Leveraging on place brand Architecture for competitive advantage: A mediated regression analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how place brand architecture can be used as a leverage to gaining competitive advantage in the field of tourism noting that it does not operate in a vacuum, three industry players’ roles have been introduced as a mediators. This paper is based on a case of three distinct tourist destinations in Kenya: Nairobi City County and Nakuru County, Kisumu County The study used exploratory research design and collected primary data using structure questionnaires and applied mediated regression analysis. The results demonstrated that place branding architecture has a significant mediated relationship with competitive advantage. This paper outlines the benefits of using both types of brand architectures (House of brands and Endorse brand) in projecting what the destination represents and creating an impressionable image in the mind of the consumer. This paper will be helpful for tourism destinations with multiple tourist products who seek to market destination using a singular advert. This will require a Brand architecture that identify and reflect the entire destination. This paper proposes using a combination of all Brand architecture approaches to market a multifaceted destination.