MULTISENSORY BRANDING WITHIN A NEURO-INFORMED FRAMEWORK: TOURIST ENGAGEMENT ENHANCING DESTINATION BRAND IDENTITY–EMPIRICAL INSIGHTS FROM SHIRAZ

THIS‍‌‍‍‌ RESEARCH DELVES INTO THE IMPACT OF MULTISENSORY AND NEUROSCIENTIFIC APPROACHES ON DESTINATION BRANDING, WITH THE FOCUS ON TOURISTS' EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE ‍‌‍‍‌ENGAGEMENT. TRADITIONAL DESTINATION BRANDING PRIMARILY FOCUSES ON VISUALS THAT TYPICALLY FAIL TO CONVEY THE SENSORY AND EMOTIONAL ELEMENTS OF THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE. ‍‍THUS, THIS STUDY IDENTIFIED THREE MAJOR GAPS AND DESIGNED A STAGED, SEQUENTIAL INQUIRY IN WHICH EACH STAGE WAS A DIRECT RESPONSE TO THE LIMITATIONS OF THE PREVIOUS ONE. ‍‌‍‍‌ THE FIRST PHASE HIGHLIGHTS A GAP IN EXISTING RESEARCH: METHODS SUCH AS EEG, FMRI, AND EYE-TRACKING ARE COMMONLY USED TO EXPLORE TOURIST FEELINGS AND DECISIONS, YET THESE STUDIES DO NOT ESTABLISH A CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION TO DESTINATION BRANDING. A‍‌‍‍‌ COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF 161 PEER-REVIEWED STUDIES ADHERING TO PRISMA GUIDELINES AND USING BIBLIOMETRIC MAPPING UNCOVERS THAT BRANDING MODELS HAVE NOT USED MUCH NEUROSCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE REACTIONS. ADDITIONALLY, A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK IS ABSENT THAT COULD SERVE AS A CONCEPTUAL LINK AMONG THESE FIELDS. THE‍‌‍‍‌ SECOND STAGE IS A TRANSITION TO AN INTEGRATED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR MULTISENSORY BRANDING THAT DEPICTS THE CONNECTION OF SENSORY STIMULI WITH THE MECHANISMS OF EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE ‍‌‍‍‌ENGAGEMENT. IT DEPICTS THE DESTINATION BRAND AS A "SENSORY BRANDSCAPE," A NOTION WHEREIN EACH SENSORY PATHWAY IS EMPLOYED TO DEVELOP THE BRAND, ESTABLISH AN EMOTIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CUSTOMERS, AND EVOKE RECALL‍‌‍‍‌. THE MODEL SHOWS THAT ENGAGEMENT IS NOT SIMPLY A SECONDARY EFFECT BUT THE PRINCIPAL WAY IN WHICH SENSORY DESIGN DEEPENS THE IDENTITY AND LOYALTY OF THE DESTINATION BRAND. NEVERTHELESS, THIS CONCEPTUAL MODEL NEEDED CONFIRMATION FROM REAL-WORLD DATA IN THE TOURISM SETTING. THE‍‌‍‍‌ THIRD PHASE GOES BEYOND THIS METHODOLOGICAL AND CONTEXTUAL GAP BY A REAL-WORLD STUDY IN SHIRAZ USING A STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE TO RECORD TOURISTS' SENSORY PERCEPTIONS, EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT, AND BRAND-RELATED OUTCOMES. THE FINDINGS AFTER USING PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING, DEMONSTRATE THAT MULTISENSORY BRANDING NOTABLY IMPACTS BOTH EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT, THESE BY THE RETURN PROMOTING DESTINATION IDENTITY, SATISFACTION, AND LOYALTY INTENTIONS. THE‍‌‍‍‌ FINDINGS CONFIRM THE THEORETICAL MODEL AND SHOW THAT SENSORY DESIGN DIRECTLY IMPACTS THE CREATION OF A SEAMLESS, EMOTIONALLY ENGAGING BRAND EXPERIENCE. THE‍‌‍‍‌ RESEARCH PROVIDES A COHERENT THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL IMPLICATION THAT MOVES THE IDEA OF DESTINATION BRANDING FROM A MOSTLY VISUALLY FOCUSED FRAME TO A MULTISENSORY, EXPERIENTIAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY INFORMED ONE. IT MAKES A THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION BY COMBINING NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY, AND MARKETING INTO A SINGLE HOLISTIC MODEL OF TOURIST ENGAGEMENT; A METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTION THROUGH SYSTEMATIC REVIEW, CONCEPTUAL MODELING, AND QUANTITATIVE EXPLORATION; AND A PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION BY ALLOWING DESTINATION MANAGERS TO FACILITATE THE CREATION OF BRAND IDENTITIES THAT ARE NOT ONLY AUTHENTIC, EMOTIONALLY RESONANT BUT ALSO DISTINCTIVE. ‍‌‍‍‌THE‍‌‍‍‌ FINDINGS POINT OUT THAT A CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF TOURISTS GET INVOLVED WHEN DESTINATIONS ARE THINKING THROUGH AND DESIGNING MULTISENSORY EXPERIENCES THAT EXCITE NOT ONLY THE EMOTIONAL BUT ALSO THE COGNITIVE PATHWAYS—THUS THE BRAND BECOMES MORE THAN JUST A VEHICLE FOR THE MESSAGE BUT RATHER A REAL EXPERIENCE THAT DEEPENS THE BOND, RECALL, AND ‍‌‍‍‌LOYALTY.