Culture, sustainability and tourism destination image: a comparative study on the sub-regions of Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7784/rbtur.v12i3.1417

Keywords:

Image. Tourism attractions. Cultural dimensions. Cultural regions of Brazil. Sustainability.

Abstract

The use of 'sustainability' as a factor of market differentiation has been recurrent among tourism destinations. However, the image of these settings is not free of influence of external factors, such as culture. In countries with large territorial dimensions, such as Brazil, this phenomenon tends to be even more evident. This is because, in cultural terms, there is not only one, but five different 'Brasils' (Ribeiro, 1995). Thus, this study aims to analyze how the image of the sustainability of tourism destinations can be influenced by the cultural characteristics of the Brazilian consumers’ sub-regions of origin. The innovative character of the study stems from the adoption of an idiographic approach to the cultural dimensions of Hofstede (1980). Five focus groups were conducted among Brazilian nationals, within the different cultural regions of the country, and the data were analyzed through content analysis technique. The results showed that, from the five subregions analyzed, the 'Brasil Sulinas' presented a greater discrepancy regarding the image of the sustainability of tourism destinations. This fact was related to a higher propensity to values corresponding to high levels of masculinity and low aversion to uncertainties. On the other hand, the consumers from the other subregions tended to show similar patterns of thought among themselves, yet contrary to the 'Brazil Sulinas'.

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Author Biography

Anderson Gomes de Souza, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Doutor e Mestre em Administração pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração - PROPAD/UFPE, especialista em Marketing, Advertising and International Business Communications (MLS International College - UK), possui graduação em Turismo pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE). Membro da Academia Internacional para o Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa em Turismo no Brasil (ABRATUR). Integrante do Centro de Estudos em Marketing e Pessoas - MKP/UPFE; do Centro de Estudos em Hospitalidade, Turismo e Gastronomia - CHT/UFPE; e do Eductur - Educação em Turismo: Ensino e Pesquisa (UFPE). Atua principalmente nos seguintes temas: marketing e comunicação publicitária em turismo; risco percebido e experiência de consumo no setor de serviços, com ênfase em hospitalidade; comportamento do consumidor aplicado a segmentos específicos de mercado; estudos cross-culturais e consumo.

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Published

2018-12-08

How to Cite

Silva, A. S., & Souza, A. G. de. (2018). Culture, sustainability and tourism destination image: a comparative study on the sub-regions of Brazil. Revista Brasileira De Pesquisa Em Turismo, 12(3), 124–153. https://doi.org/10.7784/rbtur.v12i3.1417

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2018): setembro/dezembro

Section

Articles

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