دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی برندینگ شهر در پایتخت های اروپایی: تجزیه و تحلیل از دیدگاه بازدید کننده - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to analyze the application of city branding in five European capitals – London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Madrid – using a measurement model to link brand equity to its antecedents and consequences. The measurement model and structural model are estimated through partial least squares. An index, designated the City Branding Index (CBI), is developed to quantify and compare the brand equity of the five European capitals selected. The findings show that the brand equity of the European capitals consists of the awareness and perceived quality of a city as a destination and the influence of attitude on the brand and brand image. The CBI reveals the existence of gaps among the five capitals in the four dimensions that compose brand equity. Because city branding is a useful tool for the capitals to gain competitive advantages, the results could allow city managing bodies and firms from the sector to evaluate each city's competitive position with regard to its competitors and to design strategies for each European capital.

5. Conclusions and implications

5.1. Conclusions from a theoretical and empirical perspective

From the theoretical perspective, this study contributes to the existing literature about the conceptualization of brand equity as a multidimensional construct formed by two components, i.e. brand awareness and perceived brand quality, and influenced by brand image and indirectly by attitudes toward the brand. This contribution is important because of the limited number of studies that measure tourist destination brand equity because of the complexity of the issue. In addition, this study contributes to the literature on branding by showing that brand equity can be manipulated through associations that will affect attitudes toward the brand and a brand image while influencing brand equity. Thus, the present study establishes an alternative method to act on the constructs that influence brand equity.

The literature review shows how defining and measuring the constructs in a reflective and formative manner can be confusing. Most studies use reflective measurements (Tsai et al., 2013), and in some cases the possibility of using formative measurements to improve the specifications has not been evaluated (Gil-Saura et al., 2013). In this regard, some authors have reported problems derived from faulty specifications. To avoid these problems, careful consideration was made, research was conducted, and the decision to measure value in a formative manner was adopted. Indeed, brand equity is a secondorder construct with two first-order dimensions as formative indicators and the influence of attitudes toward the brand and brand image contributing to the creation of brand equity.