Abstract:
The aim of the study was to explore the potential of a timed word association task to generate detailed insights into the perception of Glasgow city and its people which could inform destination and brand marketing. Destination marketers have a challenge to convey the tourist destination image to attract and satisfy the expectations of its visitors. Yet destination perceptions are often the result of multiple tourist visitor experiences at a location, neglecting the voice of the resident. The extent to which word associations varied by participants\' relationship to Glasgow was identified in terms of Aaker\'s brand personality scale, an extension of personality research on brands and destinations. Surveying of 1,219 UK participants generated a total of 5,993 terms (city; 1,144 unique) and 5,034 terms (people; 944 unique). The value of capturing the perceptions of a destination by its residents is identified. The results showed that the city of Glasgow was often described as cold and busy, while the people were primarily described as friendly and funny. Evidence was found in support of dual-processing theory suggesting word associations based on lived experiences of a city may be generated later (in terms of the order in which the terms were generated) in a word association task, while common linguistic associations (e.g. synonyms, antonyms, hierarchies etc.) tend to be generated earlier in the task. As hypothesised, analyses revealed a significant relationship between several of the Aaker-dimensions of brand personality, and the consumers\' relationship to Glasgow, extending marketing research with an empirical approach to identifying differences in the perceived personality of a destination. The study offers a practical, fast, and replicable method for destination marketers to study consumer perception at scale, which is currently not widely utilised in this field. In particular, the use of semantic distance and word embeddings provides a readily available approach to automatically categorise content derived from word associations studies, or indeed, any text-based content. In contrast, financial investment in non-validated branding and destination marketing campaigns appear to be increasingly problematic. Advances were made in testing an approach to interpreting word associations through the lens of linguistic and situated simulation (LASS) theory to provide deeper analysis to both categorise and interpret consumers\' perception. Traditional approaches to tourism marketing and destination branding rarely provide such a level of analytical appraisal. The analysis presented in this paper challenges the orthodoxy and validity of investment in brand and destination marketing at a city level and the potential for word association tasks to be used as a valuable alternative method to create more effective destination marketing and branding.
摘要:
该研究的目的是探索定时单词联想任务的潜力,以产生对格拉斯哥城市及其人们的感知的详细见解,从而为目的地和品牌营销提供信息。目的地营销人员面临着传达旅游目的地形象以吸引和满足游客期望的挑战。然而,目的地感知往往是一个地点的多个游客体验的结果,忽略了居民的声音。根据Aaker的品牌个性量表,确定了参与者与格拉斯哥之间的联系程度。品牌和目的地个性研究的延伸。对1,219名英国参与者进行的调查共产生了5,993项(城市;1,144个独特项)和5,034项(人;944个独特项)。确定了捕获居民对目的地的感知的价值。结果显示,格拉斯哥市经常被描述为寒冷和繁忙,而人们主要被描述为友好和有趣。发现了支持双重处理理论的证据,表明基于城市生活经验的单词关联可能会在单词关联任务中稍后生成(根据生成术语的顺序)。而常见的语言关联(例如同义词,反义词,等级制度等。)倾向于在任务的早期生成。正如假设的那样,分析显示,品牌个性的几个Aaker维度之间存在显著关系,以及消费者与格拉斯哥的关系,用实证方法扩展营销研究,以识别目的地感知个性的差异。这项研究提供了一个实用的,快,以及目的地营销人员大规模研究消费者感知的可复制方法,目前在这一领域没有广泛使用。特别是,语义距离和单词嵌入的使用提供了一种随时可用的方法来自动对单词关联研究得出的内容进行分类,或者事实上,任何基于文本的内容。相比之下,对未经验证的品牌和目的地营销活动的金融投资似乎越来越成问题。在测试一种通过语言和情境模拟(LASS)理论来解释单词关联的方法方面取得了进展,以提供更深入的分析来分类和解释消费者的感知。传统的旅游营销和目的地品牌方法很少提供这样的分析评估水平。本文提出的分析挑战了城市层面的品牌和目的地营销投资的正统性和有效性,以及单词关联任务被用作创建更有效的目的地营销和品牌的有价值的替代方法的潜力。