An Exploration of Cultural Heritage Tourism Using the Brand Personality Theory: an Example of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius

AN EXPLORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM USING THE BRAND PERSONALITY THEORY: AN EXAMPLE OF THE THREE MEMORIAL EDIFICES OF CONFUCIUS

A Thesis submitted to the Kent State University College and Graduate School of Education, Health, and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Xingcun Zhao

August 2019

Thesis written by

Xingcun Zhao

B.S., Kent State University, 2016

M.S., Kent State University, 2019

Approved by

______, Director, Master’s Thesis Committee Philip Wang

______, Member, Master’s Thesis Committee Ning-Kuang Chuang

______, Member, Master’s Thesis Committee Kiwon Lee

Accepted by

______, Director, School of Foundations, Kimberly S. Schimmel Leadership and Administration

______, Dean, College and Graduate School of James C. Hannon Education, Health, and Human Services

ZHAO, XINGCUN, M.S., August 2019 Hospitality and Tourism Management

AN EXPLORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM USING THE BRAND

PERSONALITY THEORY: AN EXAMPLE OF THE THREE MEMORIAL EDIFICES

OF CONFUCIUS (70 pp.)

Director of Thesis: Philip Wang, Ph.D.

The major objective of this research is to investigate if psychological factors have any impact on the perceived brand personality traits of the Three Memorial Edifices of

Confucius in Qufu, China, and examine the regression between travel interests and desire, as well as the regression between travel desire and intention. A questionnaire was used as the quantitative method for college students in the Kent State University. The results of presented study indicated that there is a psychological difference between allocentric travelers and psychocentric travelers in choosing perceived brand personality traits.

However, the Interest in the TMEC and desire to visit the TMEC are not necessarily associated. Desire to visit the TMEC and intention to visit are not associated either. The results of this proposed study are extremely useful in helping tourism marketers promote the traditional heritage tourism products based on tourism typologies and in moderating the interests, desire, and intention of traveling to the TMEC sites.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

On one hand, I would like to appreciate the professors of my committee members,

Ning-Kuang Chuang and Kiwon Lee, for their valuable suggestions and considerable input. Their professional suggestions and critiques were extremely valuable to make this research successful.

My thanks would especially go out to my advisor and committee chair, Philip

Wang, who has provided me with professional guidance throughout the entire process of my research study. He helped me narrow down the research topic and encouraged me to overcome difficulties throughout the way. His expertise and patience supported me a lot and made everything possible to explore the topic.

On the other hand, I would also appreciate the managed from Chinese heritage site, who spent their precious time helping me narrow down the personality traits of the

TMEC for this study and all the students that participated in the questionnaire.

Everyone’s input and dedication were the key to the success of this study.

Moreover, I would express my appreciation to my family and my friends.

Without their psychological support to me, the study wouldn’t be successful either.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... iii

LIST OF TABLES ...... vi

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 The History of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu ...... 1 The Value of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius ...... 4 Cultural Heritage ...... 6 Culture and Tourism Integration ...... 7 Tourism Branding ...... 8 Brand Personality and Self-Congruity ...... 8 AIDA Model ...... 9 Tourists Typology ...... 10 China's Tourism Market Demand ...... 10 Research Purpose ...... 14

II. LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 16 Destination Image ...... 16 Brand Personality and Self-Congruity ...... 17 Integration of Culture and Tourism ...... 22 Tourist Typology ...... 23 AIDA Model ...... 26

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...... 29 Expert Review ...... 29 Instrument Design ...... 30 Data Collection ...... 32 Data Analysis...... 32

IV. RESULTS ...... 34 Description of the Expert Review ...... 35 Description of the Sample ...... 36 Brand Personality and the Tourist Typologies...... 37 Interest and Desire for the TMEC Sites ...... 40 Desire and intention for the TMEC ...... 41

V. DISCUSSION ...... 46 Implications...... 47 Limitations ...... 49 Future Research ...... 51 iv

Reflections of the Study ...... 52

APPENDICES ...... 54 APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE ...... 55 APPENDIX B CONSENT LETTER ...... 60

REFERENCES ...... 63

LIST OF TABLES

Table ...... Page

1. Brand Personality Scale (Aaker, 1997) ...... 18

2. Brand Personality of TMEC (N=150) ...... 37

3. The congruency of participants to the TMEC site (N=150) ...... 38

4. T-test of the brand personality in Tourist Typology ...... 39

5. Interest and desire of TMEC (N=150) ...... 41

6. T-test of the desire and intention in learning more about the place ...... 42

7. T-test of the desire and intention for visiting this place ...... 43

8. T-test of the desire and intention for recommending this site ...... 44

vi Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

The History of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu

Qufu, Shandong, where the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius lies, is located in the northeast part of China. It is a county-level city affiliated to Jining City of

Shandong Province. It is also the birthplace of Confucius and one of the first 24 historical and cultural cities in China. In 1994, three historical buildings: the Qufu

Confucius Temple, Duke Yansheng Mansion and Konglin were entitled with UNESCO’s

World Cultural Heritage as a unified whole (Si & Ma, 2008).

The Confucius Temple has a long history of development. Built in the second year after Confucius' death (478 BC), the Confucius Temple is situated by the south gate of Qufu Old Town. It was the place for the royal families of every dynasty throughout

China’s long history to worship and memorize Confucius (Travel China Guide, 2019b).

Lu Aigong initiated the construction of the temple by establishing a temple on the site of Confucius’s home. This temple was used as a place of worship until the early years of the Sui Dynasty. In the seventh year of the Sui Dynasty (611 AD), the county magistrate of Qufu, Chen Shuyi built a temple in the vicinity of Confucius’s old house, thus ending the history of the house as a temple. In the Song Dynasty, Song Renzong granted Sun Zongyuan, the forty-sixth generation son of Confucius, with the title of

“Yanchenggong”, who was mainly responsible for the sacrifices, and the place where he

1 2 lived began to be called “Yan Sheng Gong Zhai”. In the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, in accordance with the architectural regulations of the palace, a wall was built around the

Confucius Temple and buildings were built on the four corners. In the tenth year of the

Hongwu Period of the Ming Dynasty, the fifty-sixth generation descendant of Confucius,

“Yanshenggong” Kong Xixue asked the court to build the Yanshenggongfu in the southwest of the Yanshenggongzhai. From then on, the temple was separated from the house.

It was expanded and rebuilt several times in the Ming Dynasty, during the Yongle,

Chenghua, Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Wanli years. During the Yongzheng period of the

Qing Dynasty, the Dacheng Temple of the Confucius Temple was rebuilt (“Temple &

Cemetery of Confucius,” n.d.). In the thirty-second year of Guangxu, Confucius

Ceremony in the Confucius Temple was promoted to Dasi, and it became one of the highest-rated buildings in China (Travel China Guide, 2019b).

Now, the Confucius Temple is a courtyard with an area of 14 hectares (210 acres).

There are 104 buildings built from the Jin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, including

Dacheng Hall, Kuiwen Pavilion, Xingtan, and 54 Fangmen, 13 Tablet Pavilions, more than 1,400 ancient inscriptions and more than 1,250 ancient trees (UNESCO, 2018).

Duke Yansheng Mansion is located on the east side of the Confucius Temple.

The descendants who were directly descended from Confucius obtained the title of

Yanshenggong by inheritance and lived in this mansion for generations. Therefore, Duke

Yansheng Mansion is known as the Yanshenggongfu throughout the history. Duke

Yansheng Mansion covers an area of 7 hectares (105 acres). Located along the East

Road is a home temple, that is, the place where Yanshenggong led the descendants of the

Kongs (the family of Confucius) to offer sacrifice. On the West Road is a college, which was the place where Yanshenggong studied. The middle road is the official residence and the inner house, which was the place where Yanshenggong handled official duties and the family of Yanshenggong lived. The cultural relics preserved in Duke Yansheng

Mansion are Chongguangmen, Datang, Qiantanglou, Houtanglou, and a flower hall.

There are in total of 170 buildings and 563 rooms. The collection of cultural relics includes more than 100,000 sacrificial vessels, more than 300,000 documents from the

Ming and Qing Dynasties, and more than 60,000 pieces of clothing and makeup tools

(UNESCO, 2018).

Located in the north part of Qufu Old Town, Konglin is the special cemetery for the third generation of Confucius and his descendants. After the death of Confucius, he was “buried in the north of Lucheng”, and the earth-filled earth was axe-shaped, and the sacrificial altar was built in a simple, modest style and was as high as the ground. After

Han Gaozu (Liu Bang) offered the Tailaoli sacrifice to Confucius, the tomb of Confucius began to receive attention. In the third year of the Donghan Yongshou Dynasty, in this phase Hanshu initiated repairs to the tomb and excavated a hole, and Konglin began to take shape. In the nineteenth year of Yuanjia of the Jin and Song Dynasties, the inhabitants of the county were sent to guard the tombs, whilst they planted pines and cypresses there and improved the specifications of Confucius’ tomb. In the nineteenth year of Taihe in the Beiwei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen worshipped at the tomb of

Confucius and once again improved the specifications of the cemetery. Since the Tang

4 and Song Dynasties, Konglin had experienced many renovations and improvements of its specifications. In the Yongle, Hongzhi and Jiajing years of the Ming Dynasty, the archway and the Shendao were added. In the twenty-second year of Wanli, the

Changchun Shifang and Beiting Pavilion were built. Konglin got expanded with more land during the late Ming Dynasty. In the twenty-third year of Emperor Kangxi of the

Qing Dynasty, the emperor decreed that there should be a further expansion of the estate.

Today, Konglin covers an area of 183 hectares (2,745 acres). Tombs of historical celebrities include Kong Lingyi and Kong Shangren, and tombs of more than seventy

Confucian generations are approximately 100,000. There are more than twenty buildings in the cultural relics such as Xiangdian, Sitang, the Stone Archway, and the Wooden

Arch and more than nine thousand ancient trees (Zhai, 2014).

The Value of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius

The Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius is an imprint and a carrier of the history of Confucian culture. Its historical and cultural values are becoming increasingly precious today.

As for historical values, the buildings of the Confucius Temple, Duke Yansheng

Mansion and Konglin are ancient temples, mansions and tombs. Inscriptions, couplets of calligraphy, paintings, garden plants and other rich art forms in the Three Memorial

Edifices of Confucius provide important historical materials for studying ancient Chinese architectural styles and social and historical changes. The rituals, costumes, makeup,

5 paintings, letters and other objects are all a collection of ancient decorations, clothing, painting and other arts. The history of the buildings of the Confucius Temple, Duke

Yansheng Mansion and Konglin is recorded with details. So, these buildings are precious materials for studying the history of Confucius and Confucian culture. As a place of

Confucian rituals, it also witnessed the generational transformation of the Confucian ritual system.

As for cultural values, the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius is a symbol and witness of the Chinese traditional culture represented by Confucian tradition. Traditional culture is the base for a nation to stand in the forest of the nations of the world and is different from the other countries’ values. Even today, in the background of modernization and integration with other countries' cultures, it is still a fundamental factor for a country to be distinguished from other countries. Confucian culture reflects the unique cultural DNA and spiritual traits formed by the Chinese nation in the long- term historical development process. It has been passed down and carried forward from generation to generation, forming a cultural identity of a national group and deeply influencing contemporary society. As an important carrier of Confucian culture, the

Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius is now the place where Chinese people pay tribute to Confucius and realize the charm of saints. It is also the basis for accepting the traditional Chinese culture and patriotic education.

In the long-term historical accumulation, the traditional craftsmanship such as inscriptions, engraving and printing, have been inherited for cultural communication, and ancient building repairing process is also a part of intangible cultural heritage.

Cultural Heritage

Heritage was firstly defined as the property left behind by ancestors, which includes material, memorials, human sites, historical sites, etc. (Balmer & Chen, 2016).

Since the 1980, the definition was expanded from only tangible areas to intangible areas, such as symbols, colors, music, and etiquette. (Balmer & Chen, 2016; Vecco, 2010). To the intangible extent, it became extremely difficult to define cultural heritage strictly and precisely (Navrud & Ready, 2002). The concept of cultural heritage could be interpreted differently according to people’s needs and understandings.

The functions of heritage have a broad scope that might be affiliated with an object, monument, inherited skill or symbolic representation (Balmer & Chen, 2016). It was not until 1972 that UNESCO officially proposed the definition of cultural heritage through the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, dividing cultural heritage into: 1 cultural relic, which refers to art or science, buildings, sculptures and paintings with outstanding and universal values have archaeological elements or structures, inscriptions, caves, settlements and a combination of various cultural relics; 2 architectural complex, which include art or science, due to the form, identity and position in the landscape, there are separate or interconnected buildings with outstanding and universal values, and 3 ruins, which are aesthetics, ethnology or anthropology, man-made projects with outstanding and universal value or common masterpieces of man and nature and archaeological sites (Vecco, 2010) China possesses a significant number of world heritage sites, all of which can be of great importance and

7 attractiveness to tourists from all around the world. Owing to its 5000 years of history,

China plays an essential role in global cultural heritage tourism industry (Balmer & Chen,

2016). The Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius is one of the most typical examples of

Chinese cultural heritage.

Culture and Tourism Integration

The concept of industrial integration originated from the technical field. The emergence of industrial integration originated from the field of information and communication. The main reason is that the improvement of technology promotes the integration, transformation and upgrading of traditional industries (Rosenberg, 1963).

Tourism provides an important way for the inheritance and spread of culture. At the same time, culture is the fundamental element of the cultural connotation. Culture can increase the connotation and appeal of tourists. Through cultural resources and cultural creativity, the cultural value-added and market appeal of the tourism industry can be being enhanced (Ge, 2014). Therefore, without tourism, culture will be isolated; without culture, tourism will be empty. Therefore, in the integrated development of cultural industry and tourism industry, tourism can make full use of the culture in the cultural industry to transform the shape of tourism products and enhance the cultural quality of tourism products. We can also use the advantages of performing arts, festivals, exhibitions, film and television, animation and other industries to promote tourism, so as to shape and enhance cultural tourism brands and enhance the competitiveness and

8 attractiveness of tourism spots.

Tourism Branding

The modern definition of brand as a concept dates back to the 1950s, when it was first brought up. It was defined as a complex symbol that consists of brand attributes, name, packaging, price, historical reputation, and advertising form. Burleigh and Sydney

(1955) address the significance of brand in creating exclusive differentiation and functionalism. It should be focused on developing the personality of the business. It is consumer’s perspective of using something (Farquhar, 1989). A more recent definition given by Philip Kotler is that the brand refers to a seller, a name, term, mark, symbol, design, or a combination of everything (Kotler, 2011).

In the tourism industry, brand plays a significant role in differentiation and functionalism. Tourism brands usually refer to the different indications of tourism consumers’ identification of both tourism products and services (Liang, 2009). The positive brand reputation of tourism companies and attractions can help the companies stand out and occupy a favorable position in the fierce tourism market.

Brand Personality and Self-Congruity

Tourism brand personality refers to the identity of the tourism attraction, which is closely related to self-congruity (Scott, Ashton, Ding, & Xu 2011). Self-congruity in

9 tourism is defined as the coherence level between the self-image of customers and the brand personality of a special product or attraction. The brand image of a cultural heritage site will have impact on people’s interests, desire, and intention on choosing the site as a travel destination. The perceived value of the Three Memorial Edifices of

Confucius and how potential travelers would feel about themselves internally has a close relationship with each other. The closer customers feel to the brand personality of the attractions, the more likely they want to travel to the place.

AIDA Model

The AIDA Model has been wildly implemented in the advertising and the marketing industry, which includes four major stages (awareness, interest, desire and action) of marketing process. Originally, the AIDA Model was only applied in the product advertising industry, but it was further expanded into the service industry, such as the tourism industry (Rawal, 2013), and most of the theory is still very applicable to the tourism industry. The first stage of the AIDA Model is the awareness stage, in which customers realize the existence of the product or attraction. A positive brand image plays an important role in attracting customers. Advertisement and social media post can be the primary resource to build up awareness. The second stage is the interest stage, which is the most important stage for potential tourists to be attracted and for their interests to be aspired. Website content, newsletter and email campaign fill the gap of aspiring the interests of the potential tourists. The third stage is the desire stage, which influences

10 tourists’ final decisions, in which attraction official website and pamphlets interfere the choices. Taking action is the last stage, where tourists are successfully attracted and make the decisions to visit the place.

Tourists Typology

Different tourists have different reasons for choosing a tour, therefore it is necessary for relevant tourism organizations to understand each tourist’s aims.

Meanwhile, different scholars have distinct tourist typologies based on their different reasons. Hence, the analysis of the tourist typology is essential for the development of the tourism industry to better serve the tourists and obtain more profit. According to

Cohen’s (1972) study, tourists could be divided into four types, which are mass tourists, individuals mass tourists, explores and drifters (Cohen, 1972). Hence, the task of the tourism company is complex since they need to distinguish the tourist type so that they could better and more promptly arrange the service.

Tourism’s development is closely related to the demand for services from tourist.

Hence, the tourism company needed to design different plans for the different types of tourists.

China's Tourism Market Demand

With rapid economic growth, China not only has made big progress in the

11 outbound tourism market, but also has successfully attracted much attention from foreign tourists and increased its inbound travel market. In 2017 alone, China successfully raised its inbound tourists by 0.8% over the last year and it reached 139.48 million visitations

(Travel China Guide, 2019b). In recent years, America is becoming a major tourist source market for mainland China.

According to data released by the National Tourism Administration was citation in early 2016, there was a total of 4.12 billion domestic and outbound trips in 2015, which means nearly three trips a year for the entire national population. Among them, domestic tourism exceeded four billion person-times, tourism revenue exceeded seven billion

USD, and outbound tourism reached 120 million (Wu, Cheng, & Ai, 2017). With the

Chinese economic growth, more and more Chinese travelers start to travel regularly, both domestically and outbound. More and more potential Chinese travelers started to consider independent travel as their primary type of travel instead of the previous group travel type. As different tourists have different purpose while travelling, this led to the division of the tourism industry. Many new forms of tourism are emerging in order to cater the different needs of these tourist. For example, there are cultural tourism, tourism for rural experience, outdoor adventure, business travel, study tour, leisure vacation tour and another sub-segment tourism. Among them, cultural tourism has become an important form of tourism. According to the development situation of the tourism industry in China in recent years, it can be summarized that the tourism consumption in the emerging stage mainly presents the following characteristics and trends.

First, the consumption of cultural tourism continues to grow, and it has become

12 the main driving force for the development of cultural tourism. With the development of the economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for cultural consumption has gradually increased. In 2014, China's per capita GDP exceeded 7,000

US dollars, and the consumption structure of residents has undergone great changes. The consumption structure of urban and rural residents has shifted from material-based consumption to material consumption, cultural leisure and entertainment products. The cultural industry and tourism industry are booming, the cultural market and tourism market are active, and cultural consumption continues to innovate (China Travel Guide,

2019a).

Second, the form of personalized independent tourism has been gradually emerging, and it occupies the main tourism consumer market (Richard, 2016). With the improvement of transportation modes, the number of private cars has increased dramatically, and there are more self-driving tourists. The proportion of tourists entering scenic spots through travel agencies has dropped from seventy percent in 2010 to around thirty percent in 2015. Free independent travel form based on self-driving force has become the major form of travel for tourists visiting the attractions. At the same time, independent travelers increasingly need to rely on online travel strategies, travel evaluations, or personalized online travel companies to obtain information on travel products and tourism experiences.

Third, rural cultural tourism has gradually become a popular form of tourism.

The living environment of modern cities is gradually deteriorating (Gao, Huang, &

Huang 2009). Air pollution such as tail gas, smog, food safety and other issues threaten

13 human health. Affected by these factors, people living in cities have begun to have interest and yearning for a natural and rural environment. In recent years, folk custom rural tourism, represented by non-legacy, retro, nostalgia and return to nature, has become popular. Local governments are striving to tap rural folk cultural resources and shape rural cultural ecology and natural ecological image and to shape the rural environment with natural tranquility. The long-established rural folk custom combines traditional rural tourism such as ancient towns, ancient villages and folk villages. At the same time, ecotourism and health tourism related to rural tourism are favored by tourism consumers.

Fourth, the emerging types of tourism products are diversified. The tourism market is constantly changing (Benur & Bramwell, 2015). The demands for cultural tourism, leisure and holiday, and emerging tourism methods are also growing. Combined with the structural adjustment of cultural tourism, the development of modern tourism products such as sports tourism, health tourism, school tourism, outdoor music festivals have become the main development trend of China’s cultural tourism market in the future.

With the increase in the number of tourists and the expansion of tourism knowledge, tourists are no longer satisfied with the simple form of tourism. The further generalization of tourism activities should cover a variety of consumption patterns such as city trips, cultural experiences, vacations, and special projects, forming a transformation trend from a single tourism product to a composite leisure product.

Research Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the brand images of the Three

Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong, China, with brand personality.

Chinese inbound tourism market is currently emerging, with young travelers between 16 to 24 being the largest segment of travelers to mainland China. Among all countries, students from the United States play the most significant role in contributing to inbound tourism to China (Scott, Ashton, Ding, & Xu 2011). When cultural heritage tourism takes up a big part in Chinese inbound travel for foreign travelers, the traditional Chinese

Confucian values affects the tourism brand personality and brand image to a large extent.

However, branding tourist attraction in China to the international market has not been cared enough and little discussion has been conducted regarding this issue. Therefore, conducting a research on the perceptions of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius in

Qufu for travelers from the United State and China is important in promoting the domestic and international inbound travel market. Three research questions are raised for to fulfill the study purpose:

Q1: What are the TMEC’s brand personalities?

Q2: How do prospective visitors react to the TMEC product in terms of interest, desire and intension to consumption?

The hypotheses were developed as follows:

H1: There are psychographic differences among the sample in their ratings of the

TMEC brand personality.

H2: Interest and desire for the TMEC are associated.

H3: There are intention differences (yes or no) among the sample in their ratings of desire for the TMEC.

CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

Destination Image

The concept of destination image was first proposed by Hunt (1975) as “the sum of beliefs, ideas, and impressions that a person has of a destination” (p. 18). It has been wildly applied as a general definition of destination image. The climate, environment and the local people of that area can be essential factors for the potential tourists to convert their perceptions, and accordingly influence the development of local tourism

(Hunt, 1975; Crompton, 1979).

Perceived destination images of the same place could be different for different tourists. For tourists from the same group, the image is usually similar, while it varies among different groups. Perceived image of a destination can be influenced by many factors. Some relatively recent studies such as Baloglu and McCleary (1999) and Beerli and Martin (2004) tend to consider potential tourist’s perceived destination image as a consequence of two components: perceptive/cognitive evaluations and affective appraisals. perceptive/cognitive evaluations refer to an individual’s rational knowledge and beliefs toward a destination which expresses the feelings of tourist to the destination emotionally, affective appraisals emphasize on emotional feelings toward the destination such as personal experience. Therefore, destination management departments usually provide induced sources of information with the purpose of marketing promotion, in

16 17 order to influence customers’ intention to travel to certain destinations (Beerli & Martin,

2004). The study on Uganda’s perceived image has revealed the significance of the influence of official websites on tourism. It has been proved that the influence of the induced information on destination image is significant (Lepp, Gibson, & Lane, 2011).

It is worthwhile to clarify the relationship between destination image and destination branding. Ekinci (2003) assumes that there are three stages in the establishment of a successful destination brand: the establishment of the destination image, the branding of destination, and the setting-up of a different and special brand personality. He attaches great importance to the second stage, where emotional attachment is emphasized. Ekinci (2003) expresses that a different and special destination image can have a great impact on the decisions of the tourists, while the branded destination would help establish instant affection among the tourists and can produce good effect on tourism. He also indicates that establishing a popular destination image, can be concluded as the change from branding to personality.

Brand Personality and Self-Congruity

The concept of brand personality originated from Aaker’s study in 1997. It emphasizes that a set of human characteristics can be attached to the name of a brand. In this way, Aaker (1997) comments that consumers can be attracted by the name of the brand better because of the emotional appeal and attraction that a personalized brand can offer. The measurement of brand personality is set on the Big Five Model from

18 psychology, including the following dimensions: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness (Aaker, 1997). Under the dimension of sincerity, there are following traits: down-to-earth, family-oriented, small-town, honest, sincere, real, wholesome, original, cheerful, sentimental, and friendly. The dimension of excitement includes daring, trendy, exciting, spirited, cool, young, imaginative, unique, up-to-date, independent, and contemporary. Traits like reliable, hardworking, secure, intelligent, technical, corporate, successful, leader, and confident belong to the dimension of competence. Under the dimension of sophistication, there are upper class, glamorous, good looking, charming, feminine and smooth. Traits under the dimension of ruggedness include outdoorsy, masculine, western, tough, and rugged (Table 1).

Table 1

Brand Personality Scale (Aaker, 1997)

Factor name Facet Name Traits Down-to-earth Down-to-earth Family-oriented Small-town Honest Honest Sincere Sincerity Real Wholesome Wholesome Original Cheerful Cheerful Sentimental Friendly Daring Daring Trendy Exciting

Spirited Excitement Spirited Cool Young Imaginative Imaginative

Unique Up-to-date Up-to-date Independent contemporary Reliable Reliable Hard working Secure Intelligent Competence Intelligent Technical Corporate Successful Successful Leader Confident Upper class Upper class Glamorous Good looking Sophistication Charming Charming Feminine Smooth Outdoorsy Outdoorsy Masculine Ruggedness Western Tough Tough Rugged

Tourism brand research focuses on the marketing and management of the brands of tourism destination at the national and city levels. Morgan, Pritchard, and Piggott

(2007) analyzes the challenges of brand building, marketing and management of tourism destinations, involving the creation and marketing of national brands and images. Teemu and Seppo (2009) propose the methods for developing local brands and the influential factors of local marketing. They use the national and urban brand projects in Norway,

Australia, Socrates, Chicago, Copenhagen as examples to analyze the construction process of national and urban brands. Hosany (2006) discusses the brand image and brand personality in the field of generic marketing and points out the research about the

20 application of brand theory in tourism sites, especially tourism destinations, is relatively new. In the context of travel destinations, he studies the relationship between brand image and brand personality. Through Canonical correlation analysis, he finds out that the emotional factors of tourist destination image have various forms in the personality dimensions of tourism destination. Hosany, Ekinci, and Uysal (2016) make an investigation on the relationship between destination personality and destination image.

The results of their investigation suggest that the concepts of brand image and brand personality is closely related.

In conclusion, although there are already many academic achievements on the destination brand image, especially in leisure tourism, there are insufficient researches on brand personality building in the cultural tourism industry in China. More studies are required to analyze the brand personality of Chinese cultural heritage sites and the travel intention of potential tourists.

Through leisure consumption, individuals can identify or express themselves.

The choice of destination brand can affect the self-image of the tourists in line with the product or image of the brand, which is called self-congruity (Sirgy, 1982). Self- congruity can also be defined as the coherence level between the self-image of consumers and the brand image of a specific product or brand (Sirgy, 1982). High level of coherence between the self-image of individual and perceived product image contributes significantly to consumers’ behaviors in selecting certain tourism product or tourism brands (Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al., 1997). People are more willing to make a purchase when the perceived product image and their self-images

21 converge (Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al., 1997). Product and brand images can be determined by factors like advertisement, money, and factors related to marketing and psychology (Sirgy, 1985; Sirgy et al., 1997).

According to Sirgy (1982), there are four major types of self-concept: actual self- concept (how a person actually perceives him-/herself), ideal self-concept (how a person would like to perceive him-/herself), social self-concept (how a person thinks others perceive him-/herself), and ideal social self-concept (how a person would like others to perceive him-/herself). Based on the four types of self-concepts, Sirgy (1982) develops self-congruity into four types and each of the self-concepts relates to the perceived product/brand image. The first is the actual self-congruity, namely real self-image. The second is the ideal self-congruity, namely the self-image that a person is willing to become. The third is the social self-congruity, which is defined as the self-image of a person in front of others. The last one is the ideal social self-congruity, which refers to what a person is willing to be in front of others.

Self-congruity theory has been wildly applied in various industries, such as automobile market (Hughes & Guerrero, 1971; Branaghan & Hildebrand, 2011), soft drink (Branaghan & Hildebrand, 2011), sponsored promotional events (Close, Krishen, &

Latour, 2009), fashion and lifestyle brand (Khan, 2010), retail market (He & Mukherjee,

2007), and gift-giving decision (Liu et al., 2010). In the tourism industry, the self- congruity theory can also be utilized to investigate the interests of travelers’ travel intentions and willingness. According to some researches, brand personality and self- congruity has very close relationship with each other. The choice of tourist destination

22 not only depends on destination image formed by tourists' inner ideal, but also on the perception of tourism (Sirgy & Su, 2000), which is related to the construction of self- image.

Integration of Culture and Tourism

The concept of industry integration is introduced to enforce the competitive advantage of companies across different industries. For tourism researches, in combination with the original tourism research, Cultural Urban Tourism and Cultural

Rural Tourism have emerged. In his latest research, Garau (2016) tries to extend the traditional ways of cultural tourism to a broader perspective. Combined with the latest technological development, he rethinks the layout and design of cultural tourism, especially “cultural urban tourism”. He explores from three aspects: 1) how cultural tourism is reinforced by new technologies today; 2) how the tourism of cultural heritage becomes a part of smart tourism and 3) how it is valued or strengthened.

The significance of culture on scenic spot to the tourism industry has also become a hot spot for cultural tourism researchers. Through an empirical survey, Appiah-Adu

(2000) points out that the relationship between culture marketing and the retention of customer is temperately strong. Liu (2014) points out that in Europe, a major form of cultural tourism is cultural event, which increases year by year. The European Capital of

Culture may be a prime example of the new developments in European cultural tourism.

Liu’s article analyzes the development process of The European Capital of Culture

23 activities in the past 20 years, as well as its impact on the growth of cultural tourism, economic development, urban image, urban renewal and cultural consumption.

Chinese scholars Zhang and Wang (2010) analyze the integration process of cultural industry and tourism industry from the perspective of value chain. They propose that tourism industry is an economic industry with strong cultural economical features.

Lu (2015) uses the data from 2004 to 2013 to separately analyze the integration of the cultural industry and the segmentation industries (such as the art industry, the library industry, the mass culture service industry, cultural market management units, etc.) within the cultural industry and the tourism industry. The results show that compared with the segmentation industry, the cultural industry and the tourism industry have a higher degree of integration. Thus, the tourism value of the segmentation industries within the cultural industry should be further explored and the integration should be strengthened.

Tourist Typology

Tourism typology is one of the most significant methods to measure the travel motivation and intention of the tourists. The concept of tourist typology was first identified by Cohen (1972), who revealed different types of tourists’ roles according to his study on tourist experiences. Based on Cohen’s study, tourists are generally categorized into the following four types: originated mass tourists, individuals’ mass tourists, explorers and drifters (Cohen, 1972). The first two types are usually grouped as

24 the institutionalized tourists, who prefer to plan their trips based on previous experiences and they favor destinations with more similar features to the culture of their home countries. They are more likely to turn to tour guides, travel agencies and chain hotels.

On the contrary, the latter two types are classified as the non-institutionalized tourists, who prefer more exploratory experiences and would like to immerse themselves into the local cultural. They depend much less on organizations like travel agencies.

From the perspective of personality, Plog (1974) divides the psychological types of the tourists into the following five types: psychocentric, near-psychocentric, mid- centric, near-allocentric, and allocentric. Plog’s (1974) view is that destination or resort areas have their own rise and fall because of the psychological changes of people. The five types of psychological effects will have different impacts on tourists about the decision making of the trip. Allocentric travelers are also called the wanderers, who usually prefer to seek for new experiences and do some more adventurous and exploratory activists. Those group of people are very confident about themselves and would like to explore new travel destinations where they don’t use any familiar language such as China, Japan, Korea, as well as countries in Africa. The near-allocentric people take 22% of the studied population and is the steady group for tourism growth. To this group, other people’s comments are critical for them to continue their travel plan.

Psychocentric travelers are those who prefer trips where the atmosphere is close to their home and the people there speak familiar languages. They prefer chain hotels and attractions with guides who speak their native languages. For Americans, the psychocentric travelers might choose some English-speaking countries which possess

25 similar life values, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The psychocentric, on the contrary, has a high degree of anxiety and tend to avoid the unfamiliar and unknown situations that could come up in travel. The near-psychocentric are less conserved in comparison with the psychocentric. Yet they remain reserved in their choice of the destination and the distance for travel. The mid-centric traveler falls between the two extreme types: allocentric and psychocentric. This type of travelers is not very adventurous but are still willing to try out new things. The near-allocentric travelers prefer more adventurous experiences than mid-centric travelers, while the near- psychocentric travelers prefer more familiar environment than the mid-centric travelers.

McKercher and Cros (2003) indicate a unique way to categorize cultural tourists’ topology based on two metrics: centrality and depth of travel experience. According to

McKercher and Cros’ theory, the cultural tourists can be uniquely divided into five types: the purposeful cultural tourists, who have high level of centrality and pursue much deeper experience; the sightseeing cultural tourist, with relatively high centrality and pursue shallow experience; the casual cultural tourists, who have modest centrality and pursue relatively shallow travel experience; the incident cultural tourist with relatively lower centrality and would prefer shallow experience; and the serendipitous cultural tourists, who have low centrality, but pursue much deeper experience. There are similarities and differences between Plog (1979) and McKercher and Cros (2003)’s models. For example, they both emphasize the psychological needs of the tourists to categorize their attitudes and behaviors. McKercher and Cros (2003) regard the experience of the travel as the

26 motivation for the consumers, whereas Plog (1979) places the psychological change of the tourists as a part of the decisive elements.

AIDA Model

The AIDA model was first proposed as a theory of communication by E. St. Elmo

Lewis in 1899 (Lewis, 1989; Hassan, Nadzim, & Shiratuddin, 2015). The AIDA model reveals the four stages of marketing process, which are Awareness, Interests Desire and

Action (Michaelson & Stacks, 2011). The AIDA Model has been wildly implemented in the advertising and the marketing industry. To test the influence of the advertising, it is necessary to think to what extent the advertising attracts the customer’s awareness, aspires their interest, cultivates their desires and makes them take action. Therefore, it also has the same importance in the tourism industry (Kojima, Kimura, Yamaji, &

Amasaka, 2010). The theory of AIDA model is developed and further explained as the awareness of a product/service, the interest based on the benefits of consumption, the emotional desire, and the action of purchase or inquiry (Kotler & Armstrong, 2005). The first stage of the AIDA Model is the awareness stage, which means the consumers realize the existence of the product. The second stage of the AIDA model is interest stage, which means that the potential tourists are interested in the brand personality and image and it is the most important stage for the potential tourists to be attracted as their interest has been aspired. When they are interested in the tourism, it is essential for the tourism promoter to aspire the potential tourists’ desire to accept their service. The aspiration of

27 desire is the third stage, which can influence the tourists’ final choice on the tourism industry. The last stage is the action which means that the potential tourists have accepted the related brand image and have been attracted by the tourism industry. Hence, it can be said the prior three stages have a very important impact on the final action. So, it is necessary for the tourism industry to set up their positive brand personality and brand image in order to attract the potential tourists. They should take efforts to take different measures in different stages so that every stage can serve the potential tourists better and make them take actions.

AIDA model presents a reversed pyramid with four different sectors: Awareness,

Interest, Desire and lastly Action (Rawal, 2013). The four sectors can build on different media interfaces that can allow better market penetration and improve customer loyalty

(Wijaya, 2015). For Awareness, the use of articles, advertisements, social medias are the primary approaches to build the awareness of a brand. As long as the awareness of the brand has been planted into the consumers, the company can move on to the next stage where the interests of consumers is attracted (Wijaya, 2015). At this stage, the use of web content, newsletter, e-mail campaigns further fill in the marketing gap, allowing the cultivation of brand image in a consistent manner (Rawal, 2013). In the third stage, the company creates desire for the consumers, who would actively search for the products through e-books, brochures and websites. The action of purchase is not the end of the

AIDA model (Wijaya, 2015). On the contrary, the final purchase action provides sufficient data and case materials for the model, with which the company can further understand the purchase activity of the consumers.

Except for its application in the advertising industry, the AIDA Model is also applicable in tourism destination marketing strategies. In the stage of awareness, tourism companies could attract the interest of its potential customers through using visual media that are related to their tourism attractions (Rawal, 2013). For example, the advertisement on TV and the distribution of brochures are important ways for tourism companies to construct a visual image that is attractive for future tourists. Pan, Tsai, and

Lee (2011) show that the TV commercials on “constructing a 100% pure New Zealand” are welcomed by international audiences. The scholars also demonstrate the use of montage in the TV shows can arise emotional and intellectual appeals for consumers.

The concept of attracting tourists through visual methods is closely related to brand personality and brand image. Carrying a positive brand personality would make it much easier for the tourism brand to be recognized by target audiences and to catch their attention (McClella, 1998).

As a conclusion, the studies of brand personality and self-congruity suggest that self-image and interest in purchasing are significantly related, while the tourist typologies show that a certain type of tourists would have interest in specific tourism products and such interest and desire are also significantly related. As a result, to understand the self- congruity between the brand personality and the perceived brand image of the Three

Memorial Edifices of Confucius is important in its commercial values.

Chapter III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This presented study was designed to measure the relationship between the brand personality of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius and the self-image/brand personality (SI/BP) congruity of tourists and its influence on tourists’ willingness for visit. An expert review was conducted prior to the questionnaire process, in order to narrow down the perceived personality traits of the TMEC sites. A two-minute video clip from the UNESCO site, which briefly introduced the TMEC, was used as an introduction for participants to get to know the sites. A questionnaire including three major sections was delivered to students from Kent State University randomly in March 2019, and data was collected and analyzed throughout April 2019.

Expert Review

The questions in the questionnaire were reviewed by several experts from the tourism industry. These questions included the scale and measurement of BP factors.

The Brand Personality Scales (BPS) measurement used in this study was based on the theory suggested by Aaker (1997).

To identify the personality traits of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius, it was expected to collect feedbacks and opinions from six tourism brand management leaders, who are the experts in the tourism industry. To begin with, they would be

29 30 provided with the 42 personality traits that were raised by Aaker (1997). The experts were asked to think of the TMEC as if it was a person and they needed to select some traits that they thought can best describe the TMEC. Then the results from the first step would be discussed among the experts and they would reach an agreement to choose the best 12 out of the 42 traits that would be used in the survey.

Instrument Design

Based on the brand personality theory that was put forward by Aaker and after conducting some literature review, a self-administered questionnaire was chosen to be used in this study. The test of this study was including three parts: (1) measurement of brand personality (BP) of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius and self-

Image/brand personality (SI/BP) congruity of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius,

(2) measurements of AIDA model, (3) measurement of psychological factors.

In the first part, participants were asked to rate 12 brand personality traits of the

TMEC raised in an expert review. A 5-Point Likert scale measurement was used to measure the perceptions, self-congruities, interest and desire for TMEC. Participants were asked to compare their self-image with the perceived brand personality by rating the questions. They were asked to indicate the level of congruity between the perceived brand personality of TMEC and their self-image by using the global measurement method proposed by Sirgy et al. (1997). The actual and ideal SI/BP congruities were measured through a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The

31 statements in such measurement were: “I see myself quite similar to the personality of the

Confucius site” and “I would like to see myself as similar to the personality of the

Confucius site”.

In the second section, according to the AIDA model (Michaelson & Stacks, 2011), the interest, desire and intention relate to the TMEC site were measured. In order to measure the interests in the Confucius heritage, it was necessary to evaluate whether the following three statements were descriptive on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive). The statements were: “The place looks interesting to me”, “I am interested in the Confucius heritage”, and “I can see myself having a culture experience at this place”. In order to measure the desire for the Confucius heritage, it was necessary to evaluate whether the following three statements were descriptive on a 5- point Likert scale (1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive). The statements were: “To me, the Confucius culture is irresistible”, “I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site”, and “Travelling to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life”.

Finally, in order to identify the intention for the Confucius heritage, participants used yes or no choices to verify following three statements, “I would like to learn more about this place”, “I would like to visit this place”, and “I would recommend a visit to this site to friends and relatives”.

The last part of the questionnaire was to measure participants’ psychological factors. The traveler types of the participants were identified based on Plog’s (1974) tourist typology. The first type was the psychocentric. This type of persons was not comfortable with new and uncertain situations, so they would choose term such as “I

32 prefer familiar destinations”, “I prefer pre-designed schedule and complete packages”, and “I prefer local people speaking English”. The second type was the allocentric. This type of person was willing to try new things. They could be identified with saying: “I feel confident in trying new food or cuisine”, “I am free of anxiety at an unfamiliar destination”, and “I feel confident in communicating with local people”.

Data Collection

With the support of Kent State University, the data were collected from the students in classes by using a convenient sampling method. A target of 150 case was expected. All participants were selected voluntarily from classes to complete the questionnaires. A two-minute video clip of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius heritage site was presented to participants before the survey started. The participants were asked to read and sign the consent statements and fill out the questionnaire based on the video.

Data Analysis.

T-test and correlations would be applied in data analysis. For the first hypothesis, t-test would help to investigate the difference between the two traveler types (allocentric and psychocentric). For the second hypothesis, correlations would help to investigate the relationship between interest and desire for the TMEC. For the last hypothesis, t-test

33 would help to investigate the difference between three measure of desire (“To me, the

Confucius culture is irresistible”, “I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site”, and “Travel to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life”) and intentions for the

TMEC.

Chapter IV

RESULTS

The major purpose of this research was to investigate the potential customers’ perception of the brand image of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu,

Shandong, China, considering brand personality. Another purpose of this research was to examine how prospective visitors react to the TMEC tourism products in terms of interests, desire and intention to consumption.

The data were collected from Kent State University with the permission from the university by using the convenient sampling method. A total of 175 participants were selected from various classes. A two-minute video clip about the Three Memorial

Edifices of Confucius from UNESCO World Heritage Center official website was presented in the front of the classroom, which was used to test if it had an impact on participants’ self-image/brand personality congruity. The brand personality of TMEC heritage product was investigated and the AIDA model was applied to analyze participants’ intention of visiting the TMEC site. The results of this proposed research would be able to verify the practical use of the AIDA model in the marketing process of heritage tourism products. The three hypotheses were developed as follows:

H1: There are psychographic differences among the samples in their ratings of the

TMEC brand personality.

H2: Interest and desire for the TMEC are associated.

H3: There are intention differences (yes or no) among the sample in their ratings

34 35 of desire for the TMEC.

Description of the Expert Review

The whole process involved four steps. First, the 42 traits in 15 categories were given to the six tourism industry brand management managers. A phone interview was conducted to each of these industry brand managers and they were asked to select one trait from each category. A total 15 of personality traits would be collected from each manager. Secondly, the results of the first step was examined and the trait of each category that had been most frequently chosen by the managers were selected. Again, in this step, there were 15 traits. Thirdly, each of the managers were called again and they were requested to provide their opinions about the 15 traits that had been singled out from the second step. Next, for each trait, if all the managers agreed that it could represent the personality of TMEC, it would be included in the questionnaire. After the discussion with the managers, three traits did not get approval from all managers.

Finally, after the expert review, 12 traits were selected to accurately describe the personality traits of the TMEC sites, which were, real, reliable, friendly, spirited, leader, tough, original, corporate, glamorous, outdoorsy, and exciting.

Description of the Sample

The data of this research were collected from one of the public universities in the

United States during March, 2019. A convenient sampling method was implemented to collect the data. The original plan for questionnaire distribution was that questionnaire would be distributed by teachers in their classes. However, due to the midterm test, the distribution method was changed. The questionnaires were distributed in person during students’ regular class meetings, and the questionnaires were voluntarily completed right after classes by students.

A hundred and seventy five (175) students were selected to participate in the survey, in which a total of a hundred and fifty (150) students had adequately completed the survey. The rest 25 participants chose number 3 all the way through the complete surveys. The response rate was 85.7%.

Among the total 150 participants, 65 of them chose pre-arranged travel itineraries and certain types of tour packages. This portion of participants usually would like to choose more familiar destinations and they hoped that the local people would be able to speak their mother language. According to Plog’s (1974) tourist typology, this type of people was called psychocentric. The rest 85 participants expressed their willingness to try new food and communicate with local residents. They did not really feel anxious in an unfamiliar travel destination. According to Plog’s (1974) tourist typology, this type of people was called allocentric.

Brand Personality and the Tourist Typologies

Table 2 showed the perceived personality traits of the TMEC based on the survey’s results. The perceived brand image of the TMEC site was measured through different personality traits. The participants were asked to regard the Three Memorial

Edifices of Confucius as if it was a person and to measure the personality traits on a 5- point Likert Scale (1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive). The table below demonstrates the traits of how participants think of the TMEC site as a person.

According to the results, the most commonly perceived brand personality traits of the

TMEC site were unique (4.37), real (4.33), reliable (4.22) and friendly (4.12) in general

(see Table 2).

Table 2

Brand Personality of TMEC (N=150)

Personality Traits Mean Std. Deviation Unique 4.37 1.091 Real 4.33 0.956 Reliable 4.22 0.757 Friendly 4.12 0.773 Spirited 4.08 0.939 Leader 3.98 0.838 Tough 3.80 1.064 Original 3.80 1.141 Corporate 3.67 1.162 Glamorous 3.60 1.007 Outdoorsy 3.21 1.200 Exciting 2.84 0.955 Note. Scale used 1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive

The self-congruity measurements using this context was to examine the congruency of participants to the TMEC site when it was regarded as a person. The participants were asked to respond to two statements on a 5-point Likert-scale: “I see my personality quite similar to that of the Confucius site”, which was used to measure the actual self-congruity, and “I would like to see myself as similar to the personality of the

Confucius site”, which was used to measure the ideal self-congruity. The mean score of these two measures were 3.19 and 3.17, which were relatively neutral.

Table 3

The congruency of participants to the TMEC site (N=150)

Similarity Mean Std. Deviation I see myself quite similar to the personality of 3.19 1.227 the Confucius sites I would like to see myself similar to the 3.17 1.249 personality of the Confucius sites Note. Scale used 1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive

For the psychocentric who are not comfortable with new and uncertain situations, they tended to use the term such as “I prefer familiar destinations”, “I prefer pre-designed schedule and complete packages”, and “I prefer local people speaking English”. Table 4 showed the TMEC brand personality traits of the participants who belonged to the psychocentric type. The most obvious characteristics of TMEC were unique, real, reliable and friendly. The average score of unique was 4.44, that of real was 4.33, and that of reliability and friendly was 4.23 and 4.15, respectively.

For the allocentric people who are willing to try new things, they tended to say: “I feel confident in trying new food or cuisine”, “I am free of anxiety at an unfamiliar destination”, and “I feel confident in communicating with local people”. Table 5 showed the TMEC brand personality traits of the allocentric participants. The most obvious features of TMEC were real, unique, reliable and spirited. The average score of real was

4.32 that of unique was 4.31, and that of reliability and spirited were 4.21 and 4.15.

Table 4

T-test of the brand personality in Tourist Typology

Psychocentric type Allocentric type Personality (N=65) (N=85) t p Traits M SD M SD Outdoorsy 3.23 1.327 3.20 1.114 -0.194 .061 Tough 3.92 0.964 3.72 1.132 -0.122 .007 Glamorous 3.68 1.008 3.18 0.970 -0.273 .108 Reliable 4.23 0.711 4.21 0.790 -0.123 .008 Corporate 3.27 1.141 3.77 1.175 -0.270 .110 Leader 3.74 0.819 4.09 0.884 -0.228 .068 Unique 4.44 1.217 4.31 1.038 -0.171 .048 Spirited 4.00 0.912 4.15 1.027 -0.167 .043 Exciting .2.81 1.078 2.85 0.865 -0.163 .046 Friendly 4.15 0.797 4.10 0.707 -0.144 .021 Original 3.69 1.077 3.88 1.209 -0.219 .060 Real 4.33 1.089 4.32 0.842 -0.154 .038 Note. Scale used 1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive.

According to an independent t-test was conducted. For the calculated p values, seven out of twelve (tough, reliable, unique, spirited, exciting, friendly and real) were lower than 0.05, which indicated that there were differences between the psychocentric and allocentric participants. Participants of different types did show a psychographic

40 difference in defining the personality traits of the TMEC sites. Therefore, from the t-test result, the first hypothesis: “There are psychographic differences among the sample in their ratings of the TMEC brand personality” should be partially accepted.

Interest and Desire for the TMEC Sites

To examine H2: “Interest and desire for the TMEC are associated.” a correlation analysis was conducted. To measure the interest and desire for the TMEC site, a 5-point

Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) was applied. The mean scores of interest measurements were 3.77, 3.59, and 3.96. The mean scores of desire measurements were 3.32, 2.83 and 3.30. Those six measures were mostly higher than neutral, but lower than strongly agree (see Table 5). These scores indicate that participants had a certain degree of interest and desire for the TMEC, but the feelings were not strong enough. The reliability of the scale was tested for the three measurements of interest and the three measurements of desire. The measurement scale demonstrated a high level of internal consistency since the Cronbach’s alpha were as high as 0.94 (interest) and 0.84 (desire).

The Pearson correlation between interest and desire showed that there was a positive correlation between the two variables with r = 0.655, n = 150, p = 0.000.

Overall, there was a strong, positive correlation between the interest measurement and the desire measurement. Therefore, from the correlation result, the second hypothesis

“Interest and desire for the TMEC are associated” should be supported.

Table 5

Interest and desire of TMEC (N=150)

Description Mean Std. Deviation Interest The place looks interesting to me 3.77 1.051 I am interested in the Confucius heritage 3.58 1.052 I can see myself having a culture experience at this place 3.96 1.052 Desire To me, the Confucius culture is irresistible 3.32 1.124 I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site 2.83 1.009 Travelling to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life 3.30 1.241 Note. Scale used 1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive

Desire and Intention for the TMEC

Three yes or no statements were asked to determine behavioral intentions of the participants regarding the TMEC site. In this research, intention is considered as a dependent variable and desire relating to the TMEC site is regarded as an independent variable. To the statement “I would like to learn more about the place”, 112 participants answered “yes”, and 38 participants answered “no”. For the statement “I would like to visit this place”, 114 participants said “yes”, and 36 participants said “no”. For the last statement “I would recommend a visit to this site to friends and relatives”, 113 participants answered, “yes” and 37 participants answered “no”. The percentage of participants, who would like to learn, visit and recommend the TMEC heritage sight, was around 76% of the total participants. To examine H3, “There are intention differences

(yes or no) among the sample in their ratings of desire for the TMEC”, a t-test analysis was conducted.

Table 6 showed the difference between the first intention “I would like to learn more about the place” and the three measurements of desire. For the first measurement of desire, “To me, the Confucius culture is irresistible”, the result of intention was as follows: there was a significant difference in the “yes” (M = 3.50, SD = 1.022) and “no”

(M = 2.80, SD = 1.255) conditions; p = .001. With regard to the second measurement of desire “I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site”, the result of intention was as follows: there was a significant difference in the “yes” (M = 3.01, SD = 0.982) and

“no” (M = 2.37, SD = 0.998) conditions; p = .001. For the last measurement of desire

“Traveling to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life”, the result of intention was as follows: there was a significant difference in the “yes” (M = 3.55, SD = 1.146) and

“no” (M = 2.55, SD = 1.245) conditions; p = .000.

Table 6

T-test of the desire and intention in learning more about the place

Intention I would like to learn more about the place Yes No (N=112) (N=38) Desire Mean SD Mean SD t p To me, the Confucius culture is irresistible 3.50 1.022 2.80 1.255 3.487 .001 I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site 3.01 0.982 2.37 0.998 3.461 .001 Travelling to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life 3.55 1.146 2.55 1.245 4.552 .000 Note. Scale used 1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive.

Table 7

T-test of the desire and intention for visiting this place

Intention I would like to visit this place Yes No (N=114) (N=36) Desire Mean SD Mean SD t p To me, the Confucius culture is irresistible 3.40 1.087 3.06 1.218 1.626 .106 I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site 3.00 0.950 2.36 1.099 3.384 .001 Travelling to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life 3.61 1.118 2.33 1.146 5.915 .000 Note. Scale used 1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive.

Table 7 above showed the difference between the second intention “I would like to visit this place” and the three measurements of desire. For the first measurement of desire “To me, the Confucius culture is irresistible”, the result of intention was as follows: there was not a significant difference in the “yes” (M = 3.40, SD = 1.087) and “no” (M =

3.06, SD = 1.218) conditions; p = .106. With regard to the second measurement of desire

“I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site”, the result of intention was as follows: there was a significant difference in the “yes” (M = 3.00, SD = 0.950) and “no”

(M = 2.36, SD = 1.099) conditions; p = .001. For the last measurement of desire

“Travelling to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life”, the result of intention was as follows: there was a significant difference in the “yes” (M = 3.61, SD = 1.118) and

“no” (M = 2.33, SD = 1.146) conditions; p = .000.

Table 8

T-test of the desire and intention for recommending this site

Intention I would recommend a visit to this site to friends and relatives Yes No (N=113) (N=37) Desire Mean SD Mean SD t p To me, the Confucius culture is 3.40 1.040 3.08 1.341 1.494 .137 irresistible I feel a sense of urgency in visiting 2.98 0.935 2.43 1.168 2.912 .004 the Confucius site Travelling to the Confucius site 3.66 1.082 2.19 1.050 7.245 .000 will fulfill a wish in my life Note. Scale used 1 = not descriptive at all, 5 = extremely descriptive.

Table 8 showed the difference between the third intention “I would recommend a visit to this site to friends and relatives” and the three measurements of desire. For the first measurement of desire “To me, the Confucius culture is irresistible”, the result of intention was as follows: there was not a significant difference in the “yes” (M = 3.40,

SD = 1.040) and “no” (M = 3.08, SD = 1.341) conditions; p = .137. With regard to the second measurement of desire “I feel a sense of urgency in visiting the Confucius site”, the result of intention was as follows: there was a significant difference in the “yes” (M =

2.98, SD = 0.935) and “no” (M = 2.43, SD = 1.168) conditions; p = .004. For the last measurement of desire “Travel to the Confucius site will fulfill a wish in my life”, the result of intention was as follows: there was a significant difference in the “yes” (M =

3.66, SD = 1.082) and “no” (M = 2.19, SD = 1.050) conditions; p = .000.

By comparing Table 6, Table 7, and Table 8, it can be found there is a significant difference between the desire and intention of participants. Therefore, based on the t-test

45 result, the third hypothesis “There are intention differences (yes or no) among the sample in their ratings of desire for the TMEC” should be partially supported.

CHAPTER V

DISCUSSION

The main focus of this study was to investigate how the brand image of the Three

Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong, China is perceived by potential visitors. It also aimed at identifying the reaction of prospective consumers of the TMEC tourism products in aspects of interests, intention and desire for consumption. Since

Chinese cultural heritage is closely tied to its 5000-year traditional values and Confucian culture is a representative of Chinese’s traditions, it is possible to establish a lasting brand with a unique brand personality (Scott, Ashton, Ding, & Xu 2011). As a result, the theory of brand personality and self-congruity had been applied in this study, in order to identify and illustrate the perceived personality of historic sites, Confucian culture and heritage as a Chinese heritage tourism brand.

This study uses tourist typology as a theoretical basis. A tourist’s psychograph could well explain his/her behavior. Also, the study has identified the importance of the

AIDA model in marketing and advertisement campaigns in making awareness of a brand and creating a positive brand image to capture the attention of potential customers. It has been found that there is a correlation between interesting and desire. However, the desire and intention are not closely related. As a result, if a person is interested in a place, he would be very likely to have the desire to learn more about the place and maybe to visit the place. However, this desire may not directly turn into intention.

Implications

This study combines the tourism brand image of cultural heritage and the brand personality, by taking the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong,

China as an example. Different theories including brand personality, self-congruity, tourist typology, and AIDA model are applied in this study to understand the correlation that exists among visitor’s interests, desire and intention for visiting a particular place and recommending others to visit the place. The findings of this study would be important especially considering the impact Confucian culture on Asian states and even all over the world. Apart from its cultural significance, the Three Modern Edifices of Confucius could serve as a tourist attraction site as the representative of the whole nation, promoting tourism and to some extent educating the people about Chinese culture and history.

The most significant four personality traits of were identified through the analysis on the questionnaire results, which are unique, real, reliable and friendly. The results were largely similar but partially different between psychocentric and allocentric travelers.

Most destination marketers are capable to take advantage of this result and enhance these four brand image traits to its potential visitors.

From the self-congruity tests, it is clear that tourism is in some way a fulfilling and helpful process for an individual to identify his/her personality and self-identity. The results from the test have identified that people have a neutral self-congruity to the site they have visited. For instance, an individual might realize his/her attitude when he/she is engaged in rough activities such as bungee jumping or sky diving, which could reflect

48 his/her adventurous nature and the need for thrill-seeking. By comparison, when visiting the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius, one may be inspired with philosophical or spiritual nature especially considering the deep teachings of Confucius.

The first, second and third hypotheses in the study have been largely accepted.

The first hypothesis is partially accepted because there indeed are psychographic differences among the different visitors since each one of them has his own peculiar behavior and reason. The second hypothesis is also true because according to the AIDA

Model, action and desire are probably propelled by interest. Therefore, the interest in visiting the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius would generate a desire for visiting.

The third hypothesis is also partially accepted. It has been identified that there is difference between the desire and the intention. The first hypothesis and third hypothesis are tested by using t-test analysis. The second hypothesis is tested by using correlations.

It has been proven that correlation and t-test analysis are useful tools for future studies in this area.

This study provides a marketing strategy that could increase the number of visitors to a particular site. Self-congruity and tourist typology can be used to identify the potential visitors for a tourist site. For instance, the Three Memorial Edifices of

Confucius could hold a cultural connotation that which can be connected to an individual’s character and identity, thereby building the desire to visit the particular site.

Through emphasizing these personality traits, promotional materials could be created to target at specific visitors with such similarities or those who intend to establish similar personalities to Confucius.

Furthermore, the site could be used as a starting point for learning a whole new ideology. Propagators and followers of Confucius teaching could attract more followers simply by exploring the major elements of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius and making them interesting to the visitors. However, it should be noted that it is also possible that after visiting the place, people may have bias towards the Confucius and thus negatively affect the learning of the Confucius philosophies.

Besides, the design of the tourism product of the Three Memorial Edifices of

Confucius should highlight its features and personality, meet the needs of the tourism market, and realize the economic value of the intangible cultural heritage. In the design of intangible cultural heritage products for the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius, the uniqueness, authenticity, reliability, and reality must be maintained. In this way, tourists' pursuit for novelty and uniqueness can be satisfied, and more tourists can be attracted.

Limitations

Due to various reasons, there are limitations that might have hindered the study from achieving a more conclusive result in the end.

The biggest limitation of this study is that the coverage of the sampling participants is not extensive enough. Since they are students, the participants of this study cannot really represent the entire population of the United States. There might be significant difference in results between the student group and other population groups.

One may argue that students in the same college with different majors can represent the

50 public in general. However, the simple fact that they go to the same university and do many things together means that they have the similar educational background knowledge and personal interest, leading to a bias. To better guide the marketing work of tourism marketers, some further studies should be conducted to confirm if the result of this study can be implemented in other studies. Meanwhile, the data collection period was relatively short and limited. More data collection and analysis processes and more population should be added to increase the accuracy of the results.

Furthermore, the demographic characteristics of the population such as age, gender and economic status are ignored in this study, where the differences in these aspects should have played an important role. For instance, one may have the desire to visit a site, but he will need to take his financial condition into consideration. If a place requires a high access fee, people may decide to give up even if they were initially desired to go. This research is based on the hypothesis that everyone can afford the trip, and everyone has access to visa to visit Mainland China. These external factors may also create inaccuracy for the research result. Therefore, these factors should also be taken into consideration.

Another limitation was that there was a difference between what can be seen from a video and the actual site. In this study, a video was provided to the participants.

However, there was a difference between actually visiting a site and watching a video.

For instance, many people had noted with much emotion of how much it means to watch a concert or a sports event live rather than having to watch it on television. The same can be applied here because by watching the video, the study fails to capture the true essence

51 of actually visiting the site. This cannot be captured in the results of the questionnaire as the participants would only fill out details from a recorded observation rather than the real personal or individual observation. As such, to some extent, the findings would have some difference.

Furthermore, the background information was only about the Three Memorial

Edifices of Confucius rather than China in general. At times, the location of a site and the background information relating to the site and the nation it is situated in can inform one’s decision of whether to visit or not to visit. For example, one may desire to visit but if the individual gets some information about China’s strange laws and policies, he/she would change his/her mind about actually traveling there irrespective of whether indeed he/she desired to visit.

Future Research

The results and the methods that were identified and discussed in the study are also important for future research as they may provide a platform from where future research can base their research. Tourism particularly has failed to identify particular aspects that can promote it and make it achieve more than it is achieving today especially considering brand imagery and its effect on self-congruity.

First, future researchers need not necessarily come from the tourism sector. They can also come from other sectors such as the cultural or the philosophical fields.

Confucius is one of the most respected Chinese sage whose contribution to the social,

52 economic, and political fields are still influential in many places around the world. The research could well be used to point out to the importance of the Three Memorial

Edifices of Confucius are to Confucian followers and philosophers which will further their appreciation of Confucius as the founder of the Confucian school of thought.

Furthermore, further researchers could also use the study to expound further on

Chinese tourism that identifies culture and uses much of its culture, heritage, and history to create a brand that has worked for them over the years. Using this study and China as a case study of how the use of culture as a brand, future researchers could well explore how other nations of the world can also reap from utilizing their culture and branding their tourism based on such identities. Not only can it be used for culture, but branding can also well apply to different things and future researchers have a perfect blueprint that can be able to help identify how attaching values to branding is important in attracting potential tourists and visitors to a country.

Reflections of the Study

The study was very limited based on the number of participants and the limitation in the utilization of data collection and analysis methods. Considering that the sample was only based on participants from one particular school made a biased assessment which was not helped by the fact that the study also failed to take into account other factors that may have also added to the bias. Even with that, it had its advantages as the data was collected faster. This was essential because the data was collected from a video

53 presentation of the site. Even though it may have saved time, the participants may not have presented a true reflection as their assessment may have been influenced by the beauty of the video rather than the true nature of the site which can only be captured by someone who has been there. Future research should take note of such data gathering methods and processes to ensure that they capture the perceptions of people based on their experiences from previous visits.

The utilization of the 5-point Likert scale is a welcome addition in the study.

Indeed, it offers a more descriptive way of answering a particular question with “yes or no”. It is also useful in the data analysis as the number scale makes it easier to understand particular aspects and enhances the validity and reliability of the results. The scale is particularly necessary for the respondents with neutral attitudes.

Based on all the above, the study has been able to provide helpful information on tourism branding construction in the future. However, there are many limitations as well.

With funds, more time and more people involved in the research, it probably would have generated even better findings.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

QUESTIONNAIRE

Cultural Heritage Tourism

Questionnaire

Study Title: An Exploration of Cultural Heritage Tourism Using the Brand Personality

Theory: An Example of The Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius

Principal Investigator: Xingcun Zhao, Hospitality & Tourism Management, Kent State

University

Consent Statement:

You are being invited to participate in a research study. Your participation is voluntary. It is important that you ask questions and fully understand the research in order to make an informed decision. You may choose not to participate, or you may discontinue your participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

1. Thinking of the Confucius site as a person, how well does ______(each

personality traits) describes his/her personality (1=Not descriptive at all, 3=Neutral,

5=Extremely Descriptive):

Personality Traits Scale (Please Circle One)

Outdoorsy 12345

Tough 12345

Glamorous 12345

Reliable 12345

Corporate 12345

Leader 12345

Unique 12345

Spirited 12345

Exciting 12345

Friendly 12345

Original 12345

Real 12345

2. Considering the similarity between the personality of the Confucius site and how

you look at yourself, please indicate your agreement or disagreement to the

following statements (1=Strongly Disagree, 3= Neutral, 5=Strongly Agree):

Similarity Scale (Please Circle One)

I see myself quite similar to the

personality of the Confucius site 12345

I would like to see myself similar to

the personality of the Confucius 12345

site

3. When you think of the following description, describe your level of willingness

(1=Strongly Disagree, 3= Neutral, 5=Strongly Agree)

Description Scale (Please Circle One)

The place looks interesting to me 12345

I am interested in the Confucius 12345

heritage

I can see myself having a culture 12345

experience at this place

To me, the Confucius culture is 12345

irresistible

I feel a sense of urgency in visiting 12345

the Confucius site

Travelling to the Confucius site will 12345

fulfill a wish in my life

4. I would like to learn more about this place yes no

I would like to visit this place yes no

I would recommend a visit to this site to friends and relatives yes no

5. When I travel, (please choose one)

I prefer familiar destinations

I prefer pre-designed schedule and complete packages

I prefer local people speaking English

I feel confident in trying new food or cuisine

I am free of anxiety at an unfamiliar destination

I feel confident in communicating with local people

APPENDIX B

CONSENT LETTER

Appendix B

Consent Letter

Study Title: An Exploration of Cultural Heritage Tourism Using the Brand Personality Theory: An Example of The Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius

Principal Investigator: Philip C. Wang (PI) and Xingcun Zhao (Co-Investigators)

You are being invited to participate in a research study. This consent form will provide you with information on the research project, what you will need to do, and the associated risks and benefits of the research. Your participation is voluntary. Please read this form carefully. It is important that you ask questions and fully understand the research in order to make an informed decision. You will receive a copy of this document to take with you.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the cultural heritage tourism brand image of the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong, China, in terms of brand personality. The students will be asked question about the perceived brand personality traits of the heritage site, and their interest, desire to visiting or recommending intention.

Procedures To build the survey, an expert review implemented to have several experts from the tourism industry to pick out 12 items from a list of words generated by a content analysis of Immanuel Kant’s writing on aesthetics. In this study, you will be asked to voluntarily participate in a simple survey. A two-minute video clip of Confucius heritage will be presented before questionnaire survey. In the first section of the survey, you will be asked questions about your opinions of the brand personality content of the heritage site and your self-congruity to it. In the second part, you will be asked questions about your interest, desire intention to visit or recommend this heritage site. For the last part, the only one question would be identifying your traveler type. The estimated time required to complete the whole survey is about 10 minutes.

Benefits This research will not benefit you directly. However, your participation in this study will help us to better understand the Three Memorial Edifices of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong, China, in terms of brand personality.

Risks and Discomforts There are no anticipated risks beyond those encountered in everyday life.

Privacy and Confidentiality No identifying information will be collected. Your signed consent form will be kept separate from your study data, and responses will not be linked to you.

Contact Information If you have any questions or concerns about this research, you may contact Dr. Philip C. Wang at 330-672-0219 or Xingcun Zhao at 330-389-0300.This project has been approved by the Kent State University Institutional Review Board. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant or complaints about the research, you may call the IRB at 330.672.2704.

Consent Statement and Signature I have read this consent form and have had the opportunity to have my questions answered to my satisfaction. I voluntarily agree to participate in this study. I understand that a copy of this consent will be provided to me for future reference.

______Participant Signature Date

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