The role of functional associations in building destination brand personality: When official websites do the talking

Abstract

Destinations 'talk' about themselves via online media to build strong brand personalities. However, previous research points to the influence of other associations linked to the destination in determining the credibility of the aforementioned personality. This research aims to identify the potential of certain types of functional associations -attractions-in strengthening projected personality through discourse. With this aim in mind, we analyze the content of twelve official European urban destination websites. The results expand on previous research by identifying how different aspects of what a destination has to offer help portray personality traits. There is huge potential to use attractions to better project desired personality traits, which leads to a better fit between the personality and the overall projected image. The findings have significant implications both for brand managers to enable them to optimize their communication, and for future research. The projected personality of destinations should not be studied independently from the functional dimension of brand image.

A Textual and Visual Analysis of the Intrinsic Value Dimensions of Romania: Towards a Sustainable Destination Brand

“…In this realm, several studies offer a comparison of brands' online platforms which highlights the fact that each platform has its own architecture, rules and cultural use [12][13][14][15]. But less research has been devoted to analysis of the existing online brand content that DMOs use to promote a projected image, despite the fact that official websites of the tourism destinations allow tourists to obtain relevant information by visiting it, supported by a wide range of stimuli stemming from videos, images and text [16].…”

“…Assuming that destination image can be projected through destination photographs [16], logos [17], slogans [18] and texts [17], this work examines the value dimensions of promotional materials from DMOs as drivers of an experiential consumption among tourists.…”

Sustainability in Overtouristified Cities? A Social Media Insight into Italian Branding Responses to Covid-19 Crisis

“…Destination branding literature has developed insight into the brand associations, converging on the identification of functional and affective components of the brand [44]. Interactions and influence between these two components were empirically tested, suggesting the need to consider them together in the projection of a destination brand proposition [53].…”

“…Personality traits of the destination brand represent a symbolic and abstract dimension making tourists express their values, enhance self-esteem and produce their own identity [53]. Aaker's brand personality concept, which is the "set of human characteristics associated with the brand" (1997: 347), was adopted and discussed in the destination branding literature [51,[54][55][56][57][58].…”

Personalidade da Marca de Destinos e sua Relação com o Critério de Escolha dos Turistas Brasileiros

“…De modo geral, a literatura sugere que as fontes de informações são de grande relevância no processo de escolha por um destino, e que entre outras coisas, permite a formação de imagens cognitivas, afetivas e exclusivas do destino turístico, fornecendo fundamento base para analisar o comportamento dos turistas (Llodrà-Riera et al, 2015;Vinyals-Mirabent, Kavaratzis, & Fernández-Cavia, 2019).…”