IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4407-d1654342.html

The Role of Social Media in Shaping Brand Equity for Historical Tourism Destinations

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Chen

    (School of Arts and Culture, Chugye University for the Arts, 7 Bugahyeon-ro 11ga-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03762, Republic of Korea)

  • Suyoung Kim

    (School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

Abstract

In the post-pandemic era, tourism is recovering and historical and cultural scenic spots are highly favored but face serious homogenization and fierce competition. It is clear to both the industry and in academia that brand image building through social media is the key to relieving the situation; however, existing studies are mostly undertaken from the perspective of branding, often ignoring the use of brand equity theory in evaluating the brand image of such scenic spots. Based on the social media perspective, this study proposes and validates a set of brand image assessment frameworks for historical and cultural scenic spots centered on brand awareness, satisfaction, and reputation, which provides a scientific basis for scenic spot branding. The study constructs a multidimensional index system, utilizes the fuzzy optimal inferiority method and the TOPSIS hybrid evaluation model, and takes six historical and cultural scenic spots in Xi’an, China, as samples for quantitative and qualitative evaluation. By analyzing the rankings of these scenic spots, this study provides suggestions on how to publicize and shape brand images on social media platforms. These suggestions can enhance scenic spots’ competitiveness, leading to increased tourist flow, improved economic benefits, and enhanced cultural preservation efforts. This, in turn, contributes to the long-term, sustainable development of historical tourism destinations, addressing socio-economic and cultural challenges in a more targeted manner.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Chen & Suyoung Kim, 2025. "The Role of Social Media in Shaping Brand Equity for Historical Tourism Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-21, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4407-:d:1654342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4407/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4407/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Elena Cruz Ruiz & Elena Ruiz Romero De la Cruz & Francisco J. Calderón Vázquez, 2019. "Sustainable Tourism and Residents’ Perception towards the Brand: The Case of Malaga (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Rezaei, Jafar, 2015. "Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 49-57.
    4. Liguo Fei & Yong Hu & Fuyuan Xiao & Luyuan Chen & Yong Deng, 2016. "A Modified TOPSIS Method Based on Numbers and Its Applications in Human Resources Selection," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2016, pages 1-14, July.
    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. Chuanhao Fan & Jiawei Yao & Yeqin Zhang & Hongbin Dai, 2025. "What Are the Factors Influencing Customers’ Repurchase Intention?—Taking Smartphone Brands as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-17, August.

    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. Krishankumar, Raghunathan & Sundararajan, Dhruva & Ishizaka, Alessio & Ravichandran, Kattur Soundarapandian, 2025. "A double hierarchy fuzzy decision approach for solar farm ranking sites in India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. James J. H. Liou & Perry C. Y. Liu & Huai-Wei Lo, 2020. "A Failure Mode Assessment Model Based on Neutrosophic Logic for Switched-Mode Power Supply Risk Analysis," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-19, December.
    3. José Rui Figueira & José Luis García-Lapresta, 2026. "Relationships between the deck of cards method and the proximity measures approach," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Nitin Sahu & Garima Mittal, 2026. "Resilient supplier selection under operational and disruption risks: A multi-stage framework," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 359(3), pages 2617-2654, April.
    5. Nitesh Kumar & Ramesh Anbanandam, 2026. "Selection of Waste Disposal Vendor for Effective Municipal Solid Waste Management," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-28, April.
    6. Zarei, Esmaeil & Khan, Faisal & Abbassi, Rouzbeh, 2021. "Importance of human reliability in process operation: A critical analysis," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    7. Sarfaraz Hashemkhani Zolfani & Ramin Bazrafshan & Fatih Ecer & Çağlar Karamaşa, 2022. "The Suitability-Feasibility-Acceptability Strategy Integrated with Bayesian BWM-MARCOS Methods to Determine the Optimal Lithium Battery Plant Located in South America," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(14), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Paul, Ananna & Shukla, Nagesh & Trianni, Andrea, 2023. "Modelling supply chain sustainability challenges in the food processing sector amid the COVID-19 outbreak," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    9. Liang, Fuqi & Brunelli, Matteo & Rezaei, Jafar, 2020. "Consistency issues in the best worst method: Measurements and thresholds," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    10. Martín-García, Jaime & Gómez-Limón, José A. & Arriaza, Manuel, 2024. "Conversion to organic farming: Does it change the economic and environmental performance of fruit farms?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    11. Juuso Pajasmaa & Kaisa Miettinen & Johanna Silvennoinen, 2025. "Group Decision Making in Multiobjective Optimization: A Systematic Literature Review," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 329-371, April.
    12. Salimi, Negin & Rezaei, Jafar, 2018. "Evaluating firms’ R&D performance using best worst method," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 147-155.
    13. Željko Stević & Irena Đalić & Dragan Pamučar & Zdravko Nunić & Slavko Vesković & Marko Vasiljević & Ilija Tanackov, 2019. "A new hybrid model for quality assessment of scientific conferences based on Rough BWM and SERVQUAL," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(1), pages 1-30, April.
    14. Wu, Xingli & Liao, Huchang, 2021. "Modeling personalized cognition of customers in online shopping," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    15. 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.
    16. Ravindra Singh Saluja & Varinder Singh, 2023. "Attribute-based characterization, coding, and selection of joining processes using a novel MADM approach," OPSEARCH, Springer;Operational Research Society of India, vol. 60(2), pages 616-655, June.
    17. Mohammad Rashed Hasan Polas & Ratul Kumar Saha & Mosab I. Tabash, 2022. "How does tourist perception lead to tourist hesitation? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3659-3686, March.
    18. Ignitia Motjolopane & Martin Chanza, 2023. "Digital transformation dimensions for evaluating SMEs' readiness for big data analytics and artificial intelligence: A review," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 12(7), pages 583-595, October.
    19. Zheng Yuan & Baohua Wen & Cheng He & Jin Zhou & Zhonghua Zhou & Feng Xu, 2022. "Application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Analysis to Rural Spatial Sustainability Evaluation: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-31, May.
    20. Kavitha, S. & Satheeshkumar, J. & Amudha, T., 2024. "Multi-label feature selection using q-rung orthopair hesitant fuzzy MCDM approach extended to CODAS," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 148-173.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4407-:d:1654342. 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.