The use of gamification in environmental interpretation and its effect on customer-based destination brand equity: The moderating role of psychological distance
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Fernández Ruano, María Lina; Frías Jamilena, Dolores María; Polo Peña, Ana Isabel; Peco Torres, FranciscoEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
Environmental interpretation Gamification ICT Customer-based destination brand equity Psychological distance
Date
2021-12-23Referencia bibliográfica
M. Lina Fernández-Ruano... [et al.]. The use of gamification in environmental interpretation and its effect on customer-based destination brand equity: The moderating role of psychological distance, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, Volume 23, 2022, 100677, ISSN 2212-571X, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2021.100677]
Sponsorship
Spanish Government PID2019-110941RB-I00Abstract
This study seeks to contribute to the literature dealing with the formation of customer-based destination brand
equity (CBDBE) using an environmental interpretation strategy. It aims to establish whether (i) participation in
an environmental interpretation experience with a gamified design may exert a greater effect on CBDBE than
participation in a non-gamified version; (ii) CBDBE is influenced by the tourist’s psychological distance relative
to the destination in question; and (iii) psychological distance moderates the effect of environmental interpretation
(gamified vs. non-gamified) on CBDBE. A quasi-experiment is designed in which the environmental
interpretation is manipulated (gamified vs. non-gamified).
The results show that the effect of a gamified environmental interpretation experience on CBDBE is greater
than that of a non-gamified version; and that it is greater among participants who perceive the destination to be
psychologically near. The study also finds that there is a regulatory construal fit between the use of a gamified
design and psychological distance, such that perceived psychological distance exerts a moderating effect on the
relationship between interpretation type (gamified vs. non-gamified) and CBDBE. It is identified that, when the
destination is perceived to be psychologically distant, the gamified environmental interpretation generates
significantly greater CBDBE than the non-gamified version. By contrast, when it is psychologically near, there are
no significant differences in CBDBE between a gamified and a non-gamified environmental interpretation
experience. These results are relevant both for the literature and for the professional tourism sector, which, by its
very nature, operates in an international context.