Can Destination Branding Happen in a Subconscious Way?

Can Destination Branding Happen
In A Subconscious Way?

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Destinations are places that have some form of actual or perceived boundary, such as the physical boundary of an island, political boundaries or even market-created boundaries and destination branding is the art of promoting these destinations through various means of communication. This document discusses the branding nuances of destinations and emphasizes the impact of subconscious way of decision making.

Literature Review: Reviews the literature to date of branding, destination image, and the current techniques used to understand destination image and associated cultures and values, and how they affect the perceptions of consumers i.e. travelers.

Methodology: The approach includes surveying prospective customers through a carefully created questionnaire and collecting data to find various decision factors. The questions cover various aspects related to decision making such as past experience about any destination, frequency of visit, reasons to visit and influence of local culture and people on selecting any destination.

Findings: The findings of this work try to stimulate the impact of customer psyche on decision making along with various other decision influencers. Traditionally customers have been thought of rational being while making decisions about destinations, but latest theories of marketing lays emphasis on emotional aspects of customers as well.

1. Introduction

The tourism industry accounts for 200 million jobs, direct and indirect and generates economic activity representing over 12% of total global GDP. The importance of tourism and the entry of many new destinations into the market have forced all to complete in the battle at the global level. This intense global competition forces destinations to develop strong, unique and competitive brands. The economic impact of tourism coupled with increasing competition makes effective destination marketing essential. The purpose of this study is to explore destination branding and establish the ways in which subconscious methods can have an impact on actual destination branding.

Working on the topic will help us identify the role of stakeholders and understand the symbiotic relationship between various parties involved. This project will also enable us identify problems and work on subsequent resolutions. These shall go a long way in instilling relational and problem solving abilities which are paramount in the working of a professional manager.

1. research Objectives

1. To understand the various facets and nuances of Destination Branding, contrasted against traditional consumer oriented marketing.
2. To identify the roles and limitations of Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) – thereby highlight the challenges and difficulties faced by them.
3. To understand the operational differences between destination marketing organizations and product marketing organizations.
4. To assess and comment on the various factors determining and  influencing the brand identity of a destination
5. To investigate the effect of subconscious methods on destination branding - analyze the origin, development and causality of such methods.

1. LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 Introduction

The term branding is derived from the term “brandr” by which owners of livestock marked their animals as a way of differentiating and identifying them. Traditionally, the producers have created brands and have provided consumers with a means of recognizing and specifying them to facilitate purchase, repurchase or to recommend the product to others. This development provides companies with the ability to distinguish their product in increasingly subtle ways, which are both relevant and meaningful to consumers and helps the consumer to understand the brand’s gestalt or aura (Murphy 1990).