Ready for Action! Destination Climate Change Communication: An Archetypal Branding Approach

Uglješa Stankov; Viachaslau Filimonau; Miroslav D Vujičić; Biljana Basarin; Adam B Carmer; Lazar Lazić; Brooke K Hansen; Danijela Ćirić Lalić; Dino Mujkić

doi:10.3390/ijerph20053874

Ready for Action! Destination Climate Change Communication: An Archetypal Branding Approach

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 22;20(5):3874. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20053874.

Authors

Uglješa Stankov¹, Viachaslau Filimonau², Miroslav D Vujičić¹, Biljana Basarin¹, Adam B Carmer³, Lazar Lazić¹, Brooke K Hansen³, Danijela Ćirić Lalić⁴, Dino Mujkić⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
² Centre for Sustainability and Wellbeing in the Visitor Economy, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK.
³ School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Muma College of Business, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.
⁴ Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
⁵ Faculty of Sports and Physical Education, University of Sarajevo, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Abstract

At the destination level, destination branding may coexist with climate change communication. These two communication streams often overlap because they are both designed for large audiences. This poses a risk to the effectiveness of climate change communication and its ability to prompt a desired climate action. The viewpoint paper advocates the use of archetypal branding approach to ground and center climate change communication at a destination level while concurrently maintaining the uniqueness of destination branding. Three archetypes of destinations are distinguished: villains, victims, and heroes. Destinations should refrain from actions that would make them appear to be climate change villains. A balanced approach is further warranted when portraying destinations as victims. Lastly, destinations should aim at assuming the heroic archetypes by excelling in climate change mitigation. The basic mechanisms of the archetypal approach to destination branding are discussed alongside a framework that suggests areas for further practical investigation of climate change communication at a destination level.

Keywords: archetypal branding; climate action; climate change communication; destination branding; sustainable tourism.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Climate Change*
Communication
Courage*

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the H2020 WIDESPREAD-05-2020 Twinning: ExtremeClimTwin (grant agreement No 952384) and by H2020-LC-GD-2020-3 GreenScent—Smart Citizen Education for a Green Future (grant agreement No 101036480) that have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The research was also supported by The Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, GRANT No. 7739076, Tourism Destination Competitiveness—Evaluation Model for Serbia-TOURCOMSERBIA.