Examining the antecedents of loyalty in a forest setting: Relationships among service quality, satisfaction, activity involvement, place attachment, and destination loyalty (Oregon)

Loyalty has recently earned considerable attention and the importance of studying loyalty has been recognized more than ever before (Oliver, 1999). Loyal customers are considered a primary goal of marketing programs and are central to an organization's success (Dick & Basu, 1994; Howard, Edginton, & Selin, 1988). However, due to the complexity of conceptual models and a lack of validated measurements, little is known about the conceptual nature of loyalty. A comprehensive model that tests the factors influencing loyalty does not exist. Hence, this study contributed to the literature on loyalty and applied the use of its theoretical frameworks by researchers in nature-based tourism.; Two objectives guided the study: (1) model development and (2) model validation. The first objective of this study was to investigate the relationships among Service Quality, Satisfaction, Activity Involvement, and Place Attachment in predicting Destination Loyalty. The second objective was to test whether the components of the model were equivalent across different settings (Byrne, 1994).; Destination Loyalty was assessed based on the recent theory that customers become loyal in an attitudinal sense, later in a conative manner and, finally, behaviorally (Oliver, 1999). Service Quality was assessed using evaluation statements developed for the forest setting. Satisfaction was measured using a modified overall satisfaction scale (Graefe & Fedler, 1986). Place Attachment was adapted and modified from previous research (Moore & Graefe, 1994). Finally, Activity Involvement was adapted from items representing three major dimensions (Havitz & Dimanche, 1997).; Sampling was conducted at the Umpqua National Forest in Southwestern Oregon.; The findings of the study offer insight into various implications and suggestions for practitioners. The results of the current investigation suggest that forest managers need to understand recreationists' perception of Service Quality, Satisfaction, Activity Involvement, and Place Attachment in order to better predict their Destination Loyalty. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...