Examining the Factors Affecting the Particular Value of the Destination Brand for Health Tourism (A Case Study of Atieh Hospital in Hamedan)

Considering the cultural and social characteristics of tourism destinations, the researchers of the present study tried to measure the brand equity (brand power) of a tourist destination from the perspective of health tourists based on the Kunkink Model (2007) which is taken from the Aker Model, in which both behavioral and perceptual dimensions have been considered. Therefore, the present study intends to review the Aker Model in Iran and investigate its application in the health tourism destination of Hamadan. Based on the main purpose of this study, the effect of brand image, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand loyalty (i.e., brand equity) as the independent variables on the particular value of the Atieh hospital brand in Hamadan which is the dependent variable was investigated. The results of the study showed that in terms of importance, the perceived quality was the most important factor of impact.