The Mediating Role of Perceived Value in the Influence of Online Consumer Reviews on Destination Brand Loyalty

Information technologies are rapidly showing their effect in the tourism industry as well as in every field. Online platforms have become a significant channel where consumers frequently share their consumption experiences and take them into account in their destination preferences. If managed effectively by destinations, it can become an effective tool in shaping consumer perception and brand loyalty. According to this, it is aimed to detect whether perceived value (PV) has a mediating role in the influence of online consumer reviews (OCRs) on destination brand loyalty (DBL) in the research. The sample of the research comprises of 315 attendants who visit Istanbul for touristic purposes. Research data were collected with the survey data gathering tool. After testing the data obtained from the attendants in terms of normality, reliability and construct validity, the relationships between the variables were investigated by correlation analysis. In the last stage, the hypotheses of the research were tested with simple linear regression and hierarchical regression analysis. Consequently, the basis hypothesis (H4) of the research, "the mediating role of PV in the influence of OCRs on DBL" were accepted with full mediation influence, and also accepted other hypotheses of research (H1, H2 and H3).