Savannah Hockey Classic: An Evaluation of Event Personality and Economic Impact

In 2009, the Savannah Sports Council hosted its 11th annual Savannah Hockey Classic. In order to assist the future marketing of this event, a study was undertaken to assist the Savannah Sports Council in 3 major ways: (1) To obtain a consumer profile of spectators, (2) to explore the economic impact of the event on the city of Savannah, and (3) to discover the perceived personality of the event (assist in sponsor recruitment). To reach the objectives of the study, a survey was conducted with 267 spectators of the Savannah Hockey Classic. The survey consisted of four sections: (1) Economic impact (2) Consumer behavior & preferences, (3) Attitude and image perceptions of the event and organizing body, and (4) Consumer demographic characteristics. The majority of respondents were male (62%) and Caucasian (95%). While their average age was 36, 78% of respondents were between the ages of 25 to 59. Spectators tended to be educated (61% with a college degree of some sort) and affluent (63% earn \u3e $50,000). Just over half (56%) of the spectators traveled to Savannah to attend the event. Eighty-one of the eighty-three out-of-town respondents reported spending at least 1 night in Savannah. However, 50% of out-of-town respondents said they would have come to Savannah even if the Hockey Classic was not taking place. Eighty-two percent said they would be visiting Savannah at some point in the following 3 months. This suggests that while the Hockey Classic is a popular event, most of the visitors would travel to Savannah even if the event did not take place. Spectators appear to have developed very positive feelings about the Savannah Hockey Classic. On a 7-point scale, respondents reported the following scores on a variety of items: Gratitude toward the Savannah Sports Council for organizing the event was very high 6.5, attitude regarding the success and quality of the hockey event itself was 6.4, and fan identification with the event was reported at 6.1. With regard to the image/brand of the event, respondents perceive the Hockey Classic to be: An exciting event (6.4 out of 7), a sincere/wholesome event (6.3 out of 7), and a competent and successful event (6.3 out of 7)

Recruiting nurses through social media : effects on employer brand and attractiveness

Aim: To investigate whether and how nurses' exposure to a hospital's profile on social media affects their perceptions of the hospital's brand and attractiveness as an employer. Background: Since in many places across the globe hospitals are struggling with nursing shortages, competition is rising to be perceived as an attractive employer by this target group. Organizations are increasingly using social media for recruitment, however, little is known about its effects on potential applicants' perceptions of the organization as an employer. We thus examine whether these effects occur and rely on the media richness theory to explain the mechanisms at play. Design: A between-subjects experimental design was applied. Three conditions were used: a control group, one condition that required visiting the Facebook page of a hospital and one condition that required visiting the LinkedIn page. Method: The focal organization was an existing Belgian hospital which had a LinkedIn and a Facebook page. An online questionnaire was sent to nursing students and employed nurses over 5 months in 2015-2016. Results: Nurses' exposure to the hospital's Facebook or LinkedIn page had a significant positive effect on a majority of the employer brand dimensions, both instrumental and symbolic. In addition, nurses who visited the Facebook page felt more attracted to working at the hospital. Most of these effects were mediated by social presence. Conclusion: Nurses' perceptions of employers can be positively influenced by seeing a hospital's social media page. Hospitals can thus employ social media to improve their employer brand image and attractiveness

Projected and perceived image: a study of the Walt Disney company parks and resorts

Com o objetivo de concluir o grau de Mestre em Management, com especialização em Tourism Management, pela Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Algarve, realizou-se um estudo que englobasse os diferentes interesses da autora para o futuro. Com o grau de bacharel em Comunicação Social conquistado em 2017, entender como a comunicação acontece dentro das organizações e através delas, e os impactos provenientes disso, sempre foi um tópico de interesse. O interesse pela área de gestão surgiu através do amor pela comunicação nas organizações, que é criada pelos gestores. Depois de algumas experiências profissionais na área de turismo e hospitalidade, o curso de Management oferecido pela Universidade do Algarve surgiu como uma possibilidade de unir estas áreas de interesse: comunicação, gestão e turismo. A união destas três áreas pode representar uma vantagem imensurável dentro de qualquer organização, e não seria diferente quando se refere a um destino turístico. Cada vez mais as organizações percebem a necessidade de se colocar no mercado de forma favorável e percebem o impacto que usar a comunicação para se projetar e se destacar dentro do mercado pode representar. A imagem de uma marca e como esta marca comunica a sua imagem para seu público é algo que pode valorizar as organizações. Saber gerir a imagem de uma marca e comunicá-la de forma eficiente pode diferenciar uma empresa bem sucedida de outras que não conseguem alcançar os seus objetivos. Esta dissertação traz como objeto de estudo uma das maiores e mais reconhecidas empresas mundiais, a Walt Disney Company, que, além de referência na área de entretenimento, também possui alguns dos destinos turísticos mais visitados do mundo. De facto, para além do sucesso alcançado pela empresa na televisão com seus filmes e cartoons, a empresa fundada por Walt Disney possui parques temáticos em 6 diferentes localidades – França, Hong Kong, Japão, Xangai e dois localizados nos Estados Unidos da América, nos Estados da Flórida e Califórnia. O maior e mais conhecido dos complexos Disney é o Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts (WDW P&R), inaugurado em 1971 em Orlando, Flórida. Desde a fundação dos seus parques temáticos, a Walt Disney Company sempre foi referência na área de hospitalidade pelo excecional atendimento ao cliente que proporciona. Esta dissertação investiga a imagem desta organização de duas formas. Primeiro, é analisada a imagem que é projetada pela Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts através do seu site oficial, depois, analisa-se e a imagem que é percebida pelos clientes após a visita ao destino turístico (parque temático). A investigação da imagem por via destas duas perspetivas possibilita que se entenda qual é a identidade da WDW P&R, ou seja, qual é a imagem que a empresa compartilha com seu público (a imagem que a empresa gostaria que fosse percebida por quem consome a sua marca). De igual forma, é possível entender qual é a imagem do destino que de facto é percebida por quem o visita. O site oficial de uma organização é um dos principais meios de comunicação de uma marca com o seu público-alvo. Especialmente na era digital, onde muita informação é procurada online, a forma como uma empresa comunica a sua marca através do seu site oficial pode acrescentar valor. É o caso dos destinos turísticos, já que esta é uma oportunidade de mostrar mais sobre os seus produtos, serviços e experiências. O que se partilha nos sites oficiais é de extrema importância visto que eles são relevantes fontes de informação e auxiliam na formação de opinião. A análise dos sites oficiais da Walt Disney proporcionou que se entendesse qual é a imagem que a Disney projeta para o seu público. A imagem projetada por uma empresa nem sempre será a mesma que é percebida pelo público. Para perceber a perspetiva dos que visitam a Walt Disney World como um destino turístico, utilizaram-se as avaliações reportadas pelo público após terem visitado os parques. Estas avaliações foram recolhidas no site TripAdvisor, uma plataforma online que permite que viajantes compartilhem as suas experiências e avaliem destinos turísticos de forma livre. Com a recolha destas informações e a análise cuidadosa dos dados por meio de uma análise de conteúdo qualitativa, foi possível entender qual é a imagem que de facto é percebida pelos viajantes durante o tempo que passam nos parques da Disney. Com essa análise, pode-se entender se a imagem que é projetada pela organização é percebida pelo público durante a sua experiência. Com os resultados obtidos, foi feita uma comparação para que os pontos comuns e divergentes ficassem evidenciados. Entre os pontos comuns, destacam-se a diversão e a magia, encontrados tanto na imagem projetada quanto na imagem percebida. O storytelling também é um elemento que tem grande destaque na identidade da marca, e que é percebido e destacado pelos visitantes. Mesmo com elementos importantes em comum, essa pesquisa também encontrou elementos divergentes, como os altos preços e parques superlotados, com grandes filas para as atrações, que receberam destaque entre os relatos dos visitantes. Através dos resultados obtidos, percebeu-se que a imagem geral da WDW P&R é positiva e elementos importantes da imagem que a organização projeta são percebidos pelos visitantes, porém, existem pontos a serem ajustados para que os elementos negativos destacados por alguns visitantes sejam contidos e não venham representar uma ameaça para a empresa. Para um destino turístico, ter controle e conhecimento sobre estas informações tão importantes sobre uma marca pode representar uma vantagem em relação aos seus concorrentes. Não é suficiente conhecer a sua marca e usar este conhecimento para projetar uma imagem para seu público-alvo. É preciso que se investigue e entenda qual é a imagem que é recebida pelo seu público e quais os impactos disso para quem mais importa — os consumidores. Somente entendendo como a imagem de uma marca é recebida na perspetiva do consumidor permite que se crie ações e estratégias para que a imagem recebida pelo público seja compatível com a imagem projetada pela organização.The image that is associated with a brand is one of the biggest assets that an organization can have. This has become more known and valued, especially in the tourism and hospitality field. Tourism destinations should create and maintain a positive image, as this can represent the success or failure of a destination. This study brings a comparison between an organization’s brand identity – the image that is projected by an organization – and the brand image – the image that is perceived by the customers. Through a qualitative content analysis, this research addresses the image of one of the most well-known tourism destinations worldwide, the Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts. With the analysis of the information available on Disney’s official websites, it was possible to assess the image that the organization projects and compare the results with the image that is perceived by guests after they visit the destination. The image from the customer’s perspective was investigated through the reviews left by visitors on the TripAdvisor website. This research allows us to understand and differentiate the image that is projected by the organization and the image that is perceived by guests. For a tourism destination, having knowledge and control over the image associated with the brand can represent an advantage over its competitors and it allows a brand to create marketing strategies for the perceived image to correspond to the projected image (brand identity)

Customer Engagement: Perceived Benefits and Effect of Individual and Brand Personality on Engagement Behaviors

Customer engagement has been defined as “the customer’s behavioral manifestations that have a brand or firm focus, beyond purchase, resulting from motivational drivers” (van Doorn et al. 2010, p. 254). The term is often used to refer to creating experiences that allow companies to build deeper, more meaningful and sustainable interactions with their customers (The Economist 2007). While practitioners have been very interested in customer engagement as it is believed to lead to loyalty, academic interest toward customer engagement as a separate construct has been somewhat limited (van Doorn et al. 2010). This research extends the literature on customer engagement by looking at internal and external motivational factors driving engagement and by showing that individual and brand characteristics affect consumer inclination to engage. This dissertation consists of two essays. Essay 1 presents a typology of customer engagement behaviors based on perceived motivational benefits driving those behaviors. This typology will be useful to marketers as it outlines important benefits derived from engaging in an extensive list of engagement behaviors and suggests how to motivate groups of behaviors based on salient benefits. In addition, the typology can be extended to new social media networks which may become available in the future. Further, understanding what motivational benefits are important for different groups of behaviors is key in order to encourage desired engagement behaviors. Essay 2 examines the effect of individual and brand personality on customer engagement. In particular, we explore how individual attachment style impacts one’s likelihood to engage with brands. We also study whether consumer perceptions of the brand as sincere or exciting affect customer engagement and brand attachment. Further, we examine the role of brand familiarity on the relationship between brand personality, attachment style, and engagement. Essay 1 draws upon the Uses and Gratifications Framework (Blumler and Katz 1974; Katz et al. 1974) which has been used to explain various engagement behaviors including participation in virtual communities, social networking, and blogs (Raacke and Bonds-Raacke 2008). We apply this framework to understand a wider range of customer engagement behaviors. In addition, we extend the four benefits comprising the framework (cognitive, social integrative, personal integrative, and hedonic), to include an additional type of benefit — economic benefits. This essay contributes to the theory on customer engagement by creating a typology of engagement behaviors. Currently, marketers are concerned with increasing engagement as a whole, but due to the broad scope of this construct, it might be more effective to target specific clusters of engagement behaviors instead. Essay 2 examines the effect of individual and brand personality on customer engagement behaviors. This essay makes three primary theoretical contributions. First, it begins to shed light on what are some of the personality characteristics differentiating engaged consumers. In particular, this essay shows that consumers with secure attachment styles tend to be more engaged than consumers with anxious attachment styles. Second, this research also contributes to the literature on brand relationships: we explore whether the way consumers relate to others mirrors the way they relate to brands. Last, to our knowledge, the effect of brand personality on customer engagement has not been examined. This essay has several managerial implications. First, it helps marketers identify personality characteristics that differentiate consumers that are more likely to engage. In addition, this essay also identifies some important brand characteristics that draw consumers to engage. This dissertation is one of the first attempts to use an integrative approach toward examining online customer engagement behaviors. Previous studies have either focused on one specific behavior or have conceptually discussed customer engagement. In this research, we create a typology of customer engagement by categorizing the different engagement behaviors on the basis of their perceived benefits. By classifying an extensive list of engagement behaviors with respect to their perceived motivational benefits, we create a nuanced typology of engagement behaviors which contributes to the theory on customer engagement. We also show that individual attachment style and brand personality affect customer engagement. In particular, we show that consumers with secure attachment style are more likely to engage with brands compared to consumers with anxious attachment style. Last, this research shows that brand familiarity is an important factor affecting engagement especially for consumers who have anxious attachment style

Brand personality in cultural tourism through social media

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the effect of the use of social media on the perception of brand personality and to identify its effect on customer brand engagement. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted an exploratory approach, adapting Aaker's Brand Personality Scale (1997) to the context of cultural tourism before carrying out a quantitative study resorting to a structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to obtain empirical evidence to identify these relationships. Findings: The findings reveal that the use of social media has a positive effect on the perception of brand personality and that brand personality, likewise, has a positive effect on customer brand engagement. Research implications: This study indicates that transmission of an attractive brand personality according to the desires of the public, combined with dissemination through social media, is a valid strategy to improve customer brand engagement. Originality/value: This study represents an advance in the specialized literature on the value that consumers place on information transmitted through social media. Specifically, it sheds light on how the transmission of brand personality through social media affects customer brand engagement.Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training under Grant FPU 15/0726

The role of storytelling in digital brand marketing: A case study of Tennessee Hills Distillery and Brewstillery

This study evaluates the impacts of brand storytelling on customers of a craft brewery and distillery in East Tennessee. Brand storytelling is well researched, but has not been applied to niche sectors and customer response. The study consisted of a 15-question survey distributed to customers of Tennessee Hills Distillery and Brewstillery (TN Hills), and received 139 responses. The results were that despite a seeming trend of lack of engagement with the business, respondents value brand stories and can identify unique brand characteristics. Respondents’ answers reflected a personal connection with TN Hills, and connected the brand to grander ideals like the American Dream, community acceptance, and legacy. Thus, customers’ feelings toward a business are influenced by brand storytelling

NATION BRANDS AND TOURIST DESTINATIONS – AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF ROMANIA IN THE CONTEXT OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE MARKETS

Creation, development and employment of brands have recently become activities thattend to expand beyond the sphere of marketing communication of the organization and generatingsignificant effects over the results of marketing activities and overall performances of theorganizations.Paper intends to approach in an exploratory manner the way brands contribute to the imagedevelopment of the tourist destinations based on a comparative analysis of the performancesgenerated by the nation brands used to promote different national tourist destinations in Romaniaand other Central and Eastern Europe countries.nation brands, tourist destinations, communication