CULTURAL APPROPRIATION AND DESTINATION BRANDS

Abstract

Increasing public scrutiny, intensifying consumers’ demand for political correctness, and rising concerns about cultural appropriation have pressed marketers to reassess products, brand names, logos, mascots, claims, advertising, and so forth. This article reports on the evaluation of consumers’ awareness of cultural appropriation within a destination branding context by means of an experimental design. The study tested the impact of priming participants with information about cultural appropriation on their attitudes toward local souvenir sales, theatrical performances, and the use of artifacts by outsiders. A questionnaire was applied to 201 people. Results suggest that the concept of cultural appropriation is little understood. On the other hand, those participants who were introduced to the concept displayed some significantly different perceptions about its impact compared to those who were not. Hence, place marketers should assess the extent to which cultural appropriation could .

Keywords

• cultural appropriation
• branding
• destination marketing
• destination brands
• place branding
• political correctness