What does China look like? Anthropomorphic Image of a Destination

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Yuan Wang is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University. Yuan’s research interests include destination image, peer-to-peer accommodation, and application of social network analysis in tourism. Yuan is enthusiastic about exploring new approaches to examining and understanding destination image.

Abstract (150 Words)

This study introduces an approach of examining destination image through destination personification. Specifically, a nation-wide online panel survey was conducted with American leisure travelers who were asked to first imagine China as a person before describing his/her appearance. Responses from 2,517 participants were coded into six categories. Most frequently used image descriptions were identified, and the image associations of China as a female character and a male character were compared. Results show that a young, feminine image and an old, masculine image co-exist in the perceptions of China as a destination. Findings of this research shed light on the application of personification strategies in destination marketing.

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What does China look like? Anthropomorphic Image of a Destination

This study introduces an approach of examining destination image through destination personification. Specifically, a nation-wide online panel survey was conducted with American leisure travelers who were asked to first imagine China as a person before describing his/her appearance. Responses from 2,517 participants were coded into six categories. Most frequently used image descriptions were identified, and the image associations of China as a female character and a male character were compared. Results show that a young, feminine image and an old, masculine image co-exist in the perceptions of China as a destination. Findings of this research shed light on the application of personification strategies in destination marketing.