Loading...
Classifying residents' roles as online place-ambassadors
Uchinaka, S. Yoganathan, Vignesh Osburg, V-S
Uchinaka, S.
Yoganathan, Vignesh
Osburg, V-S
Citations
Altmetric:
Publication Date
2018
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Rights
© 2018 Elsevier. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2018-10-08
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Collections
Files
Loading...
Main article
Adobe PDF, 1.84 MB
Additional title
Abstract
Residents are pivotal in the competitiveness of tourism destinations. Yet, their role as place-brand ambassadors needs better understanding, particularly in relation to social media, which directly link visitors to residents through user-generated-content (UGC). This paper explores residents’ roles as place-brand ambassadors on Twitter, using the case of Onomichi (Japan), where decreasing population meets economic dependence on tourism. From a content analysis of residents’ tweets, four distinct roles are identified, and corresponding types of content are mapped on a two-dimensional continuum based on direct vs. indirect word-of-mouth and the level of sentiment. Authors discuss implications for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs). Findings highlight the increasingly shifting role of residents towards being primary sources of place-marketing, especially due to social media, and as active proponents (rather than passive targets) of place-branding in the digital age. Such organic place-marketing may be the key to sustaining tourism in the face of rising anti-tourist sentiments worldwide.
Version
Accepted manuscript
Citation
Uchinaks S, Yoganathan V and Osburg VS (2018) Classifying residents' roles as online place-ambassadors. Tourism Management. 71: 137-150.
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
Type
Article