Marcas de destino y evaluación de sitios web: una metodología de investigación

José  Fernández-Cavia; Pablo  Díaz-Luque; Assumpció Huertas Assumpció Huertas; Cristòfol Rovira; Rafael  Pedraza-Jimenez; María Sicilia; Lorena Gómez Puertas; María Isabel  Míguez González

doi:10.4185/RLCS-2013-993

Authors

José Fernández-Cavia Pompeu Fabra University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5712-7083
Pablo Díaz-Luque Pablo de Olavide University http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4905-4029
Assumpció Huertas Assumpció Huertas Rovira i Virgili University http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6684-4220
Cristòfol Rovira Pompeu Fabra University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6463-3216
Rafael Pedraza-Jimenez Pompeu Fabra University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6918-6910
María Sicilia University of Murcia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1731-4570
Lorena Gómez Puertas Pompeu Fabra University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2203-8352
María Isabel Míguez González University of Vigo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0580-8493

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2013-993

Keywords:

destination brand, tourism, website, advertising, place branding

Abstract

The World Wide Web has become the primary instrument used by tourists in order to search for information. As a result, tourism websites pertaining to destinations need to be appealing and must convey their brand image in an appropriate, effective manner. However, there is no methodology in place to assess the quality and communicative effectiveness of destination websites that is scientifically sound and universally accepted. The development of such a methodology is one of the tasks we have proposed within the framework of the research project: “New strategies for advertising and promoting Spanish tourism brands online” (CSO2008-02627), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Method: The project team have developed an interdisciplinary, all-embracing analysis template combining certain automated analyses with other qualitative and quantitative ones. The template comprises a total of 12 subject areas and 154 indicators prepared on the basis of contributions from prominent experts in each of the fields of work. This article sets out the analysis methodology drawn up and possible applications are given. Results:The primary aim of the project is to provide an assessment methodology that would make it possible to optimise destination brand websites, thus providing a tool to support the work of public tourism destination managers.

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Author Biographies

José Fernández-Cavia, Pompeu Fabra University

Graduated in Spanish Literature from Universidad de Barcelona in 1986, graduated in Advertising and Public Relations from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 1996 and PhD in Communication Sciences from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2000.

Reader in Advertising in the Department of Communication, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Academic Secretary of the Department. Researcher of the “Communication, Advertising & Society” research group (www.cas.upf.edu ).

His main research lines are related to advertising and to the relationship between children, teenagers and brands and media.

Main researcher of the project “Online communication of Spanish tourism destinations” (2012-2014), funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness fs the Spanish Government (www.marcasturisticas.org ).

Pablo Díaz-Luque, Pablo de Olavide University

Lecturer in the Department of Business Administration and Marketing of the University Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla. PhD for the University of Málaga in 2006.

PhD Thesis about Spanish official tourist websites (fellowship of Spanish Ministry of Economy “Becas Turísmo de España 2002”).

Researcher in the Center of Sociology and Local Policies of University Pablo de Olavide. His areas of interest and research are e-marketing for tourism destination, and tourism and urban development. Pablo has written several papers and book chapters for different publishers.

He is also part of the Scientific Committee of International Conferences of Tourism On-line (TURITEC) and Place Branding On-line (TOURL).

Assumpció Huertas Assumpció Huertas, Rovira i Virgili University

Assumpció Huertas is an assistant professor in Communication Studies at the University Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) and is member of the research group Asterisc at the same university. She teaches in the Degree in Communication and in the Master’s Degree in Political, Institutional and Corporate Communication (URV).

Her lines of research focus on the communication and branding of territories and tourist destinations and in several areas of public relations. She has participated in several research projects, such as “New strategies in publicity and promotion of the Spanish tourist brands in the web” and is now the principal investigator of the project “Use and influence of social media and 2.0 communications in tourism decision-making and destination brand image”.

Among her main publication are: “Centre and Periphery: Two Speeds for the Implementation of Public Relations in Spain” (2006), “Blogging PR: An Exploratory Analysis of Public Relations Weblogs” (2008) and “Public Relations and Tourism: Fighting for the Role of Public Relations in Tourism” (2008), all of them published in the Public Relations Review. Other outstanding publications are “Advancing the study of place brands, tourism and reputation” (2011) with Nigel Morgan in the Catalan Journal of Communication and Cultural Studies.

She is author of international and national books and book chapters. Notable among these is the co-authored manual, with José Fernández Cavia, “Redacción en Relacions Públicas”, edited by Pearson. She is a co-author of several chapters such as: “Place-making or place branding? Case studies of Catalonia and Wales” (2010) with Nigel Morgan and Annette Pritchard in the book “Towards effective place brand management. Branding European cities and regions” edited by Ashworth and Kavaratzis.

Cristòfol Rovira, Pompeu Fabra University

Cristòfol Rovira is professor at the University Pompeu Fabra since 1992 in the area of Library and Information Science. He teaches in grades of Journalism and Advertising, in the Master in Digital Documentation (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), in the Master Search Engine (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and the Master in Digital Content Management (Universitat de Barcelona & Universitat Pompeu Fabra).

Currently he investigates on the development of new tools for the automatic evaluation of web sites and for the automatic creation of metadata.

He also investigates the usability of the web with eyetracking techniques. He's director of the academic journal Hipertext.net, belongs to the research group of the Department of Communication DigiDoc (Pompeu Fabra University) and participates in the research project "Online Communication tourist destinations.

Development of an integrated assessment tool effectiveness: websites, mobile devices and networks" CSO 2008 -02 627 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, España (MICINN) 2012-2014.

Rafael Pedraza-Jimenez, Pompeu Fabra University

Rafael Pedraza-Jimenez holds a PhD in Library and Information Sciences from Barcelona University. He works as an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the Pompeu Fabra University, where he teaches in the Journalism and Communication Studies.

He is also a visiting professor in various masters and postgraduate courses, such as the Master in Digital Content Management (Barcelona University - Pompeu Fabra University), Online Master in Search Engines (idEC - Pompeu Fabra University), or Master CALSI (Polytechnic University of Valencia), among others.

As a result of his research he has published several articles in journals of international impact. His main research interests are: Semantic Web Technologies, Metadata, Information retrieval, Information Architecture, Search Engine Optimization, and E-commerce. He has also participated and/or led several research projects.

María Sicilia, University of Murcia

Maria Sicilia received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business in Europe from Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) and her Master’s (M.B.A.) in International Trade from the University of Murcia (Spain). Since 1999, he has worked at the University of Murcia.

She earned her PhD degree in Management Sciences at the University of Murcia in December 2003. She is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Murcia since August 2008. She lectures in topics such as Market Research, Commercial Communications, Advertising and Marketing Management.

Her main areas of interests are focused on advertising and consumer Behaviour. She did a post-doc at Columbia University (first semester 2005). She stayed in the marketing department and was supervised by Professor Gita Johar. She belongs to the research group on Consumer Behavior leaded by Salvador Ruiz (University of Murcia).

Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, and European Journal of Marketing. She has also presented papers at European Marketing Academy, European Association for Consumer Research and ICORIA

Lorena Gómez Puertas, Pompeu Fabra University

Lorena Gómez Puertas, PhD in Social Communication and Bachelor in Audiovisual Communication at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona.

Currently, as a part-time teacher at Pompeu Fabra University, is responsible for the subjects “Theories of Communication”, “Theory of Mass Culture”, “Communication and Politics”, “Public Opinion” and “Analysis of content and discourse”, all of them assigned to the degrees and specialized masters of the Departament of Communication and the Department of Social Sciences and Politics. She combines these tasks with her work as associate professor in the Escuela Superior de Relaciones Públicas, the Public Relations center attached to the University of Barcelona, since 2004.

She also actively participates in research projects relating to the tourist communication and new technologies, and intercultural communication through television. Her main research interests are political communication and the social discourses constructed by media.

María Isabel Míguez González, University of Vigo

María Isabel Míguez González is a lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication at the University of Vigo.

She is PhD in Communication, Advertising and Public Relations, coordinates the degree in Advertising and Public Relations and teaches courses in "Theory and practice of public relations" and "Communication Management".

Her research focuses on public relations, communication management and tourism and she is currently involved in two national projects related to tourism, web 2.0 and social networking.

She is the author of the book Los públicos en las relaciones públicas (2010), has published articles in various journals in the field of communication and has been a visiting researcher at the University of Maryland (USA) and the University of Leipzig (Germany).

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