The effects of tourist’s fading memories on tourism destination brands’ attachment: locus of control theory application

ABSTRACT

Although tourists’ attachment to tourism destination brands is crucial for destination revenue growth, there is a lack of investigations about nostalgic effects on tourists’ attachment to tourism destinations. Fleeting but powerful, romantic relationship break-up is an important dimension of nostalgia. Therefore, this paper examines and strengthens the various aspects of how tourists interpret a destination where they visited before with their ex-lovers. The study depends on interviewing 32 frequent travellers who experienced a breakup in romantic relationships. The results indicate that tourists prefer switching destinations where they visited with their past lovers because of lower self-control. Simultaneously, lower self-control influences bad behaviour intentions toward destinations according to the locus of control theory.

KEYWORDS:

• Nostalgia
• romantic relationship termination
• tourist attachment
• locus of control
• brand attachment

Acknowledgement:

I want to thank Professor. Dalman, M. Deniz, professor in the marketing department, graduate school of management, saint-Petersburg state university, for his academic support and motives words that helps me work on this theory.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).