An Empirical Research for Identifying and Analyzing the Identity Characteristics of Different Online Destination Websites

  • Victor-Alexandru Briciu Lecturer, PhD, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania
  • Arabela Briciu Lecturer, PhD, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania
  • Ana-Maria Gulpe M.A., Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18662/lumproc.150
Keywords: identity characteristics, destinations, brands, branding, websites

Abstract

The online environment and the other digital media have revolutionized human interaction. This is the network effect that organizations must use to reach their goals, and the destinations management organizations are also included in finding better solutions for promoting, communicating and marketing the desired place. This online presence of billions of people can be used both in organizational communication activities and in other areas, for research or facilitating professional activities. In this light, the research objective is to identify the Internet usage from the managerial point of view, i.e., the destination branding management of websites. The research study will try to specify and analyse the main features of destinations websites or the principal dimensions of their online identity, by applying a content analysis method scheme on 10 selected destination websites. Findings from the study suggest that the Web 1.0 paradigm is still being used or promoted, rather than the participatory Web 2.0, that nowadays is associated with a large range of tools and software used for viewing and developing the websites, allowing the users to interact directly with any web content in order to obtain custom rewards. Changes are taken into consideration by the destinations management organizations in terms of transmitting the information with greater visibility to targeted audiences. The online environment is, therefore, in favour of any organization that wants to be connected to this world of technology and professionalism.

References

Alonso I, Bea E. A Tentative Model to Measure City Brands on the Internet. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. 2012; 8(4): 311–328.

Babbie Earl. The Basis of Social Research. Belmont, Publisher: Wadsworth Cengage Learning; 2010.

Briciu V-A, Demeter R, Nechita F, Kavoura A, Briciu A. A Proposed Online Platform for Ranking Place Brands Identity Characteristics of Official Tourism Websites. In: Kavoura, Androniki, Kefallonitis, Efstathios, Giovanis, Apostolos, editors. Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism. Cham: Springer; 2019. p. 755-762.

Briciu V-A, Nechita F, Demeter R, Kavoura A. Minding the Gap Between Perceived and Projected Destination Image by Using Information and Communication Platforms and Software. International Journal of Computational Methods in Heritage Science. 2019; 3 (2): 1-17.

Fernández-Cavia J, Rovira C, Díaz-Luque P, Cavaller V. Web Quality Index (WQI) for official tourist destination websites. Proposal for an assessment system. Tourism Management Perspectives. 2014; 9: 5-13.

Florek M, Insch A, Gnoth J. City Council Websites as a Means of Place Brand Identity Communication. Place Branding. 2006; 2(4): 276-296.

Gibson R, Ward S. A Proposed Methodology for Studying the Function and Efectiveness of Party and Candidate Web Sites. Social Science Computer Review. 2000; 18(3): 301-319.

Gulpe A-M, Briciu V-A, Demeter R. Opportunities and Limitations of Place Branding in the Online Environment. Chapter 2: Brands on the Internet. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Victor_Alexandru_Briciu/publication/324706154_Chapter_2_Brands_on_the_Internet/links/5ade320ca6fdcc29358d814f/Chapter-2-Brands-on-the-Internet.pdf?origin=publication_detail.

Kolbe RH, Burnett MS. Content-Analysis Research: An Examination of Applications with Directives for Improving Research Reliability and Objectivity. Journal of Consumer Research. 1991; 18(2): 243-250.

Lavie T, Tractinsky N. Assessing dimensions of perceived visual aaesthetics of web sites. International Journal of Human–Computer Studies. 2004;60(3): 269–298.

Luna-Nevarez C, Hyman M. Common Practices in Destination Website Design. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management. 2012; 1 (1–2): 94-106.

UNWTO. Statement by the Secretary-General. Available from: http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/a22_04_statement_by_the_secretary_general_en.pdf.

UNWTO. UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2017 Edition. Available from: https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284419029.

Published
2019-10-08
How to Cite
Briciu, V.-A., Briciu, A., & Gulpe, A.-M. (2019). An Empirical Research for Identifying and Analyzing the Identity Characteristics of Different Online Destination Websites. LUMEN Proceedings, 9, 26-39. https://doi.org/10.18662/lumproc.150
Issue
Vol 9 (2019): 12th LUMEN International Scientific Conference Rethinking Social Action. Core Values in Practice | RSACVP 2019 | 15-17 May 2019 | Iasi – Romania
Section
Articles

Copyright (c) 2019 LUMEN Proceedings

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference.
 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.