دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی نقش عناصر برند در برندسازی مقصد - الزویر 2018

abstract

This article evaluates the contribution of commonly used symbolic elements – namely destination name, logo and tagline – to the establishment of the destination brand. The conceptual framework is developed combining suggestions on the role and significance of symbolic brand elements for commercial brands with the literature on destination and place branding, drawing particularly on the recent identity-based approach to place brands. The article reports on field research that operationalized the theoretical framework to examine the perceptions of visitors to Greece. Although the name is clearly more influential, the overall contribution of the symbolic elements to the brand is proven to be limited. This implies that destinations need to prioritise other aspects of the branding effort.

Conclusions

This study helps to draw useful conclusions on the issues of brand formation and the role of brand elements partly also because it addresses actual visitors, when studies on the success of largely visual stimuli and their meaning most usually take place in laboratories (for instance by using eye-tracking methodology; see Scott, Green, and Fairley, 2016). In our study, addressing actual tourists suggests the success of the destination in attracting international visitors (surpassing other destinations) and provides a chance to examine the role of brand elements in this success. A second differentiation of this particular empirical investigation lies at investigating the relative strength of different elements towards a fixed/common reference point (which, as mentioned in Section 3, holds a positive position in the visitors’ perception). The third methodological contribution of this research concerns the link and assessment of alternative brand elements within a new concept, namely the identity-based approach. Based on the empirical material presented here, certain potentially valuable conclusions about destination branding can be drawn. Regarding the overall importance and role of the three examined brand elements, all three score on a moderate level. This is a clear indication of the relatively lower significance of these elements within the destination branding effort and the rather limited potential that these elements have to make a big difference in the final evaluation of the place brand. Regarding the relative importance of the elements, 'name' comes out on top. This might be an indication that the place's name is indeed all that the place branding effort can be based on in terms of symbolic elements, particularly since places already have names and authorities do not need to forge new ones. The relatively higher significance of the name is interesting for new destinations or new tourism offerings that are at the early stages of their branding efforts. For a new destination, for example, or for a new route that combines different destinations, the name is clearly a more important consideration than the logo and the tagline.