Presentation done by Assumpció Huertas and Estela Mariné-Roig, during "Destination branding" workshop, of the ENTER2015 eTourism conference.

1. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 1
Destination Brand Communication
through the Social Media. What Contents
trigger most Reactions of Users?
Assumpció Huertas and Estela Mariné-Roig
University Rovira i Virgili, Spain
sunsi.huertas@urv.cat
http://www.urv.cat
University of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
estela.marine@aegern.udl.cat
http://www.udl.cat/

2. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 2
Project:
Influence of Communication 2.0 in tourism decision
making and destination brand image. Useful
applications for Spanish tourist destinations.
Supported by Spain's Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness
https://comtur20.wordpress.com/

3. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 3
However, many destinations do not know very well
how to manage them in order to reach their target
publics, what communications strategies to follow or
what information to transmit
Background
 The Social Media have revolutionised communication for
tourism and destinations.
 Opinions and appreciations of other users become largely
transmitted and credible.
 Given the importance of the social media as communication
tools for Destination Management Organisations (DMOs),
most of them have started to use them.

4. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 4
The destination brand identity must be a key aspect in
destination communication through the social media. A
destination brand generates identification with the
territory and distinguishes it from other destinations
Background
Destination brands:
 The social media have become key tools for the
communication of destinations’ identities and their brands.
 The tourists’ experiences and narratives in social media
spaces help to construct an online reputation and create
destination brands’ image.
 The active participation of users in the social media
increases the emotional attachment to the brand.

5. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 5
Users’ Reactions to contents are key items to measure
interactivity in social media and brand communication.
Background
Reactions and Interactivity:
 The social media are characterised by their interactivity, as
they enable the reactions of users and the establishment of
dialogue with them.
 Advantages of interactivity: greater surfing time and
implication of users, greater processing and impact of
information, creation of relationships with users and the
generation of a better destination brand image.
User reactions in Facebook :
- Likes
- Comments
- Shares

6. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 6
Objective of the study:
Objective: what contents generate the most
reactions among users and if the communication of
brands and their emotional values also generate
reactions.
Background
 Some studies deal with how the interactivity and participation
of the publics generate better brand image (Munar, 2011) …
 … but not: whether brand communication, with its tangible
attraction factors and emotional values, generates more
reactions and interactivity.

7. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 7
Methodology
 Content analysis of several destinations’ top Facebook posts, in terms
of brand attraction factors and brand values.
 Assess which trigger most reactions: sum of likes, comments & shares
Sample of destinations 37 Spanish destinations
Located in 5 autonomous
communities
Andalusia Canary Islands Catalonia
Galicia Madrid
Different types
of destinations
1. National destination (ND)
2. Autonomous community (AC)
3. Large Municipality (LM)
4. Large littoral destination (LLD)
5. Heritage City (HC)
6. Littoral destination (LD)
7. Inland destination (ID)
8. Medium-sized city (MC)
9. Mountain destination (MD)
 Analysis Database: 25 last top post in the official Facebook
Fanpages of these destinations (714 top posts in total).
 Period: Retrieved in April of 2014 (previous three months)

8. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 8
Methodology
Destination brands, understood as identity, comprise two
dimensions: a cognitive and an affective; a functional or tangible and
an emotional; namely: Attraction Factors and Emotional Values.
 Content analysisA) Attraction Factors
 Nature (Nature and natural landscape, Rural landscape, Mountain, Ecotourism)
 Tangible Heritage (Sites, History, Religion, Works of Art, Museums)
 Cityscape (Architecture, Urban planning/landscape)
 Intangible Heritage (Intangible heritage/popular culture/traditions,
Anthem/Flag/National Symbols)
 Gastronomy (Food/Cuisine, Wine Tourism)
 Leisure (Urban and cultural leisure/shows, Night life, Shopping);
 Sun and Beach (Sea/Beach, Sun, Climate/Weather)
 Business/trade
 Sports (Hiking, Winter Sports, Water Sports, Adventure Sports, Elite Sports, Other)
 Technology (Social Media/ICT, Technology, Innovation)
 Services (Hotel/Accommodation, Transport, Other services)
 Things to Do
 Tourist Information/Agenda
 Non-Tourist information/institutional

9. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 9
We used an adaptation of the “Brand Personality Scale” by Aaker (1997),
which has been extended with other attributes and values relevant for
the analysis of tourist destinations.
Methodology
B) Brand Emotional Values  Content analysis
 Sincerity: Down-to-earth (Family-oriented, Down-to-earth, Sustainable); Honest
(Calm, Real, Traditional, Honest); Wholesome (Original, Wholesome; Quality of
Life); Cheerful (Happiness, Sentimental, Friendly).
 Excitement: Daring (Trendy, Daring, Exciting, Exotic, Fashionable); Spirited (Cool,
Spirited, Dynamic, Vital, Fresh, Young, Sensorial); Imaginative (Unique/different/
diverse, imaginative, creative); Up-to-date (up-to-date, independent,
contemporary, modern); Cosmopolitan (Cosmopolitan, Tolerant, Hospitable).
 Competence: Reliable (Reliable, Hard-working, Secure/safe, rigorous/responsible/
Pragmatic), Intelligent (intelligent, technical, corporate, innovative); Successful
(Successful, Leader, Ambitious, Powerful).
 Sophistication: Luxurious (Glamorous, Luxurious); Charming (charming/seductive,
smooth, romantic, magical).
 Ruggedness: Outdoorsy (Outdoorsy, Get-away, Recreational); Tough (Tough,
Rugged, non-conformist).

10. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 10
Methodology
• The team of researchers classified the posts’ content
manually and assessed the consistency of coding.
•The analysis measured:
• Average reactions to top posts per destination type.
• Most mentioned themes and brand values and the
themes and brand values triggering more reactions in
general.
• Themes and brand values which generate most
reactions per destination type.
•

11. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 11
Results
Destination type ND+AC LM LLD LD HC MC ID MD
Total posts 178 104 128 40 119 63 56 26
Avg. Likes 1437.6 153.7 25.4 48.4 60.3 36.0 19.8 29.6
Avg. Comments 35.4 4.9 0.7 1.3 3.0 1.2 0.4 0.7
Avg. Shares 248.1 25.1 3.6 3.8 7.0 35.6 2.3 0.8
Average reactions to top posts per destination type
Likes, Comments and Shares present high
correlations between them, higher than 0.8

12. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 12
Results
ND+
AC
LM LLD LD HC MC ID MD
Av.
Lik
Av.
Com
Av.
Sha
Nature 106 13 53 13 25 9 5 23 767 19 125
Tang. Heritage 105 38 20 9 65 40 20 1 725 16 125
Cityscape 51 31 6 3 30 24 8 0 842 19 156
Intang. Heritage 41 18 28 8 22 29 13 0 224 7 49
Leisure 24 30 15 14 35 46 35 4 263 7 19
Sun and Sea 69 18 85 16 16 10 3 1 662 16 107
Business/Trade 4 2 5 0 2 1 0 0 54 3 7
Sports 9 13 21 4 12 5 3 6 287 7 23
Technology 8 10 4 0 7 3 0 0 209 8 78
Services 2 3 9 3 5 0 0 0 45 2 7
Agenda 24 25 60 30 44 38 29 5 70 3 16
Institutional 10 11 4 4 19 4 7 2 73 4 30
Non-Tourist Info 4 15 9 3 24 0 4 13 43 3 7
Average reactions to top posts per themes

13. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 13
Results
Average reactions per theme

14. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 14
Results
ND+
AC
LM LLD LD HC MC ID MD
Av.
Lik
Av.
Com
Av.
Sha
Down-To-Earth 21 22 20 14 18 2 18 3 315 8 49
Honest 69 60 61 20 46 6 18 2 420 10 64
Wholesome 25 22 26 5 14 0 9 1 370 7 54
Cheerful 26 19 18 9 19 0 3 1 458 10 64
Daring 19 10 11 3 18 0 2 3 524 13 61
Spirited 30 15 13 6 21 2 4 5 532 12 73
Imaginative 47 26 44 8 28 2 12 2 2258 58 387
Up-To-Date 4 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 919 19 168
Cosmopolitan 18 8 10 4 15 2 1 1 329 8 47
Reliable 4 3 2 3 3 3 2 0 233 6 42
Intelligent 12 4 13 0 1 2 1 0 561 13 148
Successful 17 5 12 0 6 3 0 0 922 23 199
Luxurious 5 0 18 2 3 0 0 0 80 3 15
Charming 28 6 22 4 15 1 1 1 662 16 107
Outdoorsy 29 17 36 5 23 0 19 6 319 8 41
Tough 2 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 572 13 153
Brand attributes and average reactions

15. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 15
Results
Average reactions per brand value

16. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 16
Results

17. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 17
Conclusions
 Themes that generate most reactions are usually unique or
characteristic attributes of the destinations  highly
imageable
 According to results, DMOs should mainly communicate
differential attributes, although generic themes should also
be communicated in a lesser proportion.
 Lack of congruency between the most mentioned contents
and those which trigger most reactions in all destination types
 Destinations should consider the communication of themes
that generate most reactions among users to achieve more
interactivity, engagement, navigation time and positive
attitudes

18. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 18
Conclusions
 Brand Values that generate most reactions also emphasise
uniqueness, originality and traditional values. They are related
to leisure and to family values. However, the values transmitted
by the different types of destinations are indistinctive.
 Communication of distinctive emotional values of the
destinations’ identity generates most user reactions, but usually
do not coincide with the values most mentioned by destinations
 Although destinations need to know which values generate most
reactions, we do not think that DMOs should communicate the
values that generate most reactions, but those that identify and
differentiate their place brand and that are according to their
strategies as complex entities.

19. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 19
Conclusions
 The analysis method was useful to provide information about
the themes and emotional values that trigger most reactions,
and can be adapted to other types of destinations.
 Research had previously shown that greater interactivity
entailed a better brand image for tourist destinations (Munar,
2011). But this study’s results also assess the inverse
relationship: that the communication of emotional brand
values also entails more reactions and greater interactivity.
 Thus, we conclude that their communication is
recommendable and necessary for effective and excellent
communication of territories through the social media.

20. ENTER 2015 Research Track Slide Number 20
THANKS FOR YOU ATTENTION!
https://comtur20.wordpress.com/
sunsi.huertas@urv.cat
estela.marine@aegern.udl.cat