Visitor Perceptions and Effectiveness of Place Branding Strategies in Thematic Parks in Bandung City Using Text Mining Based on Google Maps User Reviews

Munawir Munawir,Mochamad Donny Koerniawan,Bart Julien Dewancker

doi:10.3390/su11072123

Munawir Munawir, Mochamad Donny Koerniawan + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11072123

Copy DOI

Abstract

The city of Bandung, Indonesia contains thematic parks which use certain themes to highlight the features of the park. They are also used as a branding strategy for the city as a whole. As social networking has become a type of media used by most global populations to share experiences and stories and to influence perceptions, and because online reviews are one way to get potential positive information about the success of a business or service, we analyzed online reviews from the Bandung thematic parks. We identified that thematic parks have an influence on the branding of the city of Bandung. Data collection involved data extraction from Google Maps user reviews. Text mining was used to collect the information attributes needed to determine the public perceptions of thematic parks. Data analysis was used to determine the extent to which a park can be a benchmark for place branding in Bandung. This research found that the influence of the thematic park concept is a good strategy for the city of Bandung. Online reviews show that thematic parks in Bandung are better known than non-thematic parks, and that thematic parks get very good ratings and good opinions from online reviewers. This information is expected to be a reference for developing the concept of thematic parks, especially in the city of Bandung, and it can be used by the government, architects, and urban designers to get a better understanding of the users’ perceptions and as a benchmark for similar projects.

Highlights

The benefits and functions of green space for humans can be direct or indirect
Assessments and perceptions of thematic parks are needed to determine the extent to which thematic parks are known to the wider community and the extent to which they have become a type of place branding for the city of Bandung
This study confirms that text mining of online reviews can be used to assess visitors’ perceptions of thematic parks

Summary

Introduction

In many studies of green spaces, parks and other green areas have been shown to provide benefits by making a city more livable and sustainable [1]. Urban parks provide a multiplicity of benefits to their communities. They create recreation opportunities, preserve open spaces and wildlife habitats, beautify neighborhoods and sections of cities, serve monumental or memorial functions, provide visual diversity, act as landmarks, and even guide traffic flow [2]. Parks are a destination where members of the community choose to spend their free time, because no money is required to enjoy them, and because they are comfortable, open spaces [3]. The existence of a city park [4] is an important part of an ecosystem’s complex urban network that provides important services. The uses of city parks include environmental, aesthetic, recreational, psychological, social, and economic aspects [5]

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion