The document presents a research analysis on the brand personality of Vienna as a tourist destination, emphasizing the shift from functional attributes to emotional connections in tourism marketing. It highlights the importance of social media in reflecting tourist perceptions and the need for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to understand and engage with these opinions. The study compares social media data with conventional survey results to offer insights and improve emotional attachments to the city of Vienna.

1. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 1
“This City is absolutely Fun and Trendy”
A Destination Brand Personality Analysis in a
Web 2.0 Setting
Astrid Dickinger & Lidija Lalicic
MODUL University Vienna, Austria
astrid.dickinger@modul.ac.at
lidija.lalicic@modul.ac.at
www.modul.ac.at/tsm

2. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 2
Agenda
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Study Objectives
• Method
• Results
• Conclusion

3. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 3
Introduction
• New generation of Web 2.0 tools have revolutionised the way
destination image is projected (Camprubí, Guia, & Comas, 2013).
• DMOs are realizing that actual costs for a destination occur, when
unsatisfied tourists share their experiences in Web 2.0 platforms
DMOs need to perceive social media spaces as:
• a new opportunity to reach out on the marketplace
• as a mechanism to learn about tourists’ opinions about the
destination (Boulin, 2008).

4. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 4
From Functional to an Emotional Orientation
• The functional attributes of tourist destinations alone no longer
help destinations to attract travellers (Pike & Ryan, 2004; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011)
• Positioning a destination around the feelings it generates
• Giving visitors unique experiences, relationships, meanings and
self-expressions (Papadimitriou, Apostolopoulou, & Kaplanidou, 2013)
DMOs needs thus:
• to understand what associations of a brand are advantageous over
competitors (e.g. points of difference)
• to strive to develop a distinctive destination personality that meets
travellers actual and symbolic needs

5. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 5
Destination Branding
• Branding a destination is like a hands-on marketing tool for DMOs to
coordinate the different stakeholders in one theme (Ritchie-Brent and Ritchie, 1998)
• Using a brand for a destination enables the tourist to make the
associations between the different attractions, services and
agglomeration services (Munar, 2010; Hankinson, 2010)
• A destination brand is a way to communicate a destination identity
uniquely by differentiating a destination from its competitors(Qu, Kim, & Im,
2011)
• Branding a destination is more than creating a catchy advertisement,
slogan or logo >> establishes deeper connections with travellers’
values and self-concept (Ekinci, Sirakaya-Turk, & Baloglu, 2007)

6. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 6
Destination Brand Personality
“the set of personality traits associated with a destination”
(Ekinci and Hosany, 2006, p.127).
• Personality is defined as enduring traits that differentiate individuals (Murphy, Moscardo, &
Benckendorff, 2006).
• People have the need to anthropomorphize objects in order to facilitate
interaction with the nonmaterial world (Murphy, Moscardo, & Benckendorff, 2009)
In tourism:
• Representation for building destination brands for understanding tourist
perceptions of the destination (Caprara, Barbaranelli, & Guido, 2001; Ekinci & Hosany, 2006)
• Explicitly illustrate tourists’ attachment to a destination (Morgan & Pritchard, 2004).
• The formation of emotional relationships between customer and destination can
increase customer loyalty (Palmatier, Dant, Grewal, & Evans, 2006)

7. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 7
Brand Personality Scale in Tourism Studies
• Aaker (1997) developed the Brand Personality Scale (BPS)
– five personality dimensions based on sources of personality scales from
psychology were selected: competence, excitement, ruggedness,
sincerity and sophistication
• Growing research on brand personality of the tourist destination (i.e.
Hosany and Prayag, 2007; Moscardo et al., 2007; Ekinci and Hosany, 2006)
• No valid instrument for measuring tourism destination brand
personality (TDBP)

8. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 8
DMOs Social Media Strategies
• Can copy the style and e-culture of social network sites to create
their own website (Munar, 2010)
• Can monitor and regulate their online reputation (Marchiori et al.,2012)
• Can transform UGC into strategic knowledge by examining,
selecting, classifying, monitoring and evaluating (Marchiori, Pavese, & Cantoni, 2012;
Munar, 2010).
• This can support a DMO’s understanding of image formation for their
destination (Marchiori, Pavese, & Cantoni, 2012; Morgan, Pritchard, & Pride, 2011)

9. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 9
Objectives of the Study
(i) To explore the destination brand personality of Vienna
expressed by tourists in social media spaces
(ii) To compare the results with tourist connotations with
Vienna from a conventional survey for a more holistic view
(iii) To provide recommendations how Vienna as a tourist
destination can develop emotional attachments

10. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 10
Method
Sample:
Social Media Spaces
• TripAdvisor reviews: accommodation, sights and restaurants
• 1092 TripAdvisor reviews collected in April 2014 with quota sampling technique
• The same numbers of reviews range between negative, average and positive scores
Online Survey
• Survey for visitors of the city of Vienna
• Two open ended questions connected to the connotations of a traveller with the city of
Vienna (Költringer, 2012)
• 599 respondents
Comparison Goal
• Users report about their experiences in a destination may differ when provided in an
anonymous social media platform as compared to an online survey
• Fundamental, not all of brand experiences may not be covered by conventional survey based
research

11. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 11
Analysis
• Computer-assisted content analysis
• Dictionary-design based upon Aakers (1997) 5 brand personality
dimensions
• 555 words spread across the five dimensions with an average of 20%
Competence Excitement Ruggedness Sincerity Sophistication
Reliable Daring Outdoorsy Down-to-earth Upper-class
Hard-working Trendy Masculine Family-oriented Good-looking
Secure Spirited Though Small-town Charming
Intelligent Cool Rugged Honest Feminine
Technical Young Western Sincere Smooth
Corporate Imaginative Original
Successful Cheerful
Leader Sentimental
Confident Friendly
Real

12. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 12
Results
• Differences between Social Media and Survey BPS dimensions
Brand personality
dimensions
Social Media % Survey % P-value
Sincerity 39.9 56.1 0.000
Sophistication 20.6 17.0 0.000
Excitement 18.8 16.4 0.000
Competence 12.7 10.6 0.000
Ruggedness 7.9 0.2 0.000

13. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 13
Results
• Differences Social Media and Survey per service setting
Social Media Survey
Brand personality
dimensions
Restaurants Sights Hotels P-Value Connotations
with Vienna
Sincerity 40.7 27.3 47.4 0.000 56.1
Sophistication 20.5 26.8 16.8 0.012 17.0
Excitement 17.7 25.6 15.2 0.001 16.4
Competence 12.4 11.6 13.6 0.000 10.6
Ruggedness 8.7 8.7 6.9 0.192 0.20

14. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 14
Conclusion
Brand Personality
• Tourists do feel and mention that brand personality dimensions are an integral part of their
experiences
• The confirmation of emotional experiences
• Significant difference between sights, restaurant and hotels setting
• BPS can function as an important part of DMOs marketing strategies (i.e. achieving higher
levels of consumer satisfaction, positive word-of-mouth and future intentions)
Method
• Experiences expressed in social media spaces is often not in line with the language imposed
by measurement theory.
• Theoretical concepts have to be transferred to new contexts such as social media with
caution

15. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 15
Future Research
• The study illustrates that by the use of innovative methods a diversity of
information can be retrieved from and about consumers
• A qualitative perspective would enrich the understanding how the different brand
personality dimensions are exposed in social media spaces
• Marketers need to consider different research approaches that enhance the
understanding of consumer behaviour
• Integrate the concept of consumer engagement

16. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 16
Thank you for your attention!
Questions and comments are welcome.
“This City is absolutely Fun and Trendy”
A Destination Brand Personality Analysis in a
Web 2.0 Setting
Astrid Dickinger & Lidija Lalicic
MODUL University Vienna