Power struggles and playing politics: An application of Bourdieu's cultural intermediation theory to place marketing

Giannina Warren, Athina Dilmperi and Keith Dinnie

Annals of Tourism Research, 2021, vol. 91, issue C

Abstract: Place branding strategies contribute to policy decisions that shape a city. Little research, however, investigates how place marketers influence the decision-making of those higher up in the value chain. Drawing upon Bourdieu's theory of cultural intermediation, we identify where these professionals exhibit influence in a city branding endeavour and what impact they have on policy decisions. We report results of semi-structured interviews with senior place marketers at 13 cities around the world and find that policy decisions are influenced in unofficial, hidden and non-systemic ways, including identifying and working with key stakeholders behind the scenes, playing politics, and applying a promotional lens to policy endeavours. We discuss these findings and their implications on theory and practice.

Keywords: Place branding; Place promotion; Governance; Legitimacy; Stakeholders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:91:y:2021:i:c:s0160738321001547

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2021.103276

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