The Impact of the Print Media on Building a Destination Brand Equity in Zimbabwe

This study was based on understanding the supremacy of print media in relation to other new types of media in improving performance of the Zimbabwe tourism destination brand. This helped in establishing a print and other media framework for destination branding. The main types of print media that were investigated were newspapers, travel journals, magazines, flyers and directories. These were assessed in comparison to the available contemporary media which are social media, broadcast media, direct media, electronic media and outdoor media. A measurement of the Zimbabwe tourism brand performance was done focusing on the brand equity variables namely, brand awareness, brand image, perceived brand quality, brand loyalty and brand association. The study applied a quantitative to qualitative sequential mixed methods. A survey questionnaire and in-depth interview guide were used as instruments for data collection. The total sample size for the research was n=421. The findings of the study revealed that newspapers and travel journals are the two main types of print media that have an effect on the Zimbabwe tourism destination brand equity variables. It revealed that newspapers influence brand awareness and perceived brand quality. Travel journals were found to have an influence on brand association. For the other types of media, the study concluded that broadcast media, social media and direct media also have an effect on the destination brand equity variables. Broadcast media was found to have an influence on brand awareness with social media influencing brand loyalty and direct media influencing brand image. The study therefore recommended that there is need for destination marketers to jointly use print and new media in marketing the Zimbabwe tourism destination brand. Also it recommended for political stability as it has been discovered as the main cause for negative media publicity