From Experience to Advocacy: A Destination Marketing Strategy for Building Coastal Tourism Loyalty Through Experiential Value and Affective Involvement

Joko; Derry Nugraha

doi:10.70716/ecoma.v4i3.742

Authors

Joko Master of Management Study Program, Universitas Linggabuana PGRI Sukabumi, Indonesia
Derry Nugraha Economic Education Study Program, Universitas Linggabuana PGRI Sukabumi, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70716/ecoma.v4i3.742

Keywords:

experiential value, affective involvement, destination loyalty, coastal tourism, structural equation modeling

Abstract

This study examines how experiential value iconization and affective involvement shape destination loyalty in coastal tourism contexts. Using structural equation modeling with data from 480 domestic tourists visiting Pangandaran, Karanghawu, and Ujung Genteng in West Java, Indonesia, the research develops and validates an integrated model incorporating destination peripheral attributes and tourism motivation as antecedents. Results confirm that destination peripheral attributes (β = 0.623, p < 0.001) and tourism motivation (β = 0.654, p < 0.001) significantly influence experiential value iconization. Experiential value iconization (β = 0.258, p < 0.001) and affective involvement (β = 0.478, p < 0.001) also have significant direct effects on destination loyalty. Because destination peripheral attributes and tourism motivation have no hypothesized direct path to destination loyalty, mediation analysis confirms that experiential value iconization and affective involvement fully mediate the relationships between these antecedent variables and loyalty outcomes. The final structural model explains 91.1% of the variance in destination loyalty, reflecting substantial explanatory power. These findings suggest that emotional attachment and experiential value creation are more critical than peripheral destination attributes in fostering tourist loyalty. The study contributes to destination marketing theory by identifying affective involvement as a comparatively stronger predictor of loyalty formation within this model, offering practical implications for coastal destination management.

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