Assessment of factors influencing destination image using a multiple regression model

Destination image researchers have investigated and found that several factors have influences on destination image. Some of these factors are related to perceivers (e.g. sociodemographics and behavior); some are related to the destination of concern (e.g. promotional materials); some are independent of both perceivers and the destination (e.g. news coverage and movies); and some are methodological choices made by researchers while measuring destination image (e.g. qualitative methods vs. quantitative methods). However, there has been a lack of studies measuring the relative magnitude of the influence posed by different factors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relative impact of factors influencing destination image, by analyzing the large scale and longitudinal dataset of the Michigan Regional Travel Market Survey, applying multiple regression analysis. The nature of this secondary dataset allowed the inclusion of a set of sociodemographic and travel behavior variables as well as one variable related to the survey methodology. Only few of those selected variables (i.e. age, race and visitation) were found to be robust. Implications and future research suggestions are provided.