Competing for legitimacy in the place branding process: (re)negotiating the stakes

Reynolds, Laura, Koenig-Lewis, Nicole ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3931-6657, Doering, Heike ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4171-6107 and Peattie, Kenneth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3969-0531 2022. Competing for legitimacy in the place branding process: (re)negotiating the stakes. Tourism Management 91 , 104532. 10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104532

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Abstract

Although stakeholder participation in place branding is actively encouraged, there has been a paucity of studies examining why uneven involvement persists in practice. This study builds on Bourdieu’s theory of field and capital to explain how stakeholders from the local state, destinations, businesses and local communities negotiate influence and legitimacy in the place branding process. A multi-case study of two UK cities was employed involving semi-structured interviews with 60 stakeholders. We identify the specific characteristics of cultural capital in place branding: procedural know-how and place-sensitive knowledge. Our findings show that com- munity representatives can acquire a seat at the place branding table by possessing distinct place-sensitive knowledge and drawing on procedural know-how accrued from professional settings. Nevertheless, tradition- ally dominant stakeholder groups, such as local state actors, destination management organisations and the business community, can build strategic collaborations that counter deficits in cultural capital and thus retain their status.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0261-5177
Funders:	ESRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 May 2022
Date of Acceptance:	24 March 2022
Last Modified:	22 May 2023 21:47
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/149234

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