Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
18
Destination confusion
A photo elicitation study on brand
confusion in tourism destinations
Pisuda Sangsue
Introduction
Travel and tourism has become a global industry which forces destinations to develop their
brand in order to compete on the global stage. Tourism is about moving people away from home,
and so destinations must try to attract people based on the creation and promotion of positive
images (Prebensen 2007). Thus in a tourism environment, destination branding and image
creation has become one of the most powerful tools in tourism marketing, as outlined in
Chapter
30
of this volume. Major objectives of any destination branding strategy are to emphasize positive
images that are already held by target travellers, to correct negative images, or to create awareness
through the creation of favourable images targeted to potential tourists (Pike and Ryan 2004).
In recent years, the variety of available information sources has rapidly increased and fragmented,
to include not only offi cial tourism marketing communications, but also online and offl ine
media and word-of-mouth, and this plethora of communication channels poses a potential threat
to tourist destinations in their efforts to attract visitors because of the lack of control DMOs have
over the images produced through them. The aim of this chapter is to explore the concept of
brand confusion in tourist destinations through its branding and image.
The concept of brand confusion is relevant in a tourism context because of the multiple
communication channels available and the potential they have to present consumers with
ambiguous and often confl icting information, and also because consumers use different
interpretive strategies, which calls for an examination of the role of confusion in destination
branding and image processes as well as tourists' choice processes. Destination brand confusion
takes place when a person perceives a particular destination, referred to by its attributes, image
and branding, as an alternative destination. Brand confusion was originally applied in tangible
product selection processes where confusion resulted in signifi cant lost sales and an impact on
the legal status of original brands. The examination of brand confusion, especially in tourism
marketing, which is generally a high-cost, high involvement and high risk decision (Cai 2002),
becomes very relevant. This is mainly due to the importance of branding within service marketing
in general, and tourism marketing in particular, where strong and clearly defi ned brands offer
consumers a promise of future satisfaction, leading to increased customer trust in relation to an
ostensibly intangible service purchase.
