**4. Results**

#### *4.1. Structural Analysis of the Sample*

The results revealed that 55.6% of respondents were female, and the majority were married (51.4%). Furthermore, respondents aged 31–40 years accounted for 28.3% followed by those aged 21–30 years who accounted for 23.3%; notably, the majority of respondents fell into the 31–40 years age group. Furthermore, 27.2% of the respondents were students, followed by military officers, public servants, and educational personnel (22.2%). In terms of educational level, those with a bachelor's degree accounted for the largest proportion of the sample (49.4%). In addition, 35% of respondents earned less than NT \$20,000 per month, whereas 21.1% of respondents earned above NT \$60,001 per month.

## *4.2. Landscape Resources*

Table 1 presents the results of the analysis of Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village's landscape resources, with average values between 3.80 and 4.67. Among these, organic farming ranked the highest, followed by fresh air and extensive views of the mountains. Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village was the first organic agriculture village in Taiwan; therefore, related agencies spent substantial amounts of money developing resources related to organic farming. Because the village is situated among the mountains and valleys of Eastern Hualien, its fresh air and extensive views of the mountains and other natural landscape resources have helped shape a natural and rural atmosphere. These resources are crucial factors that have attracted visitors to the village.

To determine the reliability of the scale, internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha. The scale had five dimensions, namely natural landscape, country landscape, artificial landscape, experience of farm stays, and experience of organic farming, and they had Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.778, 0.845, 0.500, 0.794, and 0.703, respectively. Country landscape ranked the highest, followed by experience of organic farming and natural landscape. This indicated that the Luoshan Organic

Agriculture Village landscape resource scale had good internal consistency. Table 2 presents the results of the reliability analysis.


**Table 1.** Dimensions of Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village's landscape resources.

**Table 2.** Reliability analysis of Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village's landscape resources.


## *4.3. Brand Equity*

Table 3 presents the results of the analysis of Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village's brand equity. Overall, Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village enjoyed a high level of brand equity, ranging between 4.36 and 4.72. Respondents indicated that the strongest brand equity factor was environmental sustainability, followed by the uniqueness of organic farming and image of healthy tourism. Tourists to Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village recognize the importance of environmental sustainability, the uniqueness of organic farming, and image of healthy tourism to brand equity.



The brand equity scale had five dimensions, namely: awareness, loyalty, quality, image of organic farming, and unique resources, which had Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.64, 0.84, and 0.50, respectively. This indicated that the brand equity scale had good internal consistency, as shown in Table 4.


**Table 4.** Reliability analysis of brand equity.

#### *4.4. Cluster Analysis of Access to Environmental Information*

This study employed cluster analysis to segmen<sup>t</sup> tourists to Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village based on the frequency with which they obtain environmental information and their frequency of visiting organic agriculture villages. This analysis divided the tourists into two clusters: those with low and high access to environmental information. Table 5 presents the results.

**Table 5.** Cluster analysis of access to environmental information.


#### *4.5. Relationships among Landscape Resources and Brand Equity*

To confirm whether access to environmental information moderated landscape resources and brand equity in Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village, this research classified the tourists into those with a low level of access to environmental information (i.e., the low-level cluster) and those with a high level of access to environmental information (i.e., the high-level cluster) before establishing a linear structural relationship model. The model was analyzed using the structural equation model analysis software package LISREL 8.52, and the results are presented in Figure 2. The numbers represent path coe fficients, whereas those in brackets represent the *t* values of the coe fficients.

In the low-level cluster, under the absolute fit measures, the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) was 0.93 and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.04; every measure was at a significant level. Among the incremental fit measures, the adjusted GFI (AGFI) was 0.98, the normed fit index (NFI) was 0.97, and the comparative fit index (CFI) was 1.00; all values fell within the ideal range. Among the parsimonious fit measures, the root mean square residual (RMR) was 0.05. The path coe fficient of landscape resources to brand equity was 0.65, and *t*-value was 5.38, reaching the significance level. These results falsify H1. The top two factors a ffecting landscape resources were experience of organic farming and natural landscape. In addition, two factors that influenced brand equity were derived: quality and unique resources.

In the high-level cluster, under the absolute fit measures, the GFI was 0.94 and the RMSEA was 0.07. Among the incremental fit measures, the AGFI was 0.89, the NFI was 0.94, and the CFI was 0.97; all values fell within the ideal range. Furthermore, the RMR was 0.05 among the parsimonious fit measures. The path coe fficient of landscape resources to brand equity was 0.76 with a *t*-value of 5.18, reaching the level of significance. These results also sugges<sup>t</sup> that landscape resources positively a ffect brand equity. The low- and high-level clusters were proven to be moderators; Figures 2 and 3 show their moderating e ffects on the relationship between landscape resources and brand equity. For the high-level cluster, the moderating e ffect reached 0.76, while the moderating e ffect of the low-level cluster was 0.65; the moderating e ffect of the high-level cluster is greater than that of the low-level cluster. The results revealed that the impact of landscape resources on brand equity varies with di fferent levels of access

to environmental information moderating the relationship between the two factors. Consequently, the level of access to environmental information is a moderator that influences the relationship between landscape resources and brand equity.

**Figure 2.** Relationships among landscape resources and brand equity in the group with a low level of access to environmental information.

**Figure 3.** Relationships among landscape resources and brand equity in the group with a high level of access to environmental information.

#### **5. Discussion and Conclusions**

Brand equity is a crucial factor for differentiation. It is an effective method used by companies to differentiate their products from those of other companies. Furthermore, brand equity is a tool that an enterprise can use to strengthen its competitiveness through utilizing the landscape resources of a travel destination. The findings of this study indicated a high canonical correlation between landscape resources and brand equity. The results also indicated that Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village enjoys high brand equity, especially in terms of its environmental sustainability, uniqueness of organic farming, and image of healthy tourism. Consumers' perceptions of landscape resources help produce meaning and image, thereby forming a meaningful consumption landscape and further influencing brand equity, as well as indicating the importance of the consumption landscape. Regarding organic

agricultural tourism, tangible landscape resources such as natural field scenery and organic agricultural experience and environment make tourists feel natural, healthy, and relaxed. This occurs through them participating in activities, experiencing the countryside lifestyle, and understanding the consumption meaning and value of an organic, nontoxic, sustainable environment, thereby further shaping the brand equity of organic agricultural tourism. Therefore, tourists' understanding of the importance of organic agricultural development is conducive to environmental sustainability.

In addition, access to environmental information had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between landscape resources and brand equity. To analyze how access to environmental information influences landscape resources and brand equity in Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village, a linear structural relationship was created in this study using the structural equation model analysis software package LISREL. The research results showed that with the moderation of high-level access to environmental information, the path coefficient of landscape resources to brand equity was 0.76, which is greater than the corresponding coefficient with the moderation of low-level access to environmental information (i.e., 0.65). This suggests that landscape resources have a stronger impact on brand equity in the context of high-level access to environmental information compared with the impact of the moderation of low-level access to environmental information. Thus, access to environmental information has a moderating effect on the relationship between landscape resources and brand equity. The top three factors affecting landscape resources were the natural landscape, experience of organic farming, and experience of farm stays. In addition, two factors were derived that influenced brand equity: quality and unique resources.

Maximizing local economic benefit is also one of its goals for Ecotourism [52]. If the local people of Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village do not benefit from ecotourism development, they will not attach importance to protecting and developing organic agriculture tourism in the long term. In some cases, tourism has positive influences for conservation, particularly in well-managed protected areas, in terms of helping local citizens to generate their revenue via tourism [53–56]. Only when the protection of natural resources and the development of tourism are both implemented effectively can Organic Agriculture tourism be successful and sustainable.

Establishing the brand image of an organic agricultural environment can motivate tourists to recognize the importance of organic environments and inspire emotional connection with them. Hualien and Taitung have been called 'Taiwan's backyard' and are considered pure land in Taiwan. We sugges<sup>t</sup> that organic agriculture in Hualien and Taitung is integrated with surrounding natural and cultural resources to shape the brand image of organic agriculture and environmental sustainability, and to help tourists better understand agricultural and rural tourism. This will enhance tourists' identification with environmental brands and the brand equity of organic agricultural tourism.

Because Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village was the first organic agriculture village in Taiwan, organic farming and related experiential activities were the core landscape resources for shaping the village's brand equity. Luoshan is located in the center of the East Rift Valley; with the rich natural resources of the area, such as mud volcanoes and waterfalls, ample potential exists for establishing brand equity in Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village. Further integrating tourism activities with organic farming will create greater economic value—this could be a critical development strategy for establishing a unique image for Luoshan Organic Agriculture Village.
