Given the scarcity of research on online brand image, this research is an attempt to generate an understanding of online brand image in the hotel industry from a holistic point of view (i .e. understanding all dimensions of online brand image). Most of the previous studies in this area focus mainly on brand image management in offline contexts but there are very few that investigate the dimensions of online brand image as a whole, especially in the hotel business context. In the literature relevant to brand image, it is seen as customer perception as reflected by brand associations (i.e. attributes, attitude, benefits). The concept of online brand image is still unclear and there are no proven measurement scales to deteimine on line brand image. In the literature, brand image in the online context is not seen as substantially different from offline brand image. One thing that does change from offline to online branding is the enactment of the brand. Based on this definition and the previous literature, a conceptual framework for online brand image was established to be used in this research. In order to assess and validate the construct of online brand image, semi-structured interviews with hotel marketing managers and hotel customers were undertaken. The findings from the interviews were integrated with previous studies to develop an online questioID1aire. The self-administrated online questionnaires were distributed from June-September 2013, and 483 usable responses were received. The survey was responded to equally by females and males. The majority of respondents were aged between 25-34 years, and respondents were both white and blue-collar workers, self-employed, students, housewives and retired persons. The majority of respondents are American, British, Thais, other Europeans (e.g. Irish, Portuguese), and other Asians (e.g. Bruneian, Chinese).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:656317 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Nunthapirat, Duangthida |
| Publisher | University of Surrey |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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