Co-creating and managing resident-place relationships in place marketing and branding: a place brand equity approach

Purpose – Successful place marketing and branding necessitate a solid understanding of how residents evaluate and relate to their living environments. Using a place brand equity perspective, this study aims to provide new insights into how the perception of valuable place aspects affects residents’ attachment with places and place-supportive attitudes. Furthermore, this study investigates how residents attribute meaning and value to specific place aspects. Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on mixed methods. To confirm the constituents of (resident-based) place brand equity, the study first develops and tests an empirical model with a cross-sample from different places (n = 597). In the second part of the research, the study uses semi-structured interviews (n = 32) with residents from a city and a rural community to explore the study’s quantitative findings on a deeper level, and offer new insights into the processes through which residents attribute residential value to places. Findings – The study identifies that access to nature, cultural activities, social bonding, place attachment and pro-place consumption attitudes constitute dimensions of resident-based place brand equity. The findings, thus, demonstrate that perceptions of valued place attributes foster residents’ attachment with places, which fuels consumer localism. The study further shows that the perceived value of residential places is co-created through residents’ relationships with places at the individual (micro), group (meso) and societal (macro) level. Research limitations/implications – The samples used for the quantitative and qualitative research were non-probabilistic, hence, additional research is required to corroborate the findings. Future research may also refine the developed empirical model in terms of relevant place dimensions. Practical implications – This paper proposes a holistic view on person–place relationships that outlines how resident evaluations of physical and social place attributes result into place attachment and consumption attitudes. It also highlights the relationship between place brand co-creation and place brand equity. Marketing and branding practitioners may use the research findings for developing more targeted place development programmes and strategic promotional campaigns. Originality/value – This research provides empirical insights that were validated in a cross-place context and go beyond summative assessments of place image. The study shows that residents’ perceptions of valuable (leisure) place attributes enhance their affective place attachment, which plays a mediating role in explaining pro-local consumption preferences. Considering the lack of studies into how (resident-based) place brand equity is actually expressed, this research also offers new explanations of how residents co-create meaning and attribute value to their place of residence.