Testing a consumer-based brand equity model for wine tourism destinations

Purpose Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) has been used in tourism and hospitality to measure the success of firm-level as well as destination-level brands. As wine tourism gained attention during the past two decades, researchers endeavored to use CBBE to understand consumer reactions to different wine tourism destinations. However, research in this domain has been divergent, with many models of CBBE with diverse components, without being validated for different destinations. Design/methodology/approach The current study tested the validity of a CBBE model with the six most-widely used components, namely brand familiarity, brand image, perceived quality, consumer value, brand value and brand loyalty. The model was first tested for five domestic wine tourism destinations in the United States ( n = 247) and retested for five global wine tourism destinations ( n = 248). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) of data from 495 respondents was used for analysis. Findings Findings indicated that a four-component CBBE model with brand familiarity, brand image, consumer value and brand loyalty may be a more parsimonious model in the wine tourism destination context. Practical implications Knowledge of the CBBE of the destination within which the winery is located will enable the winery to understand the extent to which it can rely on this CBBE for the sale of their wines versus the extent to which they must rely on their own marketing activities to develop CBBE in their specific wine brand(s). Originality/value The study is unique in using multiple wine tourism destinations to test a CBBE model.