Place branding of seaports in the Middle East

Rutter, R., Nadeau, J., Lettice, F., Lim, M. and al Shamaisi, S. (2018) Place branding of seaports in the Middle East. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 14, pp. 197-212. (doi: 10.1057/s41254-017-0072-8)

Abstract

This paper analyses seaports’ brand personalities as a means of understanding similarities and differences of these important locations and their relationship with their host place image. Drawing upon Aaker’s (J Mark Res 34:347–356, 1997) brand personality construct, the study presents lexical analysis from the websites of nine seaports in the Middle East. Each seaport’s website is content analysed, and the brand personality is measured using Aaker’s (1997) framework and Opoku’s (Licentiate Thesis, Lulea University of Technology, ISSN, 1402-1757, 2005) dictionary of synonyms. Findings show that seaports have developed a level of isomorphism upon particular dimensions of brand image; however, the findings also show the most distinctive seaports were linking their seaport to their place brand. In particular, the findings show only the Port of Jebel Ali has a clear and distinctive brand personality and to a lesser extent the Ports of Sohar, Shahid Rajee and Khor Fakkan. The research has important management implications of branding for public diplomacy and demonstrates seaport brand positioning in relation to place branding, used to inform public communication and marketing.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lim, Professor Ming
• Authors: Rutter, R., Nadeau, J., Lettice, F., Lim, M., and al Shamaisi, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Place Branding and Public Diplomacy
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• ISSN: 1751-8040
• ISSN (Online): 1751-8059
• Published Online: 06 September 2017