City branding and place attachment: a case study about Viana do Castelo

Abstract

The competitiveness of places has been growing with no signs of slowing down. People are more informed and demanding when looking for a place to live or visit and the development of an emotional marketing has been an important dimension in city and tourism management. The literature has focused on factors promoting place attachment and its consequence in place satisfaction and loyalty. However, little is known about the contrary - the effect of city brand in place attachment. This study analyses how the construction of a territorial brand and the perceived identity of it enhance the place attachment. Viana do Castelo city, in the north of Portugal, whose city brand was created in 2010, was chosen as a unit of analysis. A mixed methodology was conducted. To analyse the brand's construction, the City's Councilor of Culture was interviewed. To identify the brand's perceived identity, two important personalities of the city were interviewed. A focus group with residents and visitors discussed the elements of the city brand and an inquiry with a sample of 285 respondents was used to measure the place attachment to the city. The results show that place attachment is strong, especially concerning emotional factors. The study highlights the need to motivate the interaction between the target audience and the brand managers to monitoring city brand performance, by adopting a more engaging and active communication strategy. When the averages dimensions of the connection to the place are analysed, the place identity is higher than the place dependence for residents and visitors. These results suggest an effect of emotional city branding strategies in place attachment.