Familiarity, Imagery, and Visiting Propensity: Taiwan in the Minds of Mainland Chinese Internet Users

Destination image is at the center of attention for its pivot role in the process of destination choice. Among a considerable number of image studies in the past two decades, recent studies have paid more attention to investigate how destination image is formed through the accumulations of familiarity. However, the potential analytical importance of familiarity is somewhat overlooked in tourism literature and in need of further research. Therefore, this research attempts to verify familiarity as a viable market segmentation variable by investigating its relationships with destination image and visiting propensity. The results not only confirm the positive relationships between familiarity, imagery, and visiting propensity, but also legitimate familiarity as a viable market segmentation variable.