Word frequencies by Aaker dimensions.

The aim of the study was to explore the potential of a timed word association task to generate detailed insights into the perception of Glasgow city and its people which could inform destination and brand marketing. Destination marketers have a challenge to convey the tourist destination image to attract and satisfy the expectations of its visitors. Yet destination perceptions are often the result of multiple tourist visitor experiences at a location, neglecting the voice of the resident. The extent to which word associations varied by participants’ relationship to Glasgow was identified in terms of Aaker’s brand personality scale, an extension of personality research on brands and destinations. Surveying of 1,219 UK participants generated a total of 5,993 terms (city; 1,144 unique) and 5,034 terms (people; 944 unique). The value of capturing the perceptions of a destination by its residents is identified. The results showed that the city of Glasgow was often described as cold and busy, while the people were primarily described as friendly and funny. Evidence was found in support of dual-processing theory suggesting word associations based on lived experiences of a city may be generated later (in terms of the order in which the terms were generated) in a word association task, while common linguistic associations (e.g. synonyms, antonyms, hierarchies etc.) tend to be generated earlier in the task. As hypothesised, analyses revealed a significant relationship between several of the Aaker-dimensions of brand personality, and the consumers’ relationship to Glasgow, extending marketing research with an empirical approach to identifying differences in the perceived personality of a destination. The study offers a practical, fast, and replicable method for destination marketers to study consumer perception at scale, which is currently not widely utilised in this field. In particular, the use of semantic distance and word embeddings provides a readily available approach to automatically categorise content derived from word associations studies, or indeed, any text-based content. In contrast, financial investment in non-validated branding and destination marketing campaigns appear to be increasingly problematic. Advances were made in testing an approach to interpreting word associations through the lens of linguistic and situated simulation (LASS) theory to provide deeper analysis to both categorise and interpret consumers’ perception. Traditional approaches to tourism marketing and destination branding rarely provide such a level of analytical appraisal. The analysis presented in this paper challenges the orthodoxy and validity of investment in brand and destination marketing at a city level and the potential for word association tasks to be used as a valuable alternative method to create more effective destination marketing and branding.本研究旨在探索限时词语联想任务的应用潜力，以期深入洞察受众对格拉斯哥市及其市民的认知，从而为目的地营销与品牌营销提供决策依据。目的地营销者面临一项核心挑战：如何精准传递旅游目的地形象，以吸引游客并契合其预期体验。然而，现有对目的地的认知通常仅基于游客在当地的多次游览体验，完全忽略了本地居民的发声。本研究借助阿克（Aaker）品牌个性量表（Brand Personality Scale）——该量表是品牌与目的地个性研究的延伸——分析了参与者与格拉斯哥的关联关系对其词语联想内容的影响程度。本次调研共招募1219名英国参与者，累计收集到5993条与城市相关的联想词汇（其中1144个为独有词汇），以及5034条与市民相关的联想词汇（其中944个为独有词汇）。本研究证实了采集目的地本地居民认知视角的重要价值。研究结果显示，格拉斯哥市常被描述为“清冷且繁忙”，而当地市民则主要被评价为“友善且风趣”。研究结果为双重加工理论提供了实证支撑：在词语联想任务中，基于城市生活体验的词汇联想往往在任务后期生成（以词汇产出顺序而言），而常见的语言关联（如同义词、反义词、层级关系等）则倾向于在任务早期产出。如研究假设所述，分析结果显示，阿克品牌个性量表中的多个维度与参与者对格拉斯哥的关联关系存在显著相关性，这为目的地感知个性差异的实证研究拓展了营销研究的路径。本研究为目的地营销者提供了一种实用、高效且可复现的大规模消费者感知研究方法，而该方法目前在该领域尚未得到广泛应用。尤为值得一提的是，借助语义距离与词嵌入技术，可快速实现词语联想研究文本或任意文本内容的自动分类，该方法具备极强的可操作性。与之形成对比的是，对未经过验证的品牌与目的地营销活动的资金投入正日益显现出风险隐患。本研究还基于语言与情境模拟（Linguistic and Situated Simulation, LASS）理论，验证了一种解读词语联想内容的分析方法，可实现对消费者感知的深度分类与阐释。传统旅游营销与目的地品牌建设方法，极少能达到此类精细化的分析评估水平。本文所提出的分析方法，对城市层面品牌与目的地营销投入的正统性与有效性提出了质疑，并证实了词语联想任务可作为一种极具价值的替代方案，助力打造更具实效的目的地营销与品牌建设策略。