EXPANDING THEMES OF DESTINATION E-IMAGE AND SERVICE QUALITY: A QUALITATIVE STUDY USING CONVERSATIONAL INTERVIEW

Abstract

This qualitative study aims to understand the visitors' attitude towards the island destination (Koh Larn Island, Pattaya, Thailand) and their behavioral intentions and actual behavior, and the discrepancies between both. The conversational interview method was adopted with 40 repeat visitors to understand their positive and negative attitude, the influence of past behavior (if any), intention, and actual behavior towards the island destination, and 30 valid responses were shortlisted for the study that met the study inclusion criteria. The study identified three expanding themes: destination e-image, island destination service quality, behavioral intentions, and actual behavior. The responses revealed more positive feelings of the visitors than negative feelings; also, it indicated the discrepancies between behavioral intentions and actual behavior due to the time, situation, and monetary constraints. This study is novel in identifying the expanding themes in the service marketing domain and exploring visitors' attitudes in detail towards the island destination and their overt behavior. Thus, this is the first study to observe the discrepancies between behavioral intentions and actual behavior in realtime settings.