Nina M. Iversen

Provenance associations as core values of place umbrella brands

Purpose – The paper seeks to discuss and analyse the nature of place umbrella brands and the role such brands play in promotion of a country, a region, or a city. The purpose is also to identify some salient success criteria of provenance associations as core values of place umbrella brands.Design/methodology/approach – The study delineates a conceptual framework, which illustrates important components in place umbrella branding. It also highlights a set of criteria to aid prioritisations among prospective provenance associations that have a potential to be used as brand values of place umbrella brands.Practical implications – The paper identifies some characteristics of provenance associations, which make them more transferable across a bundle of umbrella brand partners. The generation of better marketing theory in the field of place branding will make it easier for practitioners to reach the right decisions in choice of provenance associations.Findings – It is claimed that transcendence is related to th...

How to Develop a Destination Brand Logo: A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach

This paper presents a framework that can assist destination marketers in developing destination logos. The main goal of a logo is to enhance awareness about the destination and to build a beneficial destination image. Input from three parties should be considered in the process of developing destination logos. These are (i) the logo owner, (ii) the logo developer, and (iii) the logo recipients. A normative model for testing of logos used in destination marketing is delineated, based on input from these contributors. To illustrate practical usage of the model a logo development process is presented, which is conducted by the Fjord Norway destination marketing board. This case study illustrates how the normative model can aid marketers in assessing the potential of tourism logos. Results from three empirical studies show that the destination logo in some sense should match the destinations they represent. Moreover, the results show that the design of the logo is crucial.

Feedback effects of brand extensions on the brand image of global brands: a comparison between Spain and Norway

Abstract Global brands often attempt to increase their sales through the launch of brand extensions. Such a strategy may, however, dilute existing brand beliefs at an international level, as two sets of data from Norway and Spain indicate. This paper illuminates how the attitude towards a brand extension affects the image of a parent brand. The extension attitude is mainly determined by the degree of perceived fit between the extension and the parent brand image. In the Spanish sample, it is also determined by the degree of familiarity with the parent brand and the perceived fit at the product category level. After analysing these relationships, the paper focuses on the moderating role of two dimensions of consumer innovativeness: hedonist innovativeness (tied to need for stimulation) and social innovativeness (tied to need for uniqueness). Finally, the cultural orientation of the origin country is analysed as a moderating factor.

Exploring consumer preferences for hedonic and utilitarian food attributes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the relative importance of four main attributes of food products for consumer’s choice. These are price, taste, environmental friendliness and healthfulness, tested across hedonic and utilitarian food products (milk and ice-cream). The weighting of attributes involved in food choices is a complex phenomenon, as consumers must consider contradictory requirements when making their choices. Consumers’ decision-making processes might also be influenced by food category. Some food products are mostly consumed for pleasure, whereas others are consumed because of their nutritional value. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a choice-based conjoint technique, which addresses how consumers make trade-offs across a set of product attributes. Findings – The results indicate that price and taste attributes are rated as the most important for both hedonic and utilitarian food products. However, when the authors group consumers according to their product pre...

Advertising Effects of Photos Used to Portray Nature-Based Tourism Attractions

Tourism attractions come in many forms and represent the core components of tourism destinations. Tourism attractions are often portrayed visually in adverts aiming to attract visitors. This article reports a study where a sample of potential international visitors to the tourism destination – “Fjord Norway” – evaluate photos of nature-based tourism attractions. Data was gathered and a set of scales were developed to capture the attractiveness of the nature-based tourism destination. Factor analysis revealed two underlying attractivness dimensions, which were termed “positive feelings” and “danger”. In subsequent analyses these attractivness dimensions respectively were found to be positively and negatively related to “intention to visit” the destination. Gender was found to moderate destination attractivness depending on which photos were evaluated. The findings are discussed and implications for tourism marketers are highlighted.

Lifestyle segmentation of tourists seeking nature-based experiences: the role of cultural values and travel motives

ABSTRACT The increasing globalization of markets and the criticality of reaching the right lifestyle segments make the relationship between personal motives and cultural values an important area for academic research and managerial practice. The authors seek to provide an understanding of this relationship in a tourism context, specifically in terms of the links between travel motivations and a set of cultural values – materialism, uncertainty avoidance, horizontal and vertical individualism, and horizontal and vertical collectivism. The study examined whether the importance ratings of cultural values differ across segments of tourists grouped on the basis of their travel motives. An Internet survey was used and the sample included 1546 potential tourists visiting the nature-based destination Fjord Norway. Results showed that travel motives and cultural values can serve as discriminators between lifestyle segments. The three motive segments were the nature and novelty, the status, and the relaxation segment. The segments evaluate the destination differently and vary in behavioral intentions.

Expansion strategies for online brands going offline

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine expansions of online brands into the offline market via brand extensions and via brand alliances. Specifically, it aims to compare the formation of reciprocal spillover effects for both strategies.Design/methodology/approach – Empirical survey data are analyzed through a series of standard and hierarchical multiple regressions. Different combinations of online brands, product categories and offline brands are studied.Findings – The main results indicate that: the attitude towards the new product is determined by fit and by the functional offline brand image for alliances, while it is determined by fit and by the emotional and commitment dimensions of online brand image for extensions. Moreover, the online brand image is more vulnerable in brand alliances than in extensions.Research limitations/implications – This work shows the applicability of commonly used theories in brand extensions and alliances to the online‐offline market expansion. Moreover, these theories all...