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| RESEARCH ON THE CHINA DESTINATION IMAGE BASED ONAMERICAN TOURISTS' SKETCH COGNITIVE MAP |
| ZHENG Rong-juan, BAI Kai, MA Yao-feng |
| College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, China |
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Abstract Destination image is a valuable concept in understanding the destination selection process of tourists as well as destination positioning strategy. The majority of destination image studies have relied on structured surveys developed from the researchers' point of view. Structured methodologies that use a standardized scale are easy to administer and suit sophisticated statistical techniques. Nevertheless, structured methods have been criticized for not being able to capture the holistic and unique components of a destination image from the visitors' point of view. Sketch cognitive map is a typical unstructured research method. Specifically, in cross-cultural study, the tourism-themed sketch cognitive map can help us further explore the images of people, place and things that tourists cognize. As a research methodology, sketch cognitive map gets to the root of perceptions concerning the personal, the social or the cultural and in addition, links so-called qualitative and quantitative approaches to social science. And this survey received 836 hand-painted cognitive maps. We set the question as "please draw a picture according to your sense of Beijing/Shanghai/Chengdu …".Then we analyze two aspects of the American package tourists' sketch cognitive maps.The first aspect is the sketch cognitive map' spatial elements, including cultural constructions, natural landscapes, human activities and tourism supports. The second one is the sketch cognitive map' spatial structure, including haplotype,splashes and spatial pattern. By means of the two aspects we discuss the commonness and difference between tourists' destination image and residents' city image. Finally, we find that because of thematic tourism,cross-cultural tourists' cognitive elements of destination image is more than the general physical form, and they mainly show cultural constructions, natural landscapes, human activities and tourism supports.
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Received: 24 June 2013
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2014, Vol. 29 
