Tourist shopping of apparel products and brand loyalty

Abstract

Tourist shopping is one of the highly important and relevant topics in tourism study. With an increasing number of tourists around the world, many countries offer shopping campaigns and incentives, such as special promotions for tourists and tax refund for tourists. There are growing numbers of fashion apparel stores targeting international tourists as their primary customers. The concept of brand loyalty has been mainly discussed in shopping behaviors in the general consumer context. Limited studies examine brand loyalty in the context of tourists. Although there is a growing consumption of luxury apparel products in developing countries, studies on this product consumption are still lacking (Kumar, Lee, & Kim, 2009). Therefore, this research examines the impact of achievement shopping, perceived quality, brand awareness and status consumption as the predictors on brand loyalty in the context of international tourists in Bangkok, Thailand.