Title: Impact of socio-demographic characteristics on 'a priori' and 'in situ' destination image: case study - Linz, Austria

Authors: Elitza Iordanova

Addresses: Buckinghamshire New University, Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP11 2JZ, UK

Abstract: The study examines the extent to which visitors' socio-demographic characteristics such as nationality, age, gender and education influence 'a priori' and 'in situ' images of places. Throughout the analysis of data collected from 400 visitors to Linz, Austria it became evident that the respondents' socio-demographic characteristics and Linz's 'a priori' and 'in situ' images are interrelated, nevertheless, some of them are more influential than others. Nationality, age and gender were found to be of equal importance during the 'a priori' destination image formation stage, whereas Linz's' in situ' image was mainly influenced by respondents' nationality and gender. The findings also suggest that cognitive image components are more plausible to changes as a result of the impact of the selected demographic characteristics compared to the affective image elements during the 'a priori' and 'in situ' stages of destination image formation.

Keywords: destination image formation; image determinants; a-priori image; socio-demographic characteristics; in situ image; Linz; Austria.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2017.086966

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2017 Vol.7 No.3, pp.177 - 201

Received: 08 Mar 2016
Accepted: 12 Oct 2016
Published online: 03 Oct 2017 *

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