Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Stakeholder Perspective on Heritage Branding and Digital Communication

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Tourism and Culture in the Age of Innovation

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics ((SPBE))

Abstract

How does an archaeological museum understand its function in a digital environment? Consumer expectations are rapidly shifting, from what used to be a passive relationship with exhibition contents, towards a different one, in which interaction, individuality and proactivity define the visitor experience. This consumer paradigm is much studied in fast moving markets, where it provokes immediately measurable impacts. In other fields, such as tourism and regional development, the very heterogeneous nature of the product to be branded makes it near to impossible for only one player to engage successfully.

This systemic feature implies that museums, acting as major stakeholders, often anchor a regional brand around which SME tend to cluster, and thus assume responsibilities in constructing marketable identities. As such, the archaeological element becomes a very useful trademark. On the other hand, it also emerges erratically on the Internet, in personal blogs, commercial websites, and social networks. This forces museums to enter as a mediator, authenticating contents and providing credibility. What might be called the digital pull factor poses specific challenges to museum management: what is to be promoted, and how, in order to create and maintain a coherent presence in social media? The underlying issue this paper tries to address is how museums perceive their current and future role in digital communication.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anholt, S. (2007). Competitive identity. The new branding management for nations, cities and regions. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertacchini, E., & Morando, F. (2013). The future of museums in the digital age: New models for access to and use of digital collections. International Journal of Arts Management, 15(2), 60–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Grimes, J. M. (2012). Promoting transparency and accountability through ICTs, social media, and collaborative e-government. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 6(1), 78–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boast, R., Bravo, M., & Srinivasan, R. (2007). Return to babel: Emergent diversity, digital resources, and local knowledge. The Information Society, 23, 395–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charitonos, K., Blake, C., Scanlon, E., & Jones, A. (2012). Museum learning via social and mobile technologies: (How) can online interactions enhance the visitor experience? British Journal of Educational Technology, 43, 802–819.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Man, A. (2014). The institutional stakeholder and the slippery paths to growth: Heritage-based strategies in Portuguese tourism development. Heritage, Tourism and Hospitality International Conference (pp. 273–282). Istanbul: BoÄŸaziçi University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deffner, A., & Metaxas, T. (2010). Place marketing and branding cultural images in Southern Europe: Nea Ionia, Greece and Pafos, Cyprus. In G. Ashworth & M. Kavaratzis (Eds.), Towards effective place brand management: Branding European cities and regions (pp. 49–68). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drotner, K., & Schrøder, K. C. (Eds.). (2013). Museum communication and social media: The connected museum. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, B., & Cook, S. (2010). Rethinking curating: Art after New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakala, U., Lätti, S., & Sandberg, B. (2011). Operationalising brand heritage and cultural heritage. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 20(6), 447–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hankinson, G. (2015). Rethinking the place branding construct. In M. Karavatzis, G. Warnaby, & G. J. Ashworth (Eds.), Rethinking place branding, comprehensive brand development for cities and regions (pp. 13–31). Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, P. (2002). Heritage: Management, interpretation, identity. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutton, G., & Fosdick, M. (2011). The globalization of social media: Consumer relationships with brands evolve in the digital space. Journal of Advertising Research, 51(4), 566–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, M. D., Yurt, O., Guneri, B., & Kurtulus, K. (2010). Branding places: Applying brand personality concept to cities. European Journal of Marketing, 44(9/10), 1286–1304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, M., & Hatch, M. J. (2013). The dynamics of place brands. An identity-based approach to place branding theory. Marketing Theory, 13(1), 69–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, L. (2010). How Web 2.0 is changing the nature of museum work. Curator: The Museum Journal, 53, 405–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kidd, J. (2011). Enacting engagement online: Framing social media use for the museum. Information Technology & People, 24(1), 64–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen, B. T., & Waaden, A. M. (Eds.). (2010). Re-investing authenticity: Tourism, place and emotions. Bristol: Channel View Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazzeretti, L., & Cinti, T. (2009). Governance-specific factors and cultural clusters: The case of the museum clusters in Florence. Creative Industries Journal, 2(1), 19–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Looseley, R. & Roberto, F. (2009). Museums & Wikis: Two case studies. In J. Trant & D. Bearman (eds.), Museums and the Web 2009: Proceedings. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics. Published March 31, 2009. Consulted May 4, 2015. http://www.archimuse.com/mw2009/papers/looseley/looseley.html

  • McKercher, B., & du Cros, H. (2002). Cultural tourism: The partnership between tourism and cultural heritage management. Binghamton: Haworth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medway, D., Swanson, K., Neirotti, L. D., Pasquinelli, C., & Zenker, S. (2015). Place branding: Are we wasting our time? Report of an AMA special session. Journal of Place Management and Development, 8(1), 63–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, M., Lugosi, P., & Ritchie, J. R. B. (Eds.). (2010). The tourism and leisure experience: Consumer and managerial perspectives. Bristol: Channel View Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry, R. (Ed.). (2010). Museums in a digital age. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry, R. (2013). The trusted artifice: Reconnecting with the museum’s fictive tradition online. In K. Drotner & K. C. Schrøder (Eds.), Museum communication and social media: The connected museum (pp. 17–32). Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, N. (2010). Digital: Museum as platform, curator as champion, in the age of social media. Curator: The Museum Journal, 53, 35–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raszkowski, A. (2014). Place marketing in the process of territorial identity creation and strengthening. Journal of European Economy, 13(2), 193–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo, A., Watkins, J., Kelly, L., & Chan, S. (2008). Participatory communication with social media. Curator: The Museum Journal, 51, 21–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, J., & Silvanto, S. (2010). World heritage sites: The purposes of politics of destination branding. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 27(5), 533–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srinivasan, R., Boast, R., Becvar, K. M., & Furner, J. (2009). Blobgects: Digital museum catalogs and diverse user communities. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 60(4), 666–678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Throsby, D. (2010). The economics of cultural policy. Cambridge: University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Treem, J. W., & Leonardi, P. M. (2012). Social media use in organizations: Exploring the affordances of visibility, editability, Persistence, and association. Communication Yearbook, 36, 143–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weilenmann, A., Hillmann, T., & Jungselius, B. (2013). Instagram at the museum: Communicating the museum experience through social photo sharing. CHI ′13 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1843–1852). New York: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, J.-H., Chang, J.-Y., & Oyang, Y.-J. (2000). Content and knowledge management in a digital library and museum. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51(4), 371–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenker, S., & Martin, N. (2011). Measuring success in place marketing and branding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 7, 32–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the museum PR services for their input.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE

    Adriaan De Man

  2. Universidad Europea de Canarias, La Orotava, Spain

    Cristiana Oliveira

Authors
  1. Adriaan De Man
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cristiana Oliveira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adriaan De Man .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technological Educational Institute, Athens, Greece

    Vicky Katsoni

  2. Dept of Geography and Regional Planning, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Anastasia Stratigea

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

De Man, A., Oliveira, C. (2016). A Stakeholder Perspective on Heritage Branding and Digital Communication. In: Katsoni, V., Stratigea, A. (eds) Tourism and Culture in the Age of Innovation. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27528-4_30

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation