Cognitive and Affective Image: a study of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, as a tourism destination

Abstract

In recent years, we have been observed a considerable increase of tourism destinations that aim to develop tourism with the goal of improving local economies. At the same time, new studies have emerged focusing on the competitiveness of these touristic places, addressing the most diverse topics – mainly related to marketing and management. The image of tourism destinations is quite often discussed in these studies, since one can use it to compare touristic cities. Considering this context, this study aims to carry out a comparative analysis between the cognitive and affective image of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The research is exploratory, descriptive and comparative, with quali-quantitative approach. To describe the cognitive image, we conducted a morphological and content analysis of 579 words and 117 images from tourism folders and an analysis of the city website. After this, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and correlation tests (Spearman’s coefficient) to analyze the data. To describe the affective image, we used the study conducted by Reis et al. in which the researchers analyzed the Blumenau branding from the perspective of its residents. The results show that the cognitive image corresponds to the affective image, since the advertising of Blumenau promotes the German culture, an essential element for the residents’ self-image.