1. Investigating and preserving the essence of a destination brand - the case of Scheveningen Johan van Rekom Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam

2. Questions addressed How can we establish which features constitute the essence of a destination brand? –How to empirically distinguish central features from peripheral ones? –Our approach: interrelatedness of features. Can we establish beforehand whether new features will thwart or support the perceived essence of a brand?

3. Plan of the presentation Conceptual development –The concept of essence –The effect of how features cause each other Empirical research: example from a product brand –Assessing the causal structure –Establishing the prospective for new features

5. The concept of “essence” “Essence may be taken the very thing of any thing, “whereby it is what it is” (Locke, 1690). In a set of causally related features, people weigh causes more than their effects (Ahn, 1998).  Hypothesis 1: Causal status hypothesis Degree to which people perceive feature to cause other features Degree to which people perceive feature to be essence of the organization +

6. Sources of features Existing features Should be based on consumer perceptions Open-ended interviews with existing customers -Most frequently mentioned features New features Interviews with potential target group.

7. Sample page of the questionnaire

8. Alternative measure for perceived essence Would brand X still be Brand X if this feature was absent? 1 = yes, still absolutely Brand X 7 = no, it is no longer Brand X Average correlation per respondent: 0.49 H 1 Confirmed: link causal status – essence

9. Matrix of causal relations

10. RELIABLE HONEST CARING HELPFUL Map of strongest relations

11. RELIABLE DOWN-TO-EARTH HONEST COMMITTED FRIENDLY CARING HELPFUL More complete map

12. Other example: Burton snowboards Great Image Quality Cool Trendy Beautiful Value for Money Innovative Strong

13. Preliminary conclusions Operationalization of perceived “essence” as the degree to which it is perceived to cause other features seems valid Analyzing the pattern of perceived causal relations provides a safe way to explore the effect repositioning of a destination brand on consumers’ perception of its essence. Likely to be highly viable approach for repositioning tourism destinations, while building on the existing brand essence.

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