Destination image and destination personality

Abstract

Purpose – To examine the contentious relationship between brand image and brand personality in the context of tourism destinations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literature on brand (destination) image, brand (destination) personality and identifies examples of definitional inconsistencies and instances where the terms brand image and brand personality are used interchangeably. Two studies were carried out to investigate the relationship between the two constructs. Data were analysed using canonical correlation. Findings – Results indicate that destination image and destination personality are related concepts. Canonical correlation analyses reveal that the emotional component of destination image captures the majority of variance on destination personality dimensions. Research limitations/implications – Academics must pay particular attention at distinguishing between brand image and brand personality, since, failure to do so, will hinder research progress and result in poor conceptual developments. Practical implications – Destination marketers can focus on the commonality between destination image and destination personality in order to communicate unique destination features and to influence tourist behavior. Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in the generic branding literature by adopting an empirical stance at delineating the relationship between brand image and brand personality in the context of tourism destinations. © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited