西安入境旅游品牌意象特征研究

A RESEARCH ON CHARACTERISTICS OF INBOUND TOURISM BRAND IMAGE IN XI'AN

在"品牌"、"品牌化"和"旅游目的地意象""理论分析基础上,应用品牌个性理论,从入境游客角度对西安旅游目的地品牌意象特征进行了实证分析。结果显示:①西安入境旅游品牌意象具有"动感、平和与现代"三大品牌个性;②西安旅游营销与城市经营所欲展示的核心旅游品牌意象特征并未能获得入境游客的完全认可,即西安旅游品牌意象仅深层触动了入境游客自我意象感知的一部分。就此,从文化差异与文化碰撞角度提出了消费者自我意象与旅游目的地品牌意象之间的文化效应模式。

Brand image is an essential part of a powerful brand.A strong brand can differentiate a product/service from its competitors.For consumers,strong brands reduce search costs,minimize perceived risks,indicate high quality,and satisfy consumers＇ functional and emotional needs.A number of theoretical frameworks exist to understand brands,brand image,brand building and brand management.Despite the significant importance of brand image in all of these frameworks,much ambiguity exists as to its relationship with destination image and destination brand.The idea of branding a destination is a relatively new one and the academic investigation of such a process is still in its infancy.Although the words ＇brand＇,＇branding＇ and ＇destination image＇ have already appeared in many academic studies and industry conferences,no apparent effort has been made to distinguish between destination image and destination branding.The author tries to stimulate thinking on destination branding to outline its relationship with destination image.As the choices of destinations are available when consumers increase,an effective destination ＇positioning＇ strategy becomes necessary.A key component of this positioning process is the creation and management of a distinctive and appealing destination image.And thus,a considerable amount of time and money is spent establishing a positive image in order to influence consumers＇ decision-making process.According to the theory analysis,adopting Aaker＇s brand personality scale,this study aims to identify the characteristics of inbound tourism brand image in Xi＇an.The findings indicate that（1） the characteristics of inbound tourism brand image in Xi＇an are excitement,placidity,and modernization;（2） the tourism destination brand image in Xi＇an is partly accepted by inbound tourists.The author proposes a cultural interaction effects model between the consumer self-image and the destination image.