Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Huimin Liu(huimin.liu0001@temple.edu) is a Ph.D. student of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University. Huimin's research interests include tourism destination image, experimental methods, and other causal inference methods.

Kun Lai, Ph.D. (laikun@mail.sysu.edu.cn) is an associate professor in the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University. Kun’s research focuses on event studies, tourism geographies, tourism psychology, and philosophy of tourism. His other research interests include, but not limited to, place/destination marketing, education/learning in tourism, tourism planning, community tourism, and tourism phenomena with Chinese characteristics.

Xiang (Robert) Li, Ph.D. (robertli@temple.edu) is a professor and Chair of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University. Robert's research mainly focuses on destination marketing and tourist behavior, with emphases on international destination branding, customer loyalty, and tourism in Asia.

Abstract (150 Words)

This study attempted to explore the relationship between the destination image of one region (whole destination image) and those of its inner areas (part destination images) via a core-periphery structural perspective. To date, empirical studies on this topic remain rare. By content analyzing online reviews, the relationship of memory associations in the whole and part destination images was analyzed. Our results show that whole destination image shares a number of associations with part destination images. Yet the percentages of shared image associations on whole destination image are not equal among part destination images. The status (core/periphery) of shared associations may not be the same in whole and part destination images. Besides, core associations of part destination images are more likely to be found in whole destination image compared to periphery associations of part destination images. Conceptual and managerial implications of the findings were discussed.

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Exploring the Relationship between Whole vs. Part Destination Images: A Case Study

This study attempted to explore the relationship between the destination image of one region (whole destination image) and those of its inner areas (part destination images) via a core-periphery structural perspective. To date, empirical studies on this topic remain rare. By content analyzing online reviews, the relationship of memory associations in the whole and part destination images was analyzed. Our results show that whole destination image shares a number of associations with part destination images. Yet the percentages of shared image associations on whole destination image are not equal among part destination images. The status (core/periphery) of shared associations may not be the same in whole and part destination images. Besides, core associations of part destination images are more likely to be found in whole destination image compared to periphery associations of part destination images. Conceptual and managerial implications of the findings were discussed.