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Asian city brand meaning: a Hong Kong perspective

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Abstract

The idea of “brands doing good” is potentially intrinsic in all aspects of strategic and ethical branding. This study argues that city branding can be a site for “brands doing good”. City branding is consolidating its position in the branding literature. Two areas remain underdeveloped: the role of culture and a comprehensive answer to the question of what does a place mean to its residents? This quantitative study addresses these two gaps in the literature. Hong Kong is selected as a thought-provoking context to investigate the research issues and enables more attention to Asian city brands. The results indicate that social bonding through friends and relatives is the dominant brand association shaping city brand meaning. Additionally, a three-pronged approach to culture elevates culture to an important role in understanding the residents’ city brand meaning. The three prongs are: (1) inclusion of Confucius values as a brand association; (2) using intangible cultural heritage as a moderator in the model explaining city brand attitudes and (3) interpreting material lifestyle activities like eateries as an integral part of the city culture. The results suggest that the Hong Kong city brand does much good especially through strong social, cultural and community core brand values.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, Griffith University Gold Coast Campus, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia

    Bill Merrilees & Dale Miller

  2. Department of International Business and Asian Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Gloria L. Ge

  3. School of Continuing and Professional Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Charles Chin Chiu Tam

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  1. Bill Merrilees
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  2. Dale Miller
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  3. Gloria L. Ge
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  4. Charles Chin Chiu Tam
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Correspondence to Bill Merrilees.

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Merrilees, B., Miller, D., Ge, G.L. et al. Asian city brand meaning: a Hong Kong perspective. J Brand Manag 25, 14–26 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-017-0073-1

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