Social media Based Destination Brand Community Engagement (SMBDBCE): a mediated analysis for the social-media marketing strategies of destination brands in Pakistan

Abstract

With the advancements in the technology, social media has gained a significant importance in the tourism sector, markedly for destination branding. Literature has ample work available on the branding but scant literature is available on the social media marketing strategies and its impact on branding specifically the branding of northern destinations of Pakistan. To fill the mentioned gap in the literature, this study has conceptualized the framework of social media engagement and its impact on the destination brand visit intention of the tourists as a consequent of positive engagement on the social media-based destination brand platforms. The study has analyzed the impact of social media Based Destination Brand Community Engagement (SMBDBCE) on Intention to Visit (ITV) and the mediated impact of Destination Brand Customer Engagement (DBCE) in this relationship. The study has used a quantitative approach and has collected a sample of 351 visitors of northern destinations of Pakistan i.e. Naltar Valley and Fairy Meadows in this study, via purposive sampling: a non-probability sampling technique and the analysis has been done by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) on Smart PLS 4. The results have revealed that there is a positive and significant relation between the Social Media Based Destination Brand Community Engagement (SMBDBCE) and Intention to Visit (ITV) and the Destination Brand Customer Engagement (DBCE) significantly and positively mediates this relationship. The results have shed light on the notable need for the northern destination brands of Pakistan to develop such marketing strategies for their social media based destination brand platforms that engage the tourists and visitors in those platforms by the provision of adequate information and lucrative user friendly pertained facilities that enable them to share the positive and worthwhile experiences to facilitate the social media based destination brand community.