A Review of Destination Personality Literature: Focus on Articles Published in the Last Decade (2013–2022)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the most recent literature in the field of destination personality. As the importance of symbolic attributes in tourist decision making is increasing destination personality (DP) or destination brand personality (DBP), becomes a key construct in destination branding. DP has been linked with destination image, self-congruence and behavioral intentions, with a positive relationship being supported in most cases. Due to increased research interest in the field, an updated literature review of destination personality literature was considered as valuable. The review was performed with the PRISMA protocol and focused on articles published in high-impact journals during the last decade; these were analyzed in terms of methodologies and measurement scales used, destinations and major findings. Results showed that quantitative methodologies prevailed. Relevant research is not restricted to specific geographical regions but comes from various destinations all over the world. Aaker (Journal of Marketing Research 34:347–356, 1997) 5-dimensional brand personality scale (BPS) consists a reference point in the process of developing DP measurement scales. There is no consensus on the use of a single DP measurement scale, and most researchers acknowledge the need of DP scales to be destination-specific, culture-specific or even tourism-product specific. The most commonly used dimensions were sincerity, excitement, sophistication, conviviality, competence and vibrancy; the number of measurement items ranged from 7 to 26 while the average sample in quantitative studies was 480 respondents. More research in the field with the use of mixed methods is expected to portray better the evolving nature of destination personalities.