Influence of Integrated Marketing Communication on Revisit Intention with Visitor Satisfaction as a Mediator

This research aims to analyze the relationship between integrated marketing communication strategies in influencing visitor satisfaction and intention to revisit natural tourism destinations in Sampang Regency, Indonesia. Natural tourist destinations that are research locations include Lon Malang Beach, Toroan Beach, and Camplong Beach. Data was collected using a questionnaire filled out by 290 visitors to tourist destinations. Next, the data was analyzed using Smart PLS. Data analysis techniques consist of descriptive statistics and inferential analysis. By applying PLS-SEM analysis, this research finds that integrated marketing communications have a significant effect on visitor satisfaction and intention to revisit. In addition, visitor satisfaction has a significant influence on the intention to revisit, and visitor satisfaction is a mediating factor between integrated marketing communications and revisit intention. This research is useful for planning and exploiting the great potential of natural tourism destinations, especially beach tourism destinations in Sampang Regency, Indonesia.

Introduction

At this time, tourism has become an important factor in increasing upturn for a state or territory. The tourism sector is widely believed to be able to contribute to increasing income for regions that have good natural resource potential to be managed as a contributor to improving a country’s economy. Manzooret al. (2019) explained in their research that the tourism sector has a positive and significant influence on a country’s economic growth, as well as the employment sector. The same thing was conveyed by Richardson (2010), who stated that tourism development is increasingly seen as an important medium for encouraging economic growth, alleviating poverty, and increasing food security. Thus, tourism is an important factor in development and growth in all states, giving rise to a positive impact on the economic system and social conditions of states (Falade-Obalade & Dubey, 2014).

After the COVID-19 pandemic case was lifted by governments around the world, the tourism business became one of the economic drivers for a country or region, especially in building the national economy and one of the most important social activities in improving the quality of life, welfare, personal development, and well-being. According to the World Tourism Organization, tourism is an important driver for socio-economic progress, especially in creating the business world and opening jobs, increasing income from the export sector, and infrastructure development (UNTWO, 2016).

According to Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 28 of 2009, area income constitutes all regional rights that are recognized as an addition to net capital in the relevant fiscal year period. Area income includes Original Regional Income, Balancing Fund, and Other Original Regional Income. Regional Original Income is an important aspect of economic and social development at the local level, and its good management can make a major contribution to the progress of the region. Original Regional Income refers to sources of income obtained by regional governments or local governments from various types of taxes, levies, regionally owned business results, and other sources. Original Regional Income is a very important source of income for regional governments in carrying out public service and development functions at the local level as a manifestation of Decentralization.

Nowadays, Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is no longer a new paradigm in the world of marketing but rather an approach that has developed over several decades and has become a standard in effective marketing practice. IMC includes the integration of various marketing channels and elements to create a consistent and coherent message to the target audience. Although not a new paradigm, IMC is still very relevant and important in the ever-changing business environment. However, only a few studies specifically discuss IMC and its application in the tourism and hospitality sector. Therefore, the concept of IMC in the tourism and hospitality industry needs to be studied further (Chenini & Cherif, 2016). In addition, there is an argument based on marketing communications specifications that the use of digital technology in communications of marketing for tourism businesses is not yet developed enough and that digital technology has not been fully implemented in practice, thus affecting the longevity of the tourism businesses (Hristoforovaet al., 2019). According to the American Marketing Association, Integrated Marketing Communications is a marketing communications plan concept that evaluates the strategic role of various communication tools such as advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotions in the form of a comprehensive program. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) seeks to maximize positive messages and minimize negative messages by integrating these communication tools to maximize the influence of marketing communications (Kotler & Keller, 2016). Therefore, the main objective of this research is to investigate the role of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) in attracting more tourists to visit natural tourism destinations in Sampang Regency by using tourist attractions as a source of income, job creation, and improving social services in tourism destinations.

Literature Review and Hypotheses

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is an approach in marketing that aims to create consistent and coherent marketing messages, and integrate them through various available communication channels (Kitchen & Schultz, 2009). IMC combines various elements of marketing communications, such as advertising, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, social media, and others, into one integrated framework. The main goal of IMC is to create a uniform marketing experience for customers, strengthen the brand image, and achieve maximum effectiveness in achieving the company’s marketing goals. With IMC, brand messages and values are communicated uniformly to target audiences through multiple channels, creating a greater impact than using separate communication channels. IMC also involves coordinated planning, integrated outcome measurement, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior. According to Kotler and Keller (2016), there are five elements of IMC, namely:

1. Advertising is all forms of non-personal presentation or promotion of goods, services, or ideas with certain sponsors.
2. Sales promotion refers to marketing activities that provide added value or incentives to sales personnel, distributors, or consumers.
3. Public relations is the activity of building good relationships with various groups to get the desired publicity and build a good company image.
4. Personal selling is a personal presentation made by a company salesperson with the aim of selling and building relationships with customers with the aim of selling and building relationships with customers.
5. Direct marketing is a direct relationship with consumers that has been carefully determined to get an immediate response and build customer relationships.

Customer Satisfaction

Satisfaction describes the feeling of joy or happiness that a person feels. So, customer satisfaction arises when customers get what they expect from a product or service. In general, customer satisfaction has been widely researched in the fields of consumer behavior and social psychology. Thus, customer satisfaction can be described “as the customer’s subjective assessment of the consumption experience, which is based on a certain relationship between the customer’s perception and the objective characteristics of the product” (Pizamet al., 2016; Prayaget al., 2017). Customer satisfaction is built as an evaluation of a healthy customer experience or a reaction to the fulfillment of customer needs. Furthermore, according to other authors, customer satisfaction brings an increase in repeat purchasing behaviour and intention to recommend (Prayaget al., 2017), whereas dissatisfied consumers feel hesitant to return to that place (Alegre & Garau, 2010).

Revisit Intention

Revisit intention is a person’s intention or desire to return or revisit a place or brand in the future. In a business and marketing context, revisit intention is an important indicator because it reflects the extent to which customers are satisfied with previous experiences and whether they plan to return or purchase a product or service again. Several researchers state that visitors who repeatedly visit a destination will tend to stay longer at a destination, participate more intensively in consumer activities, be more satisfied, and spread positive information by word of mouth, but require much cheaper marketing costs than visitors who visit destinations for the first time (Lehtoet al., 2004; Zhanget al., 2014).

Furthermore, the intention to revisit a tourist destination is one type of behavior of visiting the same destination (Cole & Scott, 2004) and is an activity that involves repeating or revisiting a destination (Baker & Crompton, 2000). This is also related to tourists’ assessment of visiting the same tourist destination or planning to visit the same destination again (Khasawneh & Alfandi, 2019; Styloset al., 2016) or being willing to recommend their chosen destination to others (Chen & Tsai, 2007; Khasawneh & Alfandi, 2019).

Influence of Integrated Marketing Communication on Satisfaction and Revisit Intention

According to Oluwafemi and Adebiyi (2018), their research found a significant relationship between advertising, direct marketing, publicity, and sales promotions on customer satisfaction. Additionally, they recommend IMC as a strategic tool to target customers to recommend and retain them with service providers and products for a long time. Meanwhile, according to Reid, customer satisfaction is a very important instrument when evaluating the final results of implementing IMC in a company (Reid, 2005). Therefore, consistent and coherent communication delivered through multiple channels will be highly profitable and beneficial to customer satisfaction (Porcuet al., 2019; Reid, 2005; Šerićet al., 2020; Šerić & Gil-Saura, 2011). Furthermore, Gounariset al. (2010) suggest that integrated marketing communications can influence customer satisfaction and loyalty. A loyal customer will certainly be willing to repurchase a product or service. So, the hypothesis is structured as follows:

H1: Integrated marketing communications have a positive effect on tourist satisfaction.

H2: Integrated marketing communications have a positive effect on tourists’ revisit intention.

Influence of Tourist Satisfaction on Revisit Intention

The relationship between Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and revisit intention is an important aspect of marketing and customer retention. IMC plays an important role in shaping how customers perceive and interact with a brand, and this, in turn, can influence their intention to revisit or continue interacting with the brand. This resource explores the strategic aspects of IMC and how this can influence customer behavior, including revisit intentions. This emphasizes the importance of a cohesive and integrated communications approach in fostering positive customer relationships and encouraging repeat business. While these specific references may not directly address return visit intentions, they provide valuable insight into the broader impact of IMC on customer engagement and loyalty (Kitchen & Burgmann, 2015). It is generally agreed that customer satisfaction is an important factor in achieving loyalty; both for physical products, but also in service contexts such as tourism (Som & Badarneh, 2011). Furthermore, according to Umet al. (2006) revisit intention is considered an satisfaction exten-sion. When tourists get pleasant feelings from a tourist destination, they will certainly feel satisfied with that destination so that they will increase their intention to visit again. Several literatures confirm that tourist satisfaction has a positive influence on intention to revisit (Assaker & Hallak, 2013; Khasawneh & Alfandi, 2019). Therefore, the author proposes the following hypothesis:

H₃: Tourist satisfaction has a positive effect on tourists’ intention to revisit.

Methodology

Data Analysis

Variance-based Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) has been used in this research to analyze data collected through questionnaires. PLS-SEM is one of the most used statistical tools in management disciplines for the generalization and integration of latent variable constructs along with principal components as well as regression analysis (Hairet al., 2014). Revisit intention is a target and formative construct in the structure of this research that has been supported theoretically. For constructions like this, PLS-SEM is the most appropriate approach (Hairet al., 2014). In this research, structural modeling (investigation of the relationship between latent variables) and measurement model assessment (evaluation of the validity and reliability of latent variables) have been processed.

Tourists who visit Lon Malang, Camplong Beach and Toroan Beach are the population in this study. Convenience sampling was applied to select respondents who met the criteria as tourists who were visiting Lon Malang Beach, Camplong Beach, and Toroan Beach and were over 17 years old. The sample size is 290 respondents based on (Hairet al., 2014) the rule of thumb that the minimum sample size required to eliminate bias in all SEM estimates is 100–200 samples.

Data collection used direct interviews with respondents at Lon Malang, Camplong Beach, and Toroan Beach. The questionnaire was divided into screening, profiling, and key research variable questions. The first part of the questionnaire will begin with questions that seek to identify respondents who meet the criteria in the research design. The second step is to create a profile of the respondent, including age, previous education, profession, income, or monthly expenses. The final stage is part of the main questions regarding integrated marketing communications, tourist satisfaction, and intention to return.

Results and Discussion

Profile of the Respondents

Respondents were visitors or tourists who were enjoying the beauty of the natural tourist destinations of Lon Malang Beach, Camplong Beach, and Toroan Beach.

Table I shows the profile of the participants in this study. Many customers involved are women with a percentage of 53.45%, and 46.55% are men. With an age range of 17 to 30 years as much as 58.97%; 31 to 40 years old 23.79%, and 17.24% were over 40 years old. Those who were married were 56.9%, single 40.69%, widows 1.03%, and widowers 1.38%. Respondents were dominated by 32.41% private employees, 29.31% civil servants, 14.83% self-employed, 8.97% students, 7.93% housewives, and 6.55% working in other fields. A total of 47.93% of respondents had a bachelor’s degree; 26.21% had a Diploma III education; and 12.41% masters. Monthly income ranges from Rp. 2,500,000 to 5,000,000 as much as 44.48%, less than Rp. 2,500,000 as much as 23.45%, from Rp. 5,000,001 to 7,500,000 as much as 13.10%, and 18.97% have monthly income more than IDR 7,500,000.

Table I. Profile of the Participants (N = 290)

Classification	Quantity	Percentage
Gender
Male	155	53.45%
Female	135	46.55%
Age
17-30	171	58.97%
31-40	69	23.79%
>40	50	17.24%
Educational
Under graduate	39	13.45%
Diploma III	76	26.21%
Bachelor	139	47.93%
Master	36	12.41%
Monthly income
<IDR. 2,500,000	68	23.45%
IDR. 2,500,000–5.000.000	129	44.48%
IDR. 5,000,001–7,500,000	38	13.10%
IDR. 7,500,000+	55	18.97%
Occupation
Bureaucracy	93	29.31%
Private worker	94	32.41%
Entrepreneur	39	14.83%
University student	26	8.97%
Housewife	21	7.93%
Other	17	6.55%

Descriptive Analysis

The results of the descriptive analysis are presented in Table II.

Table II. Construct Reliability and Results of the Outer Model

Variable	Indicators	Loadings	Cronbach’s α	CR	AVE
Integrated marketing communication	IMC1	0.804	0.921	0.940	0.760
	IMC2	0.821
	IMC3	0.912
	IMC4	0.890
	IMC5	0.925
Customer satisfaction	CS1	0.791	0.822	0.865	0.616
	CS2	0.713
	CS3	0.824
	CS4	0.805
Revisit intention	RI1	0.978	0.952	0.969	0.913
	RI2	0.952
	RI3	0.937

The standardized factor loading of each indicator is known to have exceeded 0.5 with a t value of more than 1.96, this shows that all measurement indicators reflect the latent construct in the model, and all indicators for each latent construct are considered. valid for use as a measurement of latent constructs. Therefore, no indicators were omitted in this study. In contrast, configuration reliability testing is intended to assess the consistency and reliability of variables representing latent constructs.

Reliability assessment is divided into two main components, namely Construct Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE). A latent construct is considered reliable if the minimum value of CR is 0.7 and AVE is 0.5. Based on Table II, the AVE value of each variable is above 0.5, and the CR value is above 0.7. This shows that all variables and indicators can be relied on as measuring tools for latent constructs. In addition, the greater CR value indicates that the indicators that make up the latent variable modifier are reliable indicators of the latent variable.

Convergent Validity

Convergent validity analysis is carried out to ensure whether each indicator in the variable has sufficient convergent validity. Table II displays the reliability and validity of the variables. All α values (0.822–0.952) and CR (0.865–0.969) so that each variable exceeds the limit of 0.7. Therefore, criteria in the model are highly recommended to capture variable reliability. In addition, the AVE values for all variables have values above 0.5 (0.616–0.913), and the external loadings of the measurement indicators for each variable exceed 0.7. Thus, the proposed model has convergent validity.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity is used to examine the uniqueness and distinctiveness of constructs (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The discriminant validity results are presented in Table III, showing that all square roots of AVE (diagonal) are greater in the relationships between factors, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the variables.

Table III. Discriminant Validity

	IMC	Revisit intention	Satisfaction
IMC	0.817
Revisit intention	0.150	0.815
Satisfaction	0.136	0.152	0.799

Structural Model Assessment

After assessing reliability and validity, bootstrapping techniques were used to assess the structural validity of the model by carrying out complete resampling 500 times. Table IV displays the findings of hypothesis testing.

Table IV. Results for Hypothesis Testing

	Hypothesis	Beta	t-value	p-value	Results
1	IMC -> Satisfaction	0.812	89.927	<0.001	Accept
2	IMC -> Revisit Intention	0.915	51.489	<0.001	Accept
3	Satisfaction -> Revisit Intention	0.052	2.199	0.028	Accept
4	IMC -> Satisfaction -> Revisit intention	0.042	2.207	0.028	Accept

Table IV shows that overall the resulting path coefficient is positive. This means that the direct relationship between the exogenous latent variable and the endogenous latent variable is positive (in the same direction) which is supported by the t-statistics value having a value above 1.96 and the probability value having a value below 0.05 so that all hypotheses can be accepted. Meanwhile, the indirect influence also shows that consumer satisfaction has a mediating effect between integrated marketing communications and service quality for tourists in Sampang Regency. The highest coefficient value is shown by the relationship between integrated marketing communications and intention to revisit with the highest path coefficient value of 0.915, while the lowest coefficient value is shown by the unidirectional relationship between Customer Satisfaction and intention to revisit is 0.052.

Fig. 1 shows that the overall R-squared value is 0.917 and is believed to significantly influence how accurate the predictions of the structural model are (Chin, 1998). These results indicate that IMC and satisfaction accounted for 91.7% of the variance in revisit intention.

Fig. 1. Research model.

Discussion

From the test results on this research, integrated marketing communications has a positive and significant influence on revisit intentions. This result is supported by the path coefficient results, which have an original sample value of 0.915, which shows a positive number, as well as a t-count value of 51.489, which has a value greater than the t-table value of 1.96, and a p-value obtained below 0.001, which is smaller than 0.05. So, it can be said that the integrated marketing communication variable has a significant influence on the revisit intention variable, so these results support research conducted by Šericet al. (2015). Furthermore, in Table II, it is shown that all indicators in the integrated marketing communication variable have loading factor values above the set value, namely above 0.07, so that all indicators in the integrated marketing communications variable support the research model. Furthermore, the IMC5 indicator is the indicator with the highest cross-loading (0.925). So, by conveying a good message it will increase tourists’ interest in visiting again. This result supports previous research conducted by Fitrianaet al. (2021). So this research shows that the better marketing communications are carried out accurately and clearly, the better the customer response will be, which in the end can build customer satisfaction and interest in visiting again (Fitrianaet al., 2021). However, this research is different from previous research conducted by Elveraet al. (2019). Customer satisfaction is something that destination managers want to achieve. After consumers consume a product or service, the impression they get is in accordance with the consumer’s knowledge and experience of a destination, so that tourist will satisfied. All dimensions of integrated marketing communications built by natural tourism destinations in Sampang Regency have a significant influence on the formation of visitor satisfaction.

Furthermore, from the results of testing the relationship between integrated marketing communications and satisfacton, results were obtained that showed a positive and significant influence. These results are shown by the path coefficient results with an original sample value of 0.812 which shows a positive number with a t-count value of 89.927 which is greater than the t-table value of 1.96, and a p-value below 0.001, which is smaller than 0.05. So, it can be said that The integrated marketing communication variable has a significant effect on satisfaction variable. These results can be interpreted that the better the integrated marketing communication, the satisfaction of destination visitors will increase and conversely, if integrated marketing communication is bad, the satisfaction of destination visitors will be low. If you look at Fig. 1, the results of the path coefficient test on the hypothesis have a direct influence on the satisfaction variable with the recommended indicator being the indicator with the highest cross-loading or loading factor value of 0.978 on Item RI1.

For the relationship between consumer satisfaction variables and intention to revisit, positive and significant results were obtained. These results are shown by the path coefficient results with an value of the original sample of 0.052 which shows a positive number with the t-count value of 2.199 which is greater than the t-table value of 1.96 and a p-value of 0.028 which is smaller than 0.05 so it can be said that The customer satisfaction variable has a significant effect on the intention to return visit variable. The results of this test illustrate that tourists intend to revisit tourist destinations in Sampang Regency because they feel satisfied with the tourist destination, even though it has original sample values, the t-count and p-values are smaller than the relationship between the integrated marketing communi-cation variable and the satisfaction variable. customers and the variable intention to revisit.

The results of this research illustrate that the relationship between integrated marketing communication variables has a dominant influence on the variable intention to revisit tourist destinations in Sampang Regency, followed by the relationship between the variable integrated marketing communication on tourist satisfaction, and the relationship between the variable tourist satisfaction on intention to revisit. The strong relationship between marketing communication variables and revisit intention variables shows that the dimensions of integrated marketing communication which include: advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling are in the good category. Tourists’ high intention to revisit tourist destinations is influenced by good integrated marketing communications. The more effective the application of integrated marketing communications by tourism destination managers in Sampang Regency to tourists, the greater the influence on visitors’ intentions to visit again. These results support previous research, where loyal consumers generally have characteristics such as making regular purchases, being willing to buy outside the product/service line, recommending products to other consumers, and rejecting the appeal of similar products from competitors (Griffin, 2002). Loyal consumers have an important role for the company, retaining consumers means maintaining the company’s survival and improving financial performance. So attracting and retaining consumers is the main reason for the tourism industry. Loyal visitors are an important asset for the tourism industry in Sampang Regency. So there is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction variables and intention to revisit, this result is in accordance with previous research findings (Chenet al., 2017; Ha & Jang, 2010; Marinkovicet al., 2014; Ryuet al., 2010).

Managerial Implications

The research results show that destination management must pay attention to customer satisfaction because it directly influences the intention to visit again. Assessing customer satisfaction is important to successfully compete in the tourism business. From a managerial perspective, the results of this research will help tourism destination managers to better understand the important role of integrated marketing communications as a marketing tool to satisfy and retain visitors.

Limitations

This research has limitations, namely that it is cross-sectional so it can be developed not only on one city in Indonesia. The scope of the research is limited because data was collected from one city in Indonesia (Sampang) using convenience sampling.

Future Research Directions

There are several elements that can be included for future research such as adding other variables as mediators such as destination image (Kwiateket al., 2020). It is hoped that in future research a longitudinal approach will be used so that it can reduce data bias. Furthermore, are also the addition of several other areas to strengthen or support this research.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions

Based on the discussion of this research, the following conclusions can be drawn up:

1. 1)A very important finding in this research is shown by the relationship between integrated marketing communications and intention to return. Which obtained the highest results compared to the relationship between other variables, namely the relationship between integrated marketing communications and visitor satisfaction, and the relationship between visitor satisfaction and intention to return. This shows that tourists state that Sampang Regency has quite large potential and is very good for revisiting, which is promoted through communication media, as well as good integrated marketing communications, which will have a positive influence on visitor satisfaction at tourist destinations and then visitor satisfaction. will have a positive influence on intention to revisit. Another finding in the form of visitor satisfaction variables at tourist destinations provides a mediating relationship between integrated marketing communication variables and intention to visit again.
2. 2) The findings show that tourism business actors have paid attention to marketing strategies by communicating and promoting tourism activities or events in Sampang Regency. According to Ercis (2011), an integrated marketing communications approach can not only strengthen tourist satisfaction but also encourage them to repurchase the service. Therefore, tourist destination managers must understand it as an important factor in providing higher quality services to their tourists, resulting in repeat purchasing behavior and sustainable and increased income.
3. 3) These results confirm that tourist destination managers must realize the importance of customer satisfaction through the development of good marketing communications. As suggested by Wanget al. (2009), satisfactory marketing communications can be understood by customers as customer satisfaction when receiving information as expected. Therefore, tourist destination managers must implement marketing communications development strategies to promote components that are profitable for service providers. These contributions can meet guest preferences by exceeding their expectations. The efforts described can ultimately lead to long-term and sustainable business practices.

Recommendations

1. 4) Analysis of direct and indirect effects shows that customer satisfaction has a mediating effect between integrated marketing communications and service quality for tourists in Sampang Regency. This proves that customer satisfaction plays an important role in increasing tourists’ intention to revisit.
2. 5) This research also confirms that the quality of information delivery through integrated marketing communications has a significant impact on tourist repurchases in Sampang Regency. Because the quality of information is very important for tourists, destination managers must emphasize the quality of their information, thereby creating and maintaining a competitive advantage.
3. 6) Future research should focus on including several other variables that may be suitable and should be considered in the tourism industry to develop the potential of tourist destinations to be more appropriate and in line with the needs of their customers.
4. 7) The author suggests that further research conduct comparative studies between other tourist destinations in Indonesia and across countries. Doing so will increase understanding of the direction of the international tourism sector, as foreign tourists traveling and staying in Sampang Regency are expected to increase substantially.