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The Influence of Religiosity Upon Muslim Tourists' Travel Decision

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The Influence of Religiosity Upon Muslim Tourists' Travel Decision The influence of religiosity upon Muslim tourists’ travel decision-making processes for an Islamic leisure destination Naushad Mohamed (M.Com Marketing) Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Heriot-Watt University School of Social Science September 2018 The copyright in this thesis is owned by the author. Any quotation from the thesis or use of any of the information contained in it must acknowledge this thesis as the source of the quotation or information. II ABSTRACT Existing literature suggests that personal and social factors influence destination image formation. In this regard, although it is generally accepted that cultural factors can influence image perception, the influence of religion on image formation is understood less. This study investigates whether religion influences Muslim tourist decision-making process to an Islamic leisure destination. A conceptual model was developed with prior knowledge, cosmopolitanism and involvement as antecedent factors of image. Satisfaction and loyalty formed behavioural outcomes. Islamic religiosity assessed the moderating effect of religion on tourist decision- making. Through the lens of pragmatism and a mixed methods approach, data were collected from 961 survey questionnaires and 36 short interviews from Muslim tourists visiting the Maldives. Quantitative results were analysed using Partial least square structural equation modelling. Quantitative results support positive relationships between the proposed antecedent factors and behavioural outcome factors of destination image. Quantitative findings show Islamic religiosity moderates the relationships between pre-, during- and after-visitation stages. However, results show support for two dimensions only: religious value and religious community attachment with no support for religious belief and religious practice dimensions. Quantitative results support conceptualisation of prior knowledge as a formative construct. In addition, results support destination image and loyalty as higher order constructs. To that end, quantitative findings provide theoretically advanced contributions in testing their relationship with destination image and other variables. Qualitative findings contribute to the limited understanding of Islamic destination image in literature. This thesis advocates Islamic tourism researchers should not limit their focus to Islamic attributes only. This study identified both Islamic and non-Islamic attributes are important for Muslim tourists visiting a leisure Islamic destination. This research suggests the attachment of Muslim tourists to their religious values and sense of belonging to religious community, can influence what they demand and how they behave in an Islamic leisure destination. Future research can compare Muslim tourist behaviour in similar destination such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Furthermore, non-Muslims in the setting of Islamic tourism will be an interesting inquiry. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am thankful to almighty Allah for giving me the blessing to do a PhD. The journey of completing my PhD has been the most challenging years of my life. I would now highlight those individuals who have given me support and guidance that has helped me to complete this thesis. First, I am thankful for my first supervisor Dr. Babak Taheri. He has been very patient with me throughout the PhD experience and guided me every step of the way. Dr Babak believed in me more than I did in myself. Thank you Dr Babak. I am also thankful to Dr Aliakbar Jafari and Dr Paul Hopkinson for their invaluable advice and guidance. Next, I would like to give my sincere gratitude to my mother (Najeeba Moosa) and brother (Nadeem Mohamed). Without the love and support of all my family members, I would not have been able to carry myself through this journey. I am blessed to have my wife who took care of me through all the hard working days. I love my three children (Ain, Azka and Anaa) for understanding that I have to be away for so many days at the office. Finally, thank you to my fellow PhD colleagues at the School of Social Science at Heriot- Watt University. Especially, Samer for making the PhD life a joyful experience. I am also grateful to the staff and Directors of Clique College who have given me their constant support. A special thank you to Hassan Areef and Ibrahim Asif of Maldives Airports Company for helping me to collect data. Finally, I am thankful to all the tourist resort managers, and Muslim tourists who have given me their valuable time in contributing to this research. Naushad Mohamed IV DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my Mamma, Dhonbe and my loving wife. V TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction of chapter .......................................................................................... 1 1.2. Research background ............................................................................................ 1 1.3. Rationale for this study ......................................................................................... 2 1.4. Aim and objectives ................................................................................................ 3 1.5. Originality of study ............................................................................................... 3 1.6. Research context: Maldives .................................................................................. 4 1.7. Research design ..................................................................................................... 8 1.8. Outline of chapters ................................................................................................ 9 1.9. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2 : DESTINATION IMAGE .......................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Destination image (Part one) ............................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Brand image ................................................................................................. 12 2.2.2 What is a Destination? ................................................................................. 13 2.2.3 Defining destination image .......................................................................... 14 2.2.4 Image formation theory ................................................................................ 15 2.2.5 Conceptualisation of destination image ....................................................... 17 2.2.6 Image measurement analysis in tourism studies (2000 – 2017) .................. 20 2.3 Islamic Destination Image (Part two) ................................................................. 26 2.3.1 Religious tourism ......................................................................................... 26 2.3.2 Leisure tourism and religion ........................................................................ 27 2.3.3 Islamic tourism ............................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER 3 : ANTECEDENTS AND BEHAVIOURAL OUTCOMES OF DESTINATION IMAGE ................................................................................................... 38 3.1 Prior Knowledge ................................................................................................. 39 3.2 Cosmopolitanism ................................................................................................. 45 3.3 Involvement ......................................................................................................... 49 3.4 Satisfaction .......................................................................................................... 53 3.5 Loyalty ................................................................................................................ 57 CHAPTER 4 : RELIGIOSITY .......................................................................................... 65 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 65 4.2 Aim of conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) on religiosity ............. 66 VII 4.3 SLR Approach ..................................................................................................... 67 4.3.1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria ................................................................... 67 4.3.2 Materials and outcomes ............................................................................... 68 4.4 Key findings: ....................................................................................................... 71 4.4.1 Publication trends......................................................................................... 71 4.4.2 Context of study and representation of faith groups .................................... 72 4.4.3 Research methodology used ........................................................................ 73 4.5 Measurement of religious affiliation ................................................................... 74 4.5.1 Relationship between religious affiliation & consumer behaviour in SLR . 76 4.6 Conceptualisation and measurement of religiosity ............................................. 78 4.7 Analysis of
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