Travel Reference
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destination, which Phelps (1986) named them as the
secondary image than that primary image which is
formed by actual visitation. Induced agents which
are controllable by marketers are the promotional
materials. Organic agents are word of mouth from
friends and relatives based on their own knowledge
or experience about the places which are uncon-
trollable by the destination marketers (Gartner,
1993). Autonomous agents on the other hand,
consist of things such as news articles, educational
materials, movies and popular culture which are
independent and also uncontrollable by marketers.
Besides induced, organic and autonomous agents
and perceiver characteristics who normal filter the
information could also contribute to shaping the
image which cannot be controlled by marketers
(Dann, 1996; Gartner, 1993).
Several studies have been conducted in deter-
mining how these sources of information impact
the image formation process and scholars have dis-
tinguished between those sources that initiate from
marketing activities and which are managed, and
those that cannot be controlled for such as news,
movies and other media (Beerli & Martin, 2004;
Gartner, 1993; McCartney, Butler & Bennett, 2008)
However, there is insufficient and lack of research
looking at the effect of uncontrollable sources of
information on the image of a country as well
as hotel image. Moreover, latest studies explored
the difference between country image, destination
image and hotel image (Martínez & Alvarez, 2010)
shows that there is a need to separate third con-
cepts when analyzing the effect of communication
strategies on the image of a country, destination
and hotel. It is therefore, important to establish
and understand the extent to which information
sources which are not under control of marketers
and cannot be managed have a varied influence on
the general country image, destination image and
hotel image, tourists visit and revisit intention to a
particular country.
well as the outcome of it which is shaped the com-
plex images (Gartner, 1993). The image shaped
by induced, organic, and autonomous sources of
information are essentially what have been per-
ceived before experiencing a destination, which
Phelps (1986) named them as the secondary image
than that primary image which is formed by actual
visitation. In addition to preceding determinants,
perceiver characteristics such as socio—demo-
graphic and culture are another source of destina-
tion image determinants. It is purported to be the
consumers (perceivers) who filter the information
from information sources and form images about
travel destinations (Dann, 1996; Gartner, 1993).
With that, the subsequent sub-section reviews all
the determinants.
2.1.1
Induced
Induced agents or promotional materials which
Gartner (1993) classified as (a) overt induced and
found in conventional advertising in the mass
media, from information delivered by the relevant
institutions in the destination or by tour operators
and wholesalers; and (b) covert induced is using
celebrities in the destination's promotional activi-
ties or destination reports or articles. Most of the
conducted studies well recognized the relation-
ship between supply side (induced) image forma-
tion agents with the destination image (Gartner,
1993; Iwashita, 2003). The image hold by visitors
is differing from non-visitors also on some dimen-
sions the expectation of non-visitors exceed from
the actual performance mention by visitors. As a
result, there must be some disconnection between
what the destination marketers presents in their
marketing and promotional efforts and the genu-
ine delivery of products and services.
2.1.2
Organic
Organic agents are word of mouth (WOM) from
friends and relatives based on their own knowledge
or experience about the places whether the infor-
mation was requested or volunteered and a visit to
the destination which both are not controlled by
destination marketers (Gartner, 1993). Literatures
indicated that receiving WOM has an impact on
the receiver's awareness, attention, consideration,
brand attitudes, intentions and expectation (Lac-
zniak, DeCarlo & Ramaswami, 2001; Mikkelsen,
Van Durme & Carrie, 2003). The significance of
WOM on businesses have been broadly argued and
examined particularly since the worldwide imple-
mentation of Internet technologies, which have
revolutionized the spreading and influenced by
WOM (Stokes & Lomax, 2002). Online user-gener-
ated reviews about travel destinations, hotels, and
tourism services have become important sources
of information for travelers and positive online
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Pre-image formation factors
The foundation for the image kinds was estab-
lished by Gunn (1972) and expanded by Gartner
(1993) which also named these stimuli as image
formation agents. Gartner (1993) denoted that
image is a dynamic concept that may be altered or
change due to earlier experiences or when the indi-
vidual is exposed to various sources of information
(Dann, 1996). To address the image, determinants
need to reflect on the organic (word of mouth, past
visit) induced (marketing tools) and autonomous
image formation agents (news, documentaries) as
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