Beyond a lasting impression: Exploring the impact of brand image on revisit intention, unveiling place attachment as a mediating mechanism

Abstract

A robust and positive brand image, intertwined with a strong sense of place attachment, creates a symbiotic cycle that fuels customer loyalty and ignites the desire for a return visit. By leveraging a quantitative research approach and employing rigorous statistical methods, three distinct studies were conducted. The first study, primarily exploratory, was aimed at scrutinizing the psychometric attributes of the data collection instrument (n = 304). The ensuing confirmatory study sought to validate the results extracted from the exploratory factor analysis (n = 305). The third study was designed to examine the mediating influence of place attachment in the relation between the city of Lisbon's brand image and the revisit intention (n = 355). The data analysis revealed that brand image directly propels the revisit intention; however, when place attachment is introduced into the model as a mediator, the impact of brand image on revisit intention diminishes. These findings imply that when revisit intentions are evaluated, the significance ascribed to place attachment supersedes that ascribed to brand image.