친숙성에 따른 관광지 매력성에 대한 구인동등성검증과 잠재평균분석

Construct Equivalence Tests(CET) and Latent Mean Analysis(LMA) on Destination Attractiveness: The Role of Familiarity

The purpose of this study is to compare the construct equivalence and latent means of destination attractiveness elements between tourists occupying a higher level of destination familiarity and those with a lower level of destination familiarity. Multi-Group Analysis(MGA) on structural equation modeling is first performed to test configural, metric, and scalar invariances between the two groups. Latent Mean Analysis(LMA) is conducted to capture the mean differences of attractiveness variables after the three invariance tests between the two groups are obtained. In addition, a structural relationship between destination attractiveness elements and tourist satisfaction is determined and reported. Results of the study confirm the positive relationship between the three destination attractiveness elements(attraction, convenience, service) and tourist satisfaction and show that tourists with a greater level of familiarity have significantly higher latent mean values of convenience and service factors than those who have lesser familiarity except for the mean value of the attraction factor. Overall, findings of this study enrich theoretical development on destination attractiveness offering important implication for tourist destination marketers.