Analyzing Image Fragmentation in Promotional Brochures

Abstract

Tourism image is a relevant issue that affects the way in which tourists make decisions regarding their choice of destination. However, there is a lack of studies focusing on emitted images and particularly on the fragmentation of emitted images in tourism destinations. This article proposes a conceptual framework to analyze emitted tourism destination image fragmentation patterns and explores these patterns in two urban destinations, Perpignan and Girona, with the purpose of finding out why they emerge, which are their relevant dimensions, and how these are interrelated. By analyzing the promotional brochures of these destinations the authors first identify the attributes of their induced images and, then, by means of a cluster analysis, determine the patterns of fragmentation of their emitted image. The results show that both destinations have a slightly different image fragmentation pattern in terms of image content, and a clearly different structural pattern of image fragmentation, as Perpignan has a more centralized pattern than Girona. This difference is reflected in the higher relevance of the local destination marketing organization in the case of Perpignan.