| Author: | Chow, Man Wah Monica |
| Title: | Social construction of a destination brand : a case study of Hong Kong |
| Advisors: | Schuckert, Markus (SHTM) Pan, Steve (SHTM) |
| Degree: | DHTM |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Subject: | Tourism -- China -- Hong Kong Tourism -- Marketing Branding (Marketing) Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | School of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | viii, 246 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Destination branding is the topic of this thesis, with a focus on proposing a socially constructed destination brand. Hong Kong was a British colony, which was returned to China in 1997. With one foot in the colonial past and one foot in the Chinese future, Hong Kong has been searching for a new identity that can sell the city to tourists. The literature review suggested that tourism is a social and cultural phenomenon. Individuals in the society have a vital role in constructing the destination brand. In-depth interviews were used to explore the construction of a destination brand from the society's perspective. The conceptual framework of this study was based on a review of the existing literature in the fields of brand management. The questions were developed from the literature review to examine the specific case of Hong Kong. Content analysis was used to code, compare, and classify the major themes of the interview data. Findings from the study revealed that a socially constructed destination brand creates a strong brand and brings values to both internal and external stakeholders. Guided by the overall findings and informed by the data analysis, a proposed framework was introduced. It is recommended that more effort must be put on the part of the brand authorities and brand managers to involve the society in the construction of the destination brand. The effort ought to be focused on the initial stages of brand development. Among the contributions of this study, the proposed framework for the social construction of destination brand embraces the individual opinions of the society. Concerning academic contributions, the finding adds insights and deepens the conceptual understanding of destination branding. A study on the social construction of a destination brand also has practical contributions. This study will be of benefit to the key stakeholders involved in destination branding, which include local government, destination marketers, tourism professionals, and tourism educators. The framework will help to ensure that in the future, all internal stakeholders will be empowered by the ongoing branding of the destination. Furthermore, recommendations are made for practitioners and policy-makers to develop a destination brand from the sociological approach. An extension of this research is suggested to confirm the findings in the future. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5029.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.26 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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