| Exploring the Relationship between Destination Image & Brand Personality of a Tourist Destination – An Application of Projective Techniques |
| Destination image is a multi-faceted concept, but the measurement of its multi-sensory elements has been largely ignored, and its relationship with brand personality has been overlooked. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study explores the relationship between destination image and brand personality, using projective techniques such as word association, brand fingerprint and brand personification. The paper contributes to lessen the gap on brand personalities of supra and sub-brands, within an African context. A convenience sample of eighty-five international tourists was interviewed at selected accommodation units in Cape Town. The findings reveal that word association is an effective technique at uncovering positive and negative cognitive images of a brand, but rather weak at identifying affective images. The brand fingerprint technique is useful for identification of both cognitive and affective images, as well as other sensorial images of a destination. This technique effectively establishes a link between affective images and brand personality of Cape Town. The brand personification technique revealed specific traits for the two brands, thereby highlighting point of differences in positioning. Cape Town brand was perceived as ‘young’ and more ‘adventurous’ than South Africa brand, with imagery of the latter anchored in tradition, cultural values and ethnic differences. These results emphasise the importance of including a sensorial stimulation to better structure destination image and brand personality, which highlight the usefulness of projective techniques. The findings have implications for advertising, promotion, and positioning of tourist destinations. |