IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i12p5121-d375347.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring the Gaps in the Projected Image and Perceived Image of Rural Tourism Destinations in China’s Yangtze River Delta

Author

Listed:
  • Xialei Duan

    (Faculty of International Tourism Management, City University of Macau, Avenida Padre Tomás Pereira Taipa, Macau, China)

  • Lawal Mohammed Marafa

    (Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China)

  • Chung-Shing Chan

    (Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China)

  • Han Xu

    (School of Geography, University of Leeds, Woodhouse, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
    Department of Social Sciences, Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Rd, Tai Po, N.T. Hong Kong, China)

  • Lewis T. O. Cheung

    (Department of Social Sciences, Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Rd, Tai Po, N.T. Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) at all levels have an ultimate goal of building strong and positive images for their destinations. However, the projected image from the supply side is not necessarily the mirror of the perceived image from the demand side. This study adopted the content analysis method to evaluate the projected image and perceived image of rural destinations in China to see whether there is any discrepancy between and within the two categories. Comparative analysis of different information sources including web contents and on-site visitor interviews were processed. The evaluation of image congruency demonstrates that official websites focus more on cognitive image elements (knowledge and beliefs of the place). Besides promoting attractions, it provides information on geography background and promotes local culture. Business web content promotes attractions, package tour, and activities which can generate revenue. The perceived image includes more sentiment contents: on-site visitors expressed more negative attitude, but social media comments are relatively positive.

Suggested Citation

  • Xialei Duan & Lawal Mohammed Marafa & Chung-Shing Chan & Han Xu & Lewis T. O. Cheung, 2020. "Measuring the Gaps in the Projected Image and Perceived Image of Rural Tourism Destinations in China’s Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:5121-:d:375347
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/5121/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/5121/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Hongmei & Fu, Xiaoxiao & Cai, Liping A. & Lu, Lin, 2014. "Destination image and tourist loyalty: A meta-analysis," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 213-223.
    2. Stepchenkova, Svetlana & Zhan, Fangzi, 2013. "Visual destination images of Peru: Comparative content analysis of DMO and user-generated photography," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 590-601.
    3. Andy Pike, 2013. "Economic Geographies of Brands and Branding," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 89(4), pages 317-339, October.
    4. Hosany, Sameer & Ekinci, Yuksel & Uysal, Muzaffer, 2006. "Destination image and destination personality: An application of branding theories to tourism places," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(5), pages 638-642, May.
    5. Gary Akehurst, 2009. "User generated content: the use of blogs for tourism organisations and tourism consumers," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 3(1), pages 51-61, March.
    6. Yohana Yosta Permatasari & Fulgentius Danardana Murwani & S.M. Suharto, 2017. "Examining the Structural Relationships of Service Quality, Destination Image, Tourist Satisfaction and Loyalty: An Integrated Approach," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 7(6), pages 367-378, June.
    7. Hunter, William Cannon, 2016. "The social construction of tourism online destination image: A comparative semiotic analysis of the visual representation of Seoul," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 221-229.
    8. Chen, Ching-Fu & Phou, Sambath, 2013. "A closer look at destination: Image, personality, relationship and loyalty," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 269-278.
    9. Xiang, Zheng & Gretzel, Ulrike, 2010. "Role of social media in online travel information search," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 179-188.
    10. Andy Pike, 2013. "Economic Geographies of Brands and Branding," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 89(4), pages 317-339, October.
    11. Költringer, Clemens & Dickinger, Astrid, 2015. "Analyzing destination branding and image from online sources: A web content mining approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1836-1843.
    12. Su, Baoren, 2011. "Rural tourism in China," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1438-1441.
    13. Uchendu Eugene Chigbu, 2013. "Rurality as a choice: Towards ruralising rural areas in sub-Saharan African countries," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(6), pages 812-825, December.
    14. Zhou, Lingxu & Chan, Eric & Song, Haiyan, 2017. "Social capital and entrepreneurial mobility in early-stage tourism development: A case from rural China," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 338-350.
    15. Avraham, Eli, 2015. "Destination image repair during crisis: Attracting tourism during the Arab Spring uprisings," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 224-232.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nina Zhu & Gang Zeng & Xue Li & Zhangqi Zhong, 2023. "Optimum spatial scale of regional tourism cooperation based on spillover effects in tourism flows," Tourism Economics, , vol. 29(2), pages 409-436, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Molinillo, Sebastian & Liébana-Cabanillas, Francisco & Anaya-Sánchez, Rafael & Buhalis, Dimitrios, 2018. "DMO online platforms: Image and intention to visit," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 116-130.
    2. Mak, Athena H.N., 2017. "Online destination image: Comparing national tourism organisation's and tourists' perspectives," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 280-297.
    3. Palazzo, Maria & Vollero, Agostino & Vitale, Pierluigi & Siano, Alfonso, 2021. "Urban and rural destinations on Instagram: Exploring the influencers’ role in #sustainabletourism," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    4. Assumpcio Huertas & Estela Marine-Roig, 2016. "User reactions to destination brand contents in social media," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 291-315, January.
    5. Lidija Lalicic & Assumpció Huertas & Antonio Moreno & Mohammed Jabreel, 2019. "Which emotional brand values do my followers want to hear about? An investigation of popular European tourist destinations," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 63-81, March.
    6. Ralf Buckley & Mary-Ann Cooper, 2021. "Assortative Matching of Tourists and Destinations: Agents or Algorithms?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-10, February.
    7. Narcís Bassols-Gardella & Lluís Coromina, 2022. "The perceived image of multi-asset tourist destinations: investigating congruence across different content types," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 16(1), pages 57-75, March.
    8. WooHyuk Kim & Kristin Malek & NamJo Kim & SeungHyun “James” Kim, 2017. "Destination Personality, Destination Image, and Intent to Recommend: The Role of Gender, Age, Cultural Background, and Prior Experiences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Wei Sun & Shoulian Tang & Fang Liu, 2021. "Examining Perceived and Projected Destination Image: A Social Media Content Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Mohammed Jabreel & Assumpció Huertas & Antonio Moreno, 2018. "Semantic analysis and the evolution towards participative branding: Do locals communicate the same destination brand values as DMOs?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, November.
    11. Yan Yang & Chunfa Sha & Wencheng Su & Edwin Kofi Nyefrer Donkor, 2022. "Research on Online Destination Image of Zhenjiang Section of the Grand Canal Based on Network Content Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Revilla Hernández, Mercedes & Santana Talavera, Agustín & Parra López, Eduardo, 2016. "Effects of co-creation in a tourism destination brand image through twitter," MPRA Paper 77595, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 21 Nov 2016.
    13. Shaohua Yang & Salmi Mohd Isa & T. Ramayah, 2020. "A Theoretical Framework to Explain the Impact of Destination Personality, Self-Congruity, and Tourists’ Emotional Experience on Behavioral Intention," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    14. Cecilia Pasquinelli & Mariapina Trunfio & Nicola Bellini & Simona Rossi, 2021. "Sustainability in Overtouristified Cities? A Social Media Insight into Italian Branding Responses to Covid-19 Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, February.
    15. Arpan Kumar Kar & Sunil Kumar & P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan, 2021. "Modelling the Service Experience Encounters Using User-Generated Content: A Text Mining Approach," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 22(4), pages 267-288, December.
    16. Astrid Dickinger & Lidija Lalicic, 2016. "An analysis of destination brand personality and emotions: a comparison study," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 317-340, January.
    17. Shaohua Yang & Salmi Mohd Isa & T. Ramayah, 2021. "Uncertainty Avoidance as a Moderating Factor to the Self-Congruity Concept: The Development of a Conceptual Framework," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440211, March.
    18. Vo Viet Hung & Sandeep Kumar Dey & Zuzana Vaculcikova & Le Trieu Hoang Anh, 2021. "The Influence of Tourists’ Experience on Destination Loyalty: A Case Study of Hue City, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    19. Tao Liu & Ying Zhang & Huan Zhang & Xiping Yang, 2021. "A Methodological Workflow for Deriving the Association of Tourist Destinations Based on Online Travel Reviews: A Case Study of Yunnan Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, April.
    20. Stylos, Nikolaos & Vassiliadis, Chris A. & Bellou, Victoria & Andronikidis, Andreas, 2016. "Destination images, holistic images and personal normative beliefs: Predictors of intention to revisit a destination," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 40-60.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:5121-:d:375347. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.