Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Michael Lever is a PhD Candidate and Sessional Lecturer at the University of Guelph, where he incorporates his background in the areas of consumer behaviour, management, and marketing and applies it to concepts in tourism, particularly those of destination image and place branding.

Statia Elliot is a professor with the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph. She teaches graduate courses and researches supply and demand facets of tourism destinations.

Abstract (150 Words)

The present research seeks to understand the determinants of advocacy in a travel context, and explore advocacy behaviours using Facebook, a popular SNS platform for travel-based groups. Given national identification’s focus on creating a sense of pride and belongingness to one’s nation, it is proposed that the stronger one’s identification, the more that person will advocate for their home nation. Further, the link between identification and advocacy is hypothesized to be positively influenced by an individual’s destination image and tourism ethnocentrism. Findings demonstrate the importance of residents’ perceptions of various national values such as pride, closeness, and love of their country on their desire to advocate for it to others. Similarly, a favourable image of their country can strengthen this relationship. This mixed-method research combines an online survey with the emergent methodology of netnography to build upon social identity and place image theories. Implications for destination marketers are discussed.

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DMO 2.0: Exploring residents’ national identification relationship to destination advocacy through social media

The present research seeks to understand the determinants of advocacy in a travel context, and explore advocacy behaviours using Facebook, a popular SNS platform for travel-based groups. Given national identification’s focus on creating a sense of pride and belongingness to one’s nation, it is proposed that the stronger one’s identification, the more that person will advocate for their home nation. Further, the link between identification and advocacy is hypothesized to be positively influenced by an individual’s destination image and tourism ethnocentrism. Findings demonstrate the importance of residents’ perceptions of various national values such as pride, closeness, and love of their country on their desire to advocate for it to others. Similarly, a favourable image of their country can strengthen this relationship. This mixed-method research combines an online survey with the emergent methodology of netnography to build upon social identity and place image theories. Implications for destination marketers are discussed.