Evaluation of a City Brand and Its Influence on Tourist Satisfaction

Abstract

The evaluation of a city, as a brand, is essential for professionals who manage the marketing and communication strategies aimed at attracting potential visitors to the location. This study investigates the applicability of an instrument for evaluating a tourist destination as a brand. The study was applied in the city of Porto, Portugal, elected best European destination in 2012, 2014 and 2017 by the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC, 2020). In particular, the level of awareness, image and quality perceived by visitors to the city was assessed. The relationship between these dimensions and tourist satisfaction was also verified. Using a quantitative approach, the instrument, initially created by Konecnik and Ruzzier (2006), was adapted and applied to a convenience sample made up of young Portuguese adults who were visiting or had visited the city of Porto. The results showed that the four dimensions of the original scale had an acceptable reliability coefficient and provided relevant results about the city under study. In general, visitors expressed positive levels of "awareness", "image", "quality" and "satisfaction" in relation to the city of Porto. Variables from all three dimensions (awareness, image and quality) were detected that influenced the variables of satisfaction.