang et al., 2014).

Based on the above literature review, three groups of research hypotheses are proposed, each encompassing a number of sub-hypotheses. H1 (a–f) are about the relationships between national image and its dimensions; H2 (a–e) are based on the service quality-centered model; H3 (a–b) are based on the perceived value-centered model (see Figure 1).

H1 (a–f): In the Nepali case, a. emotional appeal, b. physical appeal, c. religious appeal, d. cultural appeal, e. political appeal, and f. global appeal are significant factors of international tourists’ image of Nepal.

H2 (a–e): For international tourists in Nepal, a. the nation’s image positively predicts service quality; b. service quality positively predicts satisfaction; and c. satisfaction positively predicts loyalty; d. the nation’s image positively predicts satisfaction; e. the nation’s image positively predicts loyalty.

H3 (a–b): For international tourists in Nepal, a. national image positively predicts perceived value of tourism; b. perceived value of tourism positively predicts satisfaction.

Method

We begin this section by justifying our choice of Nepal as a case study suitable for testing the above hypotheses. We then specify the measuring instruments and explain the data collection and analysis procedure.

The case of Nepal

Nepal has long captured the tourist imagination, underscoring its perceived value as a travel destination. Historically, in the travel literature, the Himalayan country was represented, as far back as the 1930s, as a “Shangri-La”, filled with mysticism, esoteric religious practices, and a “traditional” culture seemingly unchanged for a millennia (Liechty, n.d., as cited in Grossman-Thompson and Linder, 2015: 186). The country emerged as one of the most exotic destinations for tourists, notably, the hippies in the 1960s and, later, backpackers, trekkers and mountaineers. In terms of its image, during the recent decades, the country has made into a series of bad headlines, including for a decade-long civil war (1996–2006), prolonged instability, poor infrastructure, rampant corruption, pollution, recurring natural disasters such as the massive earthquake in 2015, and littering and overcrowding on Mt. Everest. Economically, it is among the poorest countries and is ranked 155th in GDP (PPP) per capita (IMF, 2019). Tourism has the potential to become a key pillar of the country’s economy. The total contribution of travel and tourism (USD 1.9 billion) was 7.8 percent of GDP in 2017, compared to the contribution of 4.3 percent 3 years earlier. The sector contributed to 6.6 percent of the total employment of over 1 million jobs that year. Over 1.17 million international tourists visited Nepal in 2019 (“Tourist arrivals…,” 2019). The government’s target is to bring 2.5 million tourists by 2025 (Prasai, 2016). Despite its huge tourism potential, Nepal lags behind other countries in service quality. It ranked 88 out of 138 economies in 2017–18 in its infrastructure (WEF, 2018: 13). Investment in the sector for the year was 2.3 percent of the total investment of USD 170 million (WTTC, 2018). It ranked 103 out of 136 countries in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2017. As a land-locked country with difficult mountain terrains, transportation access remains limited. These factors may have implications for tourist’s sense of satisfaction and their behavioral intentions.

Enhancing Nepal’s image will require not only improving infrastructure, services, and socio-environmental standards but also communicating them within and outside the country (Pant, 2007). Emphasis has been laid on image restoration (Adhikari and Zhang, 2018; Thapa, 2004), possibly positioning the country as the birthplace of the Buddha or the home of the Himalayas. Simon Anholt, the co-creator of the Anholt-GFK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI), stresses on the need to first “find out what the world really thinks about Nepal” (Adhikari, 2008: 10). This survey of tourists’ perceptions on national image, service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and behavioral intentions is a step toward that direction. We believe that in the context of less-developed nations, Nepal presents as a compelling case for this research.

Variables and measuring items

The variables in the proposed model and their measuring items were adapted from the literature (see Table 1). National image was measured along items on emotional appeal, physical appeal, religious appeal, cultural appeal, political appeal, and social/global appeal (Yang et al., 2008). In consideration of the Nepali context, financial appeal and leadership appeal were not used, and religious appeal was added. For service quality, adapted from Gallarza and Saura (2006), we measured competency of service providers, approachability, courtesy, communication efficacy, trustworthiness, cleanliness, understanding, reliability, timeliness, comfort, etc. Perceived value was measured in terms of efficiency, spirituality, recreation, aesthetics, money, and perceived risks, also adapted from Gallarza and Saura (2006). Satisfaction, based on the construct by Qiu et al. (2018), included perceived worth of the trip, satisfaction of needs and wants, and choice of purchasing trip. Behavioral intention was rated in terms of the desire to return, to recommend trip, and an estimation of others’ desire to visit (Gallarza and Saura, 2006; Yang et al., 2008).

Table 1.

Variables and measurements.

Sources	Variables	Measurement items (adapted from source literature)
	National Image
Yang et al. (2008) In consideration of the Nepali context, “financial appeal” replaced with “religious appeal” Also: “leadership appeal” removed	Emotional appeal	I respect this country / I like this country / I trust this country
	Physical appeal	I am satisfied with the information received during the trip / Tourist infrastructure is efficient / This country is a beautiful place / It has well-educated residents / It has a good infrastructure
	Religious appeal	The country is an inviting place for pilgrims / It has well-developed religious sites / It is a religious country / It has the potential to become a global destination for Buddhist pilgrims / It maintains a tolerant religious environment / It has very rich religious tourism resources
	Cultural appeal	The country is socially and culturally diverse / It has a rich historical past / It offers enjoyable entertainment activities / It has distinct culture / It has an appealing culture / It has appealing food
	Political appeal	The country maintains good international relationships with the U.S / It maintains good international relationships with China / It maintains good international relationships with India / It maintains good international relationships with European countries / It is a democratic country / It maintains a stable political environment
	Social/global appeal	The country supports good causes / It is a responsible member of the global community / It supports responsible environmental policies / It actively participates in world affairs / It is very open to foreign countries / Overall, the country maintains good international relationships
	Service Quality
Gallarza and Saura (2006)		Employees/service providers in this country are competent / Employees are approachable and easy to contact / Employees are courteous, polite, respectful / Employees listen to me and we understand each other / Employees are trustworthy and honest / Employees are neat and clean / Employees make the efforts to understand my needs / Service for tourists is reliable / Service is timely / Lodging facility is comfortable
	Perceived Value
Gallarza and Saura (2006)	Efficiency	I like the food in this country / Shopping in this country is convenient / Lodging facility is comfortable
	Spirituality	The trip to this country makes me more religious / I have a better knowledge of my faith / I am more accepted in my faith groups / I become more pious during the trip
	Recreation	I enjoyed the leisure / I enjoyed the free time
	Aesthetics	The landscape in the country is beautiful / The cities, their streets and buildings are beautiful / Museums and exhibits are well-designed / The public arts (murals, monuments) are attractive
	Money	The cost for the whole trip is reasonable / Price is good / The cost for consumer goods, lodging, foods, and other items are reasonable
	Perceived risks	I had the fear of being robbed or attacked /…fear of facing a natural disaster /…fear of suffering from a disease or an infection /…fear of suffering from an accident /…fear of social, political problems /…fear of being tricked as a tourist /…fear of being inconveniently treated by the residents
	Satisfaction
Qiu et al. (2018)		Overall, my trip to the country is worthwhile / The experience has satisfied my needs and wants / My choice to purchase this trip is a wise one
	Behavioral Intentions
Yang et al. (2008) and Gallarza and Saura (2006)		I want to return to the country in the next five years / I will recommend the country to a friend or a relative / I think there are other people who want to visit the country

Data collection

The data for this study was collected through a survey questionnaire to foreign tourists visiting Nepal. A purposive convenience sampling technique was used. A team of survey administrators were recruited who approached tourists, mainly from the USA, European countries, China, and India -- the major source countries of tourists visiting Nepal. In order to overcome the language barrier of respondents, each cluster of the tourists was given the survey questionnaires in their own languages; in English, Chinese and Hindi, respectively.

The surveys were carried out in Kathmandu, the capital city, during different days, between February and March of 2018. Survey administrators accessed the tourists mainly through the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Department of Immigration (DoI), travel agencies, and hotels in Kathmandu. Because Indian tourists do not require visas to visit Nepal and, consequently, are exempt from undergoing immigration formalities, hotels were the only means to reach them. A total of 403 survey forms were completed. However, 27 of the forms had to be removed because they were not completely filled out. Hence, this analysis includes 376 survey forms. The literature on the sample size ratio over population affirms that at 95 percent confidence level with the margin of error of 5 percent and 80 percent power, a sample larger than 362 can represent the population over 100,000 (Kadam and Bhalerao, 2010; Keyton, 2015). More than one million international tourists visit Nepal annually. Therefore, the sample size of the current study (N = 376) meets the population size for valid data analysis results.

Each survey took 15 to 20 minutes to fill out. The questionnaire covered media use habits of respondents, their knowledge about the country, and exposure to news coverage about the country as well as the six “appeal” factors in national image perceptions, as distilled from literature review. A set of background questions used for descriptive and comparison purposes included age, gender, income, education, nationality, as well as goal of visiting Nepal. Except for the demographic questions, the survey, for the most part, comprised of Likert-type scales that sought to collect respondents’ attitudes or motivations, with 1 being “strongly agree” and 5 being “strongly disagree”.

Data analysis procedure

The data was analyzed by the following procedure. First, we performed descriptive statistics to measure the basic characteristics of the population, including their countries of origin, age, education, faiths, income, goals and times of visiting Nepal. Next, we measured the basic variables of the research, including “national image”, “perceived value”, “service quality”, “satisfaction” and “behavioral intention.” For “national image”, “perceived value”, and “service quality”, we performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) because they contain observed and unobserved variables. For the remaining variables, mean scores of responses were used. Lastly, the relationship among the key variables were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The overall goal of SEM is to establish that a theoretical model has a close fit to the sample data. In SEM, all relationships are tested at the same time. This statistical technique helps to eliminate measurement errors in latent variables, and it can model and assess multi-collinearity (Dion, 2008). A path analysis was not suitable in the current case because the method dictates that variables should be measured without error, that error terms are not intercorrelated, and that variables in the model flow are unidirectional. All these are hardly found in a real-world setting (Schreiber et al., 2006). We use comparative fit index (CFI), goodness-of-fit statistic (GFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and the ratio of the CMIN/DF to decide model fit. The values for the fit indices, based on the recommendations in the literature, are as follows, respectively: GFI (≥.90)², CFI (≥ .90), RMSEA (≤ .08), and CMIN/DF (≤ 3) (Cornell Statistical Consulting Unit, n.d.; Dion, 2008; Hooper et al., 2008).

Results

Descriptive statistics

About one-fourth of the respondents included those traveling from the EU (24.7 percent), followed by respondents who came from China (23.7 percent), India (22.6 percent) and the United States (20.5 percent). The majority of the respondents were under 50 years (83.5 percent), ranging in age from 18 to 49 years, and females slightly outnumbered males (55.1 to 44.9 percent). About two-thirds of the respondents indicated at least a university degree (64.4 percent). In terms of beliefs, Hinduism (20 percent), Christianity (18.6 percent), and Buddhism (13.6 percent) were among the most professed faiths. Three-fourths of them (75.3 percent) reported earning less than $35,000 a year. Regarding reasons for visiting Nepal, the largest percentage (40.7 percent) of the respondents cited trekking and mountain climbing, followed by religious, business and sightseeing goals. More than half of them (55.9 percent) visited Nepal more than once (with one-third of this group visiting Nepal at least six times).

Measurements of the key variables

National image

The measuring items were based on the study by Yang et al. (2008). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the CRI shows that “political appeal” is not applicable in the Nepali case. As such, H1e is rejected. The remaining factors are (a) emotional appeal (“I trust Nepal”; “I like Nepal”; “I respect Nepal”; M = 1.772, SD = .87, α = .784); (b) physical appeal (“Nepal has well-educated residents”; “Nepal is a beautiful place”; M = 1.626, SD = .895, α = .864); (c) religious appeal (“Nepal is an inviting place for pilgrims”; “Nepal is a religious country”; “Nepal has the potential to become a global destination for Buddhist pilgrims”; “Nepal has very rich religious tourism resources”; M = 1.944, SD = .829, α = .884); (d) cultural appeal (“Nepal is socially and culturally diverse”; “Nepal has a rich historical past”; “Nepal has a distinct culture”; “Nepal has an appealing culture”; M = 1.83, SD = .83, α = .899); and (e) global appeal (“Nepal supports good causes in the world”; “Nepal is a responsible member of the global community”; M = 2.551, SD = .859, α = .755). The finalized model fit indices for the “national image” construct are as follows: DF = 46 (78–32); X² = 85.54, p < .01³; CMIN/DF = 1.86; GFI = .964; CFI = .987; RMSEA = .048 (see Figure 2).

Figure 2.

CFA of national image.

Perceived value

The measuring items were based on the literature review by Gallarza and Saura (2006). CFA shows that the following factors contribute to international tourists’ perceived value in Nepal: (a) aesthetics (“The landscape in Nepal is beautiful”; “Museum and exhibits are well-designed”; M = 2.38, SD = .92; α = .78); (b) efficacy (“I like the food in Nepal”; “Shopping in Nepal is convenient”; “Lodging facility in Nepal is comfortable”; M = 2.28; SD = .85; α = .78); (c) recreation (“I enjoyed the leisure”; “I enjoyed the free time”; M = 1.82; SD = .85; α = .90); and (d) monetary cost (“The cost for the whole trip is reasonable”; “Price is good”; “The cost for consumer goods, lodging, foods, and others items are reasonable”; M = 1.97; SD = .83; α = .90). The finalized model fit indices for the perceived value construct are as follows: DF = 40 (66–26); X ² = 130.08, p < .01; CMIN/DF = 3.25; GFI = .94; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .077 (see Figure 3).

Figure 3.

CFA of tourism value.

Service quality

Service quality was measured using the items in the literature review by Gallarza and Saura (2006): “Employees are competent”; “Employees are approachable and easy to contact”; “Employees are courteous, polite and respectful”; “Employees listen to me and we understand each other”; “Employees are trustworthy and honest”; and “Employees are neat and clean” (M = 2.2; SD = .71; α = .9). Results of CFA of the constructs are as follows: DF = 2 (27–25); X² = 3.08, p < .01; CMIN/DF = 1.54; CFI = .99; RMSEA = .038. The model is fit after four of the items were removed.

Satisfaction

Mean score of three items were used to measure the construct. The measuring items, based on the literature review by Gallarza and Saura (2006), included: “Overall, this trip is worthwhile”; “The experience has satisfied my needs and wants”; and “My choice to purchase this trip is a wise one” (M = 1.81; SD = .85; α = .93).

Behavioral intention

The measuring items were based on the study by Yang et al. (2008) and Gallarza and Saura (2006). They included: “I want to return to Nepal in the next five years”, “I will recommend Nepal to a friend or a relative”, and “I think other people want to visit Nepal”. Mean score of the three items were used to measure the construct (M = 1.82; SD = .91; α = .93).

Structural results

Results of the proposed model

Results show that the proposed model has a relatively good integrity, with DF = 412 (496–84), X² = 1081.92, p < .001, CMIN/DF = 2.63, GFI = .84; CFI = .92, RMSEA = .07. The low CMIN/DF and RMSEA indicate that the data largely fits the model (see Figure 4).⁴ However, the GFI and CFI are slightly lower than the set criteria. With regard to hypotheses testing, results show that national image positively predicts service quality (β = .64, p < .05), thus supporting H2a; satisfaction positively predicts loyalty (β = .85, p < .05), thus supporting H2c. H2b (“Service quality predicts satisfaction”) is not supported (β = .28, p > .05), which contradicts Chen and Tsai’s (2007) conclusion. H2d (“National image positively predicts satisfaction”, β = .19, p > .05), and H2e (“National image positively predicts loyalty”, β = .27, p > .05) were not supported (see Table 2).

Figure 4.

SEM results (Unrevised Model).

Table 2.

Hypotheses testing and model fit.

	Proposed model	Revised model
Hypotheses	λ	λ	Acceptance
H1: For international tourists’ image of Nepal
H1a. Emotional appeal is a significant factor	.96**	.99**	✓
H1b. Physical appeal is a significant factor	.90**	.93**	✓
H1c. Religious appeal is a significant factor	.85**	.84**	✓
H1d. Cultural appeal is a significant factor	.91**	.88**	✓
H1e. Political appeal is a significant factor	.59	N/A	×
H1 f. Global appeal is a significant factor	.65**	.66**	✓
	β	β
H2. National image and other variables
H2a. National image positively predicts quality	.64**	N/A	✓
H2b. Quality positively predicts satisfaction	.12		×
H2c. Satisfaction positively predicts loyalty	.85**	.86**	✓
H2d. National image positively predicts satisfaction	.19	N/A	×
H2e. National image positively predicts loyalty	.27	N/A	×
	β	β
H3. Value and other variables
H3a. National image positively predicts perceived value of tourism	.86**	.84**	✓
H3b. Perceived value positively predicts satisfaction	.75**	.83**	✓

Model fit indices values
CMIN/DF (≤ 3)	2.86 ✓	2.5	✓
GFI(≥.90)	.80 x	.88	✓
CFI (≥.90),	.90 x	.94	✓
RMSEA (≤.08)	.07 ✓	.06	✓

** p < .001.

Results of the revised model

We made revisions to increase the model’s fit by turning service quality into one dimension of perceived value instead of treating it as a separate construct, as Gallarza and Saura (2006) did in their study. Results show that its factor loading is still very low, and the GFI and CFI did not significantly improve. We, therefore, further removed service quality from the revised model. The fit indices for the revised model are as follows: DF = 262 (325–63), X² = 654.89, p < .001; CMIN/DF = 2.5, GFI = .88 (slight increase from .832), CFI = .94 (slight increase from .92), RMSEA = .064 (slight decrease from .07). As such, the data fits the model well. In the revised structural model, the hypotheses that were supported include H2a (“National image positively predicts quality”, which was no longer applicable in the revised model), H2c (“Satisfaction positively predicts loyalty”); H3a (“National image positively predicts perceived value of tourism”), and H3b (“Perceived value positively predicts satisfaction”) (see Figure 5).

Figure 5.

Revised model.

Table 2 is a summary of the hypotheses tested within both the proposed model and the revised model. The model fit indices are listed in that table.

Discussions and conclusion

In the current study, we proposed a model that combines the conceptual model depicting tourist behaviors in the literature of tourism marketing and the conceptualization of national image in the literature of public diplomacy. Using Nepal as a case, we tested the model and examined the relationships between national image, perceived value, service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty for international tourists, in the context of a less-developed country. The conceptual model is largely supported by the data, except that perceived service quality, which is a key link between image and value in tourism research, is not a significant predictor of tourist behaviors in the Nepali case.

The findings have both conceptual and practical implications. Conceptually, the research supports the value-centered model of tourist behaviors. In the revised model, only one of the five H2 hypotheses was supported. National image predicts perceived service quality, but service quality does not predict satisfaction, which contradicts earlier findings. This occurred likely because international tourists who choose to visit a less-developed nation would anticipate what the country has to offer, but it does not mean they will be satisfied with it. As such, the established model, image ==> quality ==> satisfaction ==> post-purchase behavior (Bigne et al., 2001), does not accurately predict tourists’ behaviors in such a context. Instead, tourist behaviors may be better understood through perceived value, as Gallarza and Saura (2006) argued. This is corroborated by the results; both of the H3 hypotheses were supported in the revised model. In the SEM, although quality of service is not a significant predictor of perceived value, the beta value appears to have some strength (β = .28, p >. 05). This corroborates Gallarza and Saura’s (2006) argument that service quality is one dimension of the overall tourism value instead of being an independent construct in the chain. The research also shows that national image is an antecedent of the overall value, satisfaction, and loyalty of international tourists, thus adding one more solid evidence that national image does indeed have behavioral impacts (Yang et al., 2008). The results also show that the CRI’s conceptualization and measurement of national image can be applied to the field of tourism where destination image has been an elusive concept.

At the practical level, the research has several implications. First, it shows that in the Nepali case, the weight of dimensions of national image in international tourists’ perceptions are as follows, from high to low: emotional appeal (λ = .99***, p < .001), physical appeal (λ = .90***, p < .001), cultural appeal (λ = .91***, p < .001), religious appeal (λ = .85***, p < .001), and global appeal (λ = .65***, p < .001). Such findings are informative for planners of the country’s public diplomacy programs and tourism promotion programs; these can offer insights into what aspects of the country’s image should be stressed on in crafting campaign messages. Second, the research shows that service quality does not significantly predict international tourists’ perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty. This reflects Nepal’s reality as a less-developed country; it also shows that there is a lot of room for improvement in the service quality in the country’s tourism industry, and improvement of service quality should be treated as a part of the effort to increase the perceived value of tourism. Third, the weights of emotional appeal, cultural appeal and religious appeal in Nepal’s image indicate that future Nepali public diplomacy and tourism programs should focus more on the cultural and religious aspects, mainly through developing faith diplomacy and faith tourism (e.g., by branding Nepal as the Buddha’s birthplace), so as to increase the tourists’ perceived value. Physical appeal of the country needs to be promoted, but in a sustainable manner. In May 2019, the world was appalled by the viral social media images of the climbers’ traffic jam on Mt. Everest. News stories on dead bodies and tons of garbage on the mountain only add to the “contamination” of the country’s physical appeal. Global warming has caused retreat of glaciers on the mountains, which will inevitably cause damage to the businesses dependent on mountain climbing. All these demand Nepal to resort to its more important asset, namely cultural and religious appeal, in its public diplomacy and tourism promotion programs. In the sample that we drew, only 13.6 percent of the international tourists were Buddhists. This number is relatively low considering that Nepal is the birthplace of the Buddha and there are nearly 500 million Buddhists in the world. We argue that there is a great potential for Nepal to develop faith diplomacy and faith tourism surrounding Buddhism.

Limitations

As a quantitative study, this research empirically tested and validated the propositions of the value-centered model of tourist behavior. It bridged the literature of tourism and the literature of public diplomacy through a case study of a less-developed nation. However, the research inevitably has its limitations. Although the quantitative approach used by the current study partially corroborated the theoretical models established by the past literature and revealed interesting patterns in international tourists’ perceptions, there is a lack of in-depth understanding and subtle analysis of each individual’s personal experience of traveling in Nepal. Such shortcomings may be addressed through qualitative studies using interviews and participatory observations, which are important for research into faith tourism and faith diplomacy that Nepal should fully tap into.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Juyan Zhang, PhD

Notes

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