Adv

2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1751-8040 Place Branding and Public Diplomacy Vol.
7, 1, 5063
www.palgrave-journals.com/pb/
Correspondence:
C line Brandt
University of Liege, Boulevard
du Rectorat 7 (B31), 4000 Li ge,
Belgium; Rue des Vennes 364,
4020 Li ge, Belgium
INTRODUCTION
Internal decline cycles, as well as external
shocks, have caused certain regions and
cities to go into decline. Forces such as
rapid technological changes, global
competition and intergovernmental power
shifts often exacerbate the situation ( Kotler
et al , 1993 ). In Western Europe, most of the
coal and steel industries have disappeared.
Affected regions must now focus on
revitalization. Owing to this decreasing
attractiveness, interest in city marketing and
city promotion is growing not only from
practitioners, but from academics as well.
Several authors investigated the
dimensions of attitudes toward a city for
different segments ( Kotler et al , 1993 ;
Walmsley and Young, 1998 ; Gallarza
et al , 2001 ; Foley and Fahy, 2004 ;
Hankinson, 2004a, 2005 ). Other authors
Students Corner
City branding: A brand concept
map analysis of a university town
Received (in revised form): 7 th December 2010
C line Brandt
is Assistant Professor in the Marketing Department of HEC, Management School of the University of Liege. Her research
focuses are in the areas of product and corporate brand reputation, branding, networks in marketing and consumer behavior.
Her doctoral thesis deals with the measurement of individual Brand Image Perception and Brand Reputation using Associative
Networks.
Charles Pahud de Mortanges
is a Professor of marketing at the HEC School of Management of the University of Liege (Belgium). His current research
interests include products and services branding, corporate branding, brand equity and brand valuation, international
marketing, and return on marketing investments.
ABSTRACT The aims of this research are (1) to assess the relative saliency of
image attributes associated with history, heritage and culture in shaping the
perceptions of students choosing a university town and (2) to investigate whether
brand concept mapping (BCM) is applicable to cities. The city brand image is
captured through Zaltman s Metaphor Elicitation Technique, BCM and importance-
performance ratings. The authors identied six categories of criteria used by
students when selecting a university town. In applying the results to Liege, a Belgian
university town, the authors showed that Liege is recognized for its nightlife, its
young population and its historical heritage. This article proposes a useful framework
for city councils to assess how to compare the perception of different segments
regarding cities; how to improve the city brand image; how to compare different
university towns; and how to attract students. Finally, the research validates earlier
studies on BCM, conrms the improvement of the methodology and widens its
applications to city brands.
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy (2011) 7, 50 63. doi: 10.1057/pb.2010.37
Keywords: brand concept map ; city branding ; brand perception ; brand attributes ;
brand image ; brand identity
2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1751-8040 Place Branding and Public Diplomacy Vol. 7, 1, 5063 51
A Brand Concept Map Analysis of a University Town
( Veloutsou et al , 2004 ; Briggs, 2006 ; Holdsworth
and Nind, 2006 ), as well as non-scientic
publications such as the Financial Times, Business
Week, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist ,
investigated the expected attributes considered by
prospective students when choosing the
university itself. However, research on the
dimensions of attitudes of students when
selecting a university town is almost non-
existent, despite the attractiveness of this young,
heterogeneous and educated segment.
In the area of branding, a growing stream of
research covers quantitative brand mapping
techniques to study brand identity and how the
information about the brand is stored in the
consumers long-term memory ( Henderson
et al , 1999 ; Roedder John et al , 2005 ).
Researchers are developing techniques that are
easy to use for brand managers. However,
brand mapping and its applications are still in
their infancy. Brand Concept Maps (BCM)
have, so far, not been applied to city branding,
where the competitive context creates a real
need to dene brand identities.
Therefore, our research questions are: (1) What
are the decisive criteria for students choosing a
university town? And (2) Is the classical BCM
technique applicable to city marketing?
On the basis of the results, practitioners will
be able to assess how to attract students, how
to improve the city brand image, how to
compare different university towns and how to
compare the perception of different segments
regarding cities. Finally, the research validates
earlier studies on BCM and conrms the
methodology improvement. Furthermore, it
enlarges the scope of BCM s applications and
demonstrates the reliability and validity of the
method in this particular area of branding. As a
case, the authors will study the city of Liege
(Belgium) and identify how students from the
University of Liege perceive the city as a
university town differentiating between local
and foreign students.
LITERATURE REVIEW
After an extensive review of the literature on city
marketing, the authors will focus on city identity
and the different expectations of different segments
regarding the benets a city offers. Finally, authors
will examine previous research on the dimensions
of beliefs considered by prospective students when
choosing the university itself.
Two different approaches to city marketing
exist within the literature ( Bradley et al , 2002 ).
The rst approach links urban revitalization to
political and economical decisions ( Gotham,
2001 ; Nelson et al , 2004 ; Larsen, 2005 ). The
second approach focuses on marketing tools and
strategies that have been adopted and their
relative success. The latter movement covers
the challenges of how to attract tourists
( Hankinson, 2004a, 2005 ; Pike, 2005 ); how to
use sporting events to develop the brand image
( Taylor, 2005 ; Xing and Chalip, 2006 ); how to
capitalize on culture ( Jones and Wilks-Heeg,
2004 ; Richards and Wilson, 2004 ); which
are the best practices used in renowned city
marketing campaigns ( Hall, 2002 ; Morgan et al ,
2004 ; Prebensen, 2005 ); and how certain
marketing tools can be employed for effectively
marketing the places ( Olins, 2002 ; Caldwell
and Freire, 2004 ; Tasci and Kozak, 2006 ).
IDENTITY AND IMAGE OF THE
PLACE
Kotler and Andreasen (1991, p. 102) dene the
image of a place as: a sum of beliefs, ideas,
impressions that a people have of a place, they
represent a simplication of a large number of
associations connected with the place . Burmann
and Meffert (2005) differentiate between
brand image and brand identity. Whereas
identity-based city branding focuses on internal
groups of a city (local residents, politicians or
entrepreneurs), brand-image analysis explores
how external groups perceive the city (tourists,
potential investors or residents).
Stakeholders (residents, tourists, investors,
students) associate a brand, including places,
with particular features, logos, usage situations
and so on. Typically, researchers capture the
beliefs about a brand through the measurement
of brand attributes on a Semantic Differential
Scale, Likert scale or Guttman scale ( Kardes,
2002 ) or using multidimensional scaling. These
Brandt and Pahud de Mortanges
techniques are very helpful in understanding
how consumers perceive brands and which
dimensions underlie these perceptions. However,
if such a technique shows how the brand
performs on these attributes, it never shows
which attributes are directly or indirectly linked
to the brand, the intensity of the links and
which associations are interdependent ( Roedder
John et al , 2005 ). Furthermore, understanding
brand equity implies the identication of strong,
favorable and unique associations in the minds of
consumers. Our methodology, namely BCM,
solves these problems.
A BCM is a graphical representation of a
brand and its associations ( Roedder John et al ,
2005 ). A BCM not only identies essential
brand associations, but also conveys how these
associations are connected to the brand and to
each other ( Roedder John et al , 2005 ). The
best-known method designed to capture brand
image and identity is the Zaltman Metaphor
Elicitation Technique (ZMET) ( Higie Coulter
and Zaltman, 1994 ), combining visual and
narrative aspects. The method consists of three
steps, namely attributes elicitation, mapping and
aggregation. During the elicitation stage, the
researchers select 15 persons (as we reached
theoretical saturation after the fteenth
interview) and introduce the topic. Then, these
participants collect 12 pictures about the topic
to prepare 2-hour interviews each, which will
take place 10 days later. During this interview,
interviewers ask participants to tell stories
about the picture. As a result, the interviewers
write down the constructs using the repertory
grid method, which is used to evaluate the
similarities and differences between constructs
( Hankinson, 2004b ), and laddering process,
which allows researchers to gather and interpret
information in a structured manner ( De Ruyter
and Norbert, 2004 ). During the mapping stage,
participants create a map illustrating the
connections among important constructs.
Finally, during the aggregation stage, the
interviewers codify the data and choose the
constructs according to how frequently they
are mentioned. ZMET s main strength is its
ability to reveal personal feelings, irrationality,
illogical behavior and repressed attitudes, which
are hard to obtain through conventional
interviewing techniques ( Pellemans, 1999 ).
However, the ZMET method is very
labor-intensive: interviewers must be
thoroughly trained in cognitive psychology,
while participants must be willing and able to
participate in two interviews and in the
creation of the BCM.
Roedder John et al (2005) developed a
quantitative method that is easier to administer,
with less labor-intensive processes in the
elicitation and aggregation stage, and procedures
that do not require specialized expertise and
training for interviewers. This approach enables
researchers to capitalize on existing brand
research (using brand attributes coming from
past research instead of a classical elicitation
stage) and allows data collection from larger
sample sizes. The main weakness of those
methods (compared with ZMET), however, is
the emphasis on the conscious parts of brand
evaluation. Therefore, the authors suggest
combining the strengths of the quantitative
methods with the elicitation stage of ZMET,
which enables the researcher to elicit hidden ,
unconscious information as well.
MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS
As Place has a multiplicity of stakeholder
groups ( Vishwas et al , 2007 ), several authors
covered the components of destination brand
image (and identity) from different perspectives:
business tourists ( Hankinson, 2005 ), leisure
tourists ( Gallarza et al , 2001 ; Kozak, 2003 ;
Hankinson, 2004a ), local residents ( Kotler et al ,
1993 ), companies and investors ( Kotler et al ,
1993 ; Kotler and Gertner, 2002 ), and event
organizers ( Kotler et al , 1993 ; Bonn et al , 2005 ;
Hankinson, 2005 ). However, no research
exists on the dimensions of beliefs of students
choosing a university town.
OUR STUDIES
First, to investigate the dimensions of beliefs
when selecting a university town (study 1), the
authors will use ZMET. Second, they will apply
ZMET, BCM and conventional measures of
importance-performance to the city of Liege
(Belgium) to show how Liege is perceived by a
population of students, and to validate the BCM
method in the area of city branding (study 2).
Finally, they will show the differences in
perceptions between local and foreign students.
Study 1: Dimensions of beliefs
The rst step of this study is to show the
dimensions of beliefs of students selecting a
university town. Researchers ask 35 local and
foreign undergraduate students to collect 12
pictures that express their notion of a perfect
university town. As we reach theoretical
saturation after the fteenth interview, this
number should be sufcient ( Zaltman and
Coulter, 1995 ). Then, the participants explain
the reasons why they selected them. From these
justications, the interviewer draws the list of
brand attributes by assigning abstract associations
to consumer quotes. The following example
illustrates this process:
Respondent 10: I choose this picture of the
City Parade because there are lots of parties in
Li ge .
Attribute: caf s, nightlife and parties.
Researchers thus obtain a denitive list of 25
attributes grouped in six dimensions as shown
in Table 1 : the economy, the physical
environment, activities and facilities, brand and
reputation, people, and accessibility.
Hankinson (2005) identied ve dimensions
of beliefs for leisure tourists (same as for the
students except for accessibility) and eight
clusters for business tourists (same as for the
students, plus size and social facilities).
Study 2: The case of Liege
(Belgium)
Authors chose that city brand because it is a
well-known city in Belgium with a wide
variety of associations. Liege is the third largest
city located in the French-speaking part of
Belgium. Cultural life in Liege is particularly
rich with 10 theaters, the Royal Opera of
Wallonia, a Symphony Orchestra, some 30
cinemas, dozens of art galleries and museums, as
well as many public libraries and other cultural
establishments. The city center is well
developed, with a multitude of shops,
restaurants and caf s for all tastes and budgets.
Students often prefer the Carr , a network of
backstreets known for its vibrant nightlife.
Since the nineteenth century, the economy
of the region has been based on coal mines,
steelworks and metallurgy plants. Now most of
these industries have disappeared. However, the
region is currently experiencing a (although
slow) recovery. Numerous enterprises have set
up business in the region (for example,
biotech), whereas remaining older enterprises
are undergoing a transformation.
Since November 2003, the city council has
embarked on a so-called City Project . This
project has been developed jointly by the local
Table 1 : Dimensions of beliefs
Economy
Cheap public services, special prices for students
Successful companies, partnership with the university

Physical environment
Cleanliness
Parks, greenery
Safety, police presence

Activities and facilities
Access to news, newsstands
Research, laboratory, teaching hospital (CHU)
Architecture, history, folklore
Caf s, nightlife, parties, meeting place
Culture, arts, theater, concerts, museums, cinema
Ease in nding apartments, single entity for housing
Large choice of restaurant, healthy food, fast food
Large panel of schools
Sidewalks for pedestrians
Sports facilities
Supermarkets, shops
Technologies, WIFI, cybercaf , computers, printers,
scanners

Brand and reputation
Famous university, good brand image, recognized as a
business park of the city
International city, knowledge of English, international
reputation

People
A lot of students, young population

Accessibility
Centralized campus
Centralized library
Infrastructure for bicycles, bicycle paths
Parking
Public transportation
authorities and the city s residents. As part of
this collective approach, Liege s population was
asked what they thought were important issues
regarding their city and their suggestions. For
example, residents expect improved cleanliness,
increased police visibility and better public
transportation.
The city council took important measures to
offer more public services and protect the
environment. It also developed a mobility
plan , to enhance public transportation, improve
the accessibility of the city, and develop
infrastructure for bicycles and pedestrians.
Another project is to create a cultural center,
increase tourism, reinforce the brand focusing
on history, culture and a central position in
Europe. These initiatives are aimed mostly at
businesses and residents. However, Liege is also
an important university town.
Created in 1817, the University of Liege
is the only public university in the
French-speaking part of Belgium, offering a
comprehensive range of university programs at
the bachelor, master and PhD levels. Of the
17 000 students, 18 per cent come from 70
different countries. The university is a center
of excellence in aeronautics, astronomy,
neurology, microbiology and biotechnology.
Although the administrative services are located
in the city center, the main university campus
consists of a large (5000 acre) wooded area
south of the city.
RESULTS FOR LIEGE AS A
UNIVERSITY TOWN
Methodology
Interviewers ask participants to create individual
brand maps based on their perception of Liege
as a university town. The target population is
dened as persons studying in Liege. Taking
into account the exploratory nature of the
study, authors use a convenience sampling
method. The sample consists of rst-year
master s students in business administration,
with 60 men and 70 women in the age group
of 19 33 years (100 Belgian students and 30
foreign students). Interviewers provide
participants with cards that contain brand
attributes / brand associations and ask them to
answer in the rst step the following question:
Considering the brand and the associations
listed on the cards, what comes to mind when
you think about this brand? They are allowed
to select as many cards as they wish.
The associations are selected through several
pre-tests: the elicitation stage of ZMET is used
to elicit personal feelings, irrationality, illogical
behavior and repressed attitudes. Thirty-ve
local and foreign students participate in this
phase of the study. The results are combined
with other sources, namely the list of decisive
attributes for a university town and statements
on Liege from various sources, including
university promotional material. Interviewers
obtain a denitive list of 25 attributes in total
for the city of Liege (same attributes as Table 1 ).
After the cards selection, the researchers
show the 130 participants one BCM for
another brand as an example to explain the
construction process, and especially the different
links that could appear. Considering that to our
knowledge, no other study has applied BCM to
cities, we used a BCM for the Volkswagen
Beetle. The participants learn that some
attributes are directly linked to the brand (like
German car , or easy to park ), whereas others
are linked to each other (like lime green or
silver , meaning that because of their lime green
and silver colors Volkswagen Beetles have neat
colors). Furthermore, BCMs contain different
types of links between the brand and the
attributes, as well as between attributes
themselves (single, double or triple links),
indicating the strength of the associations. After
this learning process , the participants create a
personal concept map, using the pre-selected
associations / cards, a blank poster containing
the brand name in the center and simple,
double and triple lines to connect the cards
(all provided by the researchers). Participants
stick the cards with the attributes on the poster
and connect them with simple, double and
triple links. Interviewers give participants all the
time they needed, with the Volkswagen Beetle
BCM next to them as an example.
The 130 students all report that they
understand the procedure and have no problem
following it. In the end, the interviewers ask
the respondent to describe prior experiences
with the brand (user or non-user), and to
provide them with his / her demographics. The
BCM construction and interviews last 15 30
min on average.
In a second step, the researchers have to
aggregate the individual BCMs in order to
show the general perception of the city brand.
Figure 1 provides you with the aggregated
Liege BCM as a university town.
As shown in Table 2 , two independent coders
(inter-coder agreement: 98 per cent) code:
the presence or the absence of each of the 25
attributes;
the types of links between associations and
between the brand and the associations (single,
double and triple);
the level at which each attribute was placed on
the map (1 means directly linked to the brand,
2 means linked to an attribute that is linked to
the brand); and
the associations linked above and below each
brand association on the BCM.
First, researchers have to decide which
attributes are core in the aggregated BCM
using the following measures: the frequency of
mention and the number of interconnections .

The researchers calculate the rst measure by
dividing the number of times an attribute is
cited in the individual BCM by the total
amount of individual BCM. The latter measure
counts the number of times the attribute is
linked to all the other associations. Following
many content studies of brand attributes, beliefs
and values ( Roedder John et al , 2005 ),
interviewers use a 50 per cent cut-off criterion
to decide whether or not one attribute should
appear on the aggregated BCM. The borderline
frequencies ( > 45 per cent) are included,
resulting in a brand map containing seven core
brand associations.
Second, the researchers have to decide which
of the core associations should be directly
linked to the brand. Two measures are used,
namely the frequency and the ratio of rst-
order mentioning. The rst measures the
number of times an association is directly linked
to the brand. The second is the frequency of
rst-order mentions divided by the frequency
of total mentioning. Finally, the type of
position, superordinate or subordinate, indicates
whether most linked associations appear below
this association (superordinate position) on the
map or above this association (subordinate
position). First-order attributes are those whose
frequency of rst-order mention is higher
than 50 per cent, and whose number of
Lige as a
University
Town
History (Charlemagne), Folklore
(Tchantche), Historic Buildings
Cafs (the Carr), Night
life, Parties
Dirt, Graffiti, Waste
Arts and Culture: Theater,
Concerts, Museums,
Cinema, Aquarium
Supermarkets, Shops
Famous University,
good Brand Image
Decentralized
Campus, far from
the Center
A lot of
Students, Young
Population
Large number of schools
No safety
Figure 1 : Consensus brand map for Liege as a university town.
superordinate connections is higher than the
number of subordinate connections.
The third step involves an analysis of
the associations links in order to place the
remaining core brand attributes. Therefore,
the frequency of links between associations is
examined (for example: A lot of students
was frequently connected above Famous
university ). Interviewers incorporate certain
non-core brand associations that are frequently
linked to core associations to show which
non-core brand associations drive consumer
perception of core associations. These non-core
brand associations are linked to core
associations, taking the average link used in the
individual brand maps.
BCM represents how the information about
the brand is stored in consumer memory. In
the spread of activation theory ( Anderson,
1983 ), Lorch (1982) shows that the activation
of a concept node is a function of the length of
the associative pathway between the node and
the source of activation (rst-order association,
second-order association or third-order
association), and Reder and Anderson (1980)
show that the activation is a function of the
strength of that pathway (single, double or
triple link). The three rst-order core attributes
that are the most strongly linked to Liege are:
the young population, the history and folklore
and the nightlife. As rst-order core attributes,
the map also shows two positive attributes
(shops, arts and culture) and one negative
attribute (dirt). As second-order core attributes,
the famous university is a positive characteristic,
whereas the campus location (far from the
city center) is negatively perceived. Finally, as
non-core brand attributes, students perceive
Table 2 : Codication of the individual brand maps
History Supermarkets Dirt
Presence / absence of the 32 attributes
Individual maps
1 1 1 0
2 1 0 0
3 0 1 1
4 1 0 1
5 0 0 0

Type of links for each individual map
Attributes
Li ge 3 2 0
History 1 0
Supermarkets 0
Dirt

The level at which each attribute was placed on the map
Individual maps
Map 1 1 1 0
Map 2 2 0 0
Map 3 0 1 1
Map 4 1 0 3
Map 5 0 0 0

Subordinate or superordinate position
Individual maps
1 sup sup 0
2 sub 0 0
3 0 sup sup
4 1 0 sub
5 0 0 0

Liege as having a large number of schools,
while the dirtiness of certain parts of the city
causes a feeling of insecurity. Comparing the
city brand perception with the dimensions of
beliefs, the authors conclude that Liege has
several strengths in terms of the activities and
facilities (caf s, history, markets, arts, large
number of schools), brand and reputation
(famous university) and people (a lot of
students). In contrast, the accessibility of the
city (decentralized campus) and the physical
environment (cleanliness, safety) are criticized,
while no economical aspect appears on the map.
In addition, to assess the convergent validity
of our method with classical rating measures,
interviewers ask the 130 students to complete a
structured questionnaire by rating the expected
level of all the attributes listed on a 7-point
scale, the importance of the attributes and
Liege s performance on these attributes. Table 3
also shows the difference between the expected
level and the performance, as well as a t -test,
assessing whether the means of the two
measurements are statistically different from
each other.
For some attributes, the performance is not
statistically different from the expected level.
Indeed, students are satised with the nightlife
and caf s, the large number of schools, research,
the young population, the variety of
supermarkets and restaurants and the rich
history of Liege. Five of these seven attributes
are also present in the brand map, suggesting
the convergence of the two techniques. With
regard to the other attributes, the authorities
should try to improve them in order to reach
the expected level (affordable public services,
centralized campus, cleanliness or infrastructure
for bicycles).
Figure 2 shows the classication of the
attributes that are most important from a
student point of view and the difference
between performance and expected level.
On the basis of Figure 2 and Table 3 , the
authors suggest that technology infrastructure
should rst be improved (WIFI, cyber caf s,
computers, scanners, photocopy centers and so
on). Next, public transportation and other
public services require attention, as well as the
international image of the University. However,
the infrastructure for bicycles, the lack of
parking spaces and sidewalks for pedestrians
were not perceived to be important problems
from a students perspective. Some negative
attributes associated with the Liege brand also
need to be improved. However, in the case of
Liege as a brand, many of the brand attributes
elicited, such as technology or the international
image of the university, are beyond the control
of the authorities.
To test the reliability of our aggregation,
all individual BCMs are randomly split into
two groups, resulting in an aggregate map for
each of the groups. The authors evaluate the
degree of similarity between both consensus
maps measuring the associations in terms of the
attributes, the core attributes and the rst-link
attributes of the two BCMs (see Figure 3 ).
Nine attributes are present on both aggregated
BCMs. Comparing both brand maps based on
the presence of each of the possible 32 brand
associations, the authors obtain a signicant
chi-square (Chi-square = 21.09; P = 0.00 < 0.05;
N = 25), indicating a strong association between
the two brand maps (Phi = 0.92 > 0.7). The
rst aggregate brand map has seven core
attributes, while the second one has only nine.
Comparing both brand maps based on the
presence of each of the possible 32 brand
associations as core associations, the researchers
obtain a signicant chi-square (Chi-
square = 7.284; P = 0.00 < 0.05; N = 25),
indicating a strong association between the two
brand maps (Phi = 0.83 > 0.7). Using a rst-link
association criterion, they also obtain a
signicant chi-square (Chi-square = 20.30;
P = 0.00 < 0.05; N = 25) and thus a strong
association between the two brand maps
(Phi = 0.90 > 0.7). The high degree of
similarity between both brand maps signies
a high reliability of the method.
To test the nomological validity of the
method, the authors split the individual brand
maps into two categories that should differ in
a predictable way (local students and foreign
students). As the aggregated map for the local
group has a more complex structure with more
brand associations (eight core brand attributes
for the local and seven for the foreign
students), more interconnections between
associations and more double links ( Roedder
John et al , 2005 ) than the non-user-group map,
we can conclude that there is a high level of
nomological validity, as shown in Figure 3 and
Table 4 .
Then, the researchers compare the features of
the consensus brand map with the performance
rating scale data to assess convergent validity.
First, the authors examine the correlation
between the frequency of mention of each
brand association and the performance rating.
This results in a strong correlation of 0.69
( P < 0.01; N = 25). Then, they develop a second
frequency measure to assess how valid the
placement of brand associations on the brand
map was. Each brand association is weighted,
depending on the level at which it is included
in the map (direct link: weight 4, second-order
link: weight 3 and so on). The authors obtain a
signicant strong correlation of 0.69 ( P < 0.01;
N = 25) with the performance rating. The
authors assess the validity of the links by
measuring the correlation (single, double or
triple). They give a rating of 3 to an association
Table 3 : Ranking of the 25 criteria, expected level, performance and t -tests
Attributes

Ranking

Expected
level
SD

Performance

SD

EL-P

t-value

sig

A lot of students, young
population
1 6.4 1.2 5.5 1.3 0.9 2.35 0.2
Public transportation 2 6 1.1 4.8 1.5 1.2 7.64 0
Technologies, WIFI, cybercaf ,
computers, printers, scanners
3 6 1.1 5 1.4 1 7.65 0
Cheap public services, special
prices for students
4 5.9 1.1 3.7 1.5 2.2 14.20 0
Caf s, nightlife, parties,
meeting place
5 5.9 1.1 5.8 1.4 0 0.36 0.72
Famous university, good brand
image
6 5.9 1.3 4.5 1.5 1.3 9.50 0
Centralized campus 7 5.6 4.6 3.4 1.7 2.2 4.89 0
Successful companies,
partnership with the university
8 5.6 1.3 4.7 1.3 0.9 6.99 0
International city, knowledge
of English, international
reputation
9 5.5 1.4 3.7 1.5 1.8 10.96 0
Sports, swimming pool, RCAE 10 5.4 1.3 4.9 1.4 0.5 3.44 0.00
Parks, greenery 11 5.3 1.3 4.3 1.4 1 6.1 0
Parking 12 5.2 1.6 3.8 1.7 1.5 7.04 0
Research, laboratory, teaching
hospital (CHU)
13 5.2 1.5 5.2 1.5 0 0.17 0.87
Ease in nding apartments,
single entity for housing
14 5.2 1.4 3.8 1.5 1.4 8.36 0
Access to news, newsstands 15 5.2 1.4 4.3 1.1 0.9 6.46 0
Safety, police presence 16 5.1 1.4 3.8 1.4 1.3 7.13 0
Large number of schools 17 5.1 1.6 5.3 1.3 1.29 0.20
Supermarkets, shops 18 5.1 1.3 4.9 1.4 0.1 0.94 0.35
Culture, arts, theater, concerts,
museums, cinema
19 5.1 1.3 4.7 1.2 0.4 2.88 0.01
Cleanliness 20 5 1.5 2.7 1.4 2.3 1.25 0
Sidewalks for pedestrians 21 4.8 1.5 4 1.4 0.8 4.77 0
Centralized library 22 4.7 1.5 4.1 1.3 0.7 4.17 0
Large choice of restaurant,
healthy food, fast food
23 4.6 1.5 4.8 1.4 0.79 0.43
History, folklore, historic
buildings
24 4.5 1.4 4.7 1.2 1.22 0.23
Infrastructure for bicycles,
bicycle paths
25 4.1 1.6 2.6 1.4 1.6 7.75 0
In bold: No statistical signicance between expectancies and performance for = 0.05.
linked with a triple link, a rating of 2 to an
association linked with a double link and so on.
Then, the authors compare this weighted
frequency to the rating scale and obtained a
signicant and moderate correlation of 0.49
( P < 0.01; N = 25).
The comparison between these two
techniques conrms validity for the elicitation,
mapping stage (level and type of links) and
the aggregation procedure. Despite the different
goals of the two techniques, they lead to
the same results. However, the authors
demonstrated that even if some attributes
perform well, this does not automatically
lead to the inclusion of the attribute in the
BCM (such as parks, sports and successful
companies). This suggests that common
rating approaches should be complemented by
BCM approaches.
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS
AND IMPLICATIONS FOR BRAND
MANAGEMENT
University towns are currently under pressure
to attract local and international students, and
to improve their retention rate. From a
managerial point of view, the rst study
identies the dimensions of beliefs when
students select a place to study and compares
them with other decisive criteria for other
segments. The authors grouped the 25 most
important attributes in six clusters, based on
content analysis. These six clusters are shown
in Table 1 .
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
Infrastructure for bicycles, Bicycle paths 3.71
Research, laboratory, teaching hospital (CHU) 3.91
large number of schools 4.12
Parking 4.28
Sidewalks for pedestrians 4.33
History, folklore, historic buildings 4.40
Access to news, newsstands 4.54
Safety, Police presence 4.64
Successful companies, partnership with the university 4.65
Large choice of restaurant, healthy food, fast food 4.72
Centralized library 4.73
Culture, arts, theatre, concerts, museums, cinema 4.73
Cleanliness 4.79
A lot of students, young population 4.92
Supermarkets, shops 5.01
Sports, swimming pool, RCAE 5.12
Parks, greenery 5.14
Ease in finding apartments, single entity for housing 5.35
International city, knowledge of English, international reputation 5.40
Centralized campus 5.54
Famous university, good brand image 5.59
Cheap public services, special prices for students 5.63
Caf's, night life, parties, meeting place 5.81
Public transportation 5.87
Technologies, WIFI, cybercaf, computers, printers, scanners 5.97
A
t
t
r
i
b
u
t
e
s

i
m
p
o
r
t
a
n
c
e

o
n

a

7
-
p
o
i
n
t

s
c
a
l
e
Performance on a 7-point scale Expected level on a 7-point scale
Figure 2 : Importance-expectation-performance graph.
From a theoretical point of view, this article
validates earlier studies on BCMs and
demonstrates the utility and benets of the
method, including the structure in the
elicitation procedure, the standardized responses
and the ease of use for participants in the study
and the aggregation procedure. Furthermore,
this research widens BCM applications to cities
in addition to services ( Roedder John et al ,
2005 ) and consumer goods. Methodologically,
this article conrms the improvement of
the methodology when using ZMET in
the elicitation stage of BCM. Finally, the
importance of research and auditing having
been highlighted in most of the city marketing
literature, this article broadens the range of
BCM applications to a diagnostic tool to
compare different investments.
Then, we studied a case to assess how to use
our methodology to improve the city brand
image. In our case study, the main features
included in the BCM are identied, and
researchers can compare them with the desired
features described in Liege s City Projects.
The three rst-order core attributes that are the
most strongly linked to Liege are: the young
population , the history and folklore and the
nightlife . As rst-order core attributes, the
map also shows two positive attributes ( shops ,
arts and culture ) and one negative attribute
( dirt ). As second-order core attributes, the
famous university is a positive characteristic,
while the campus location far from the city
center is negatively perceived. Finally, as
non-core brand attributes, students perceive
Liege as having a large number of schools and
faculties, while the dirtiness of certain parts of
the city causes a feeling of insecurity.
From a managerial point of view, the authors
suggest investing in high-technology
infrastructures rst (for example WIFI). Next,
public transportation and other public services
require attention, as well as the international
image of the University. However, students did
not perceive the infrastructure for bicycles, the
lack of parking spaces and sidewalks for
Decentralized
Campus, far from
the Center
Local students
Dirt, Graffiti,
Waste
Large number of schools
Lige as a
University
Town
A lot of
Students,
Young
Population
No Safety
Cafs (the
Carr),
Night-life,
Parties
Concerts, Museums,
Cinema, Aquarium
Supermarkets
and shops
Famous University
Research
Decentralized
Campus, far
from the Center
Half1
Dirt, graffiti,
Waste
Lige as a
University
Town
A lot of
Students,
Young
Population
No Safety
Cafs (the
Carr), Night
life, Parties
Arts and Culture:
Theater, Concerts,
Museums, Cinema,
Aquarium
Supermarkets
and shops
Large number
of schools
Half 2
Decentralized Campus,
far from the Center
Dirt, graffiti, Waste
Famous
University, good
Brand Image
A lot of
Students,
Young
Population
Lige as a
University
Town
No safety
Cafs (the Carr), Night
life, Parties
Concerts, Museums,
Cinema, Aquarium
Supermarkets, Shops Large number of schools
Famous
University, good
Brand Image
Foreign students
International city
Dirt, Graffiti, Waste
A lot of
Students,
Young
Population
Lige as a
University
Town
History (Charlemagne),
Folklore (Tchantche),
Historic Buildings
Cafs (the Carr),
Night life, Parties
Arts and Culture:
Theater, Concerts,
Museums, Cinema,
Aquarium
Public transportation
Figure 3 : Split-half reliability test and nomological validity test.
pedestrians as being important problems.
Authorities also need to improve some negative
attributes associated with the Liege brand
(dirtiness, lack of safety). Addressing some of
these problems is already part of the city project
or in the plan to attract businesses, except
for the nightlife , the young population ,
the shops , the famous university and the
decentralized campus . Therefore, the
reconciliation of the preferences of the students
with the preferences of other specic social and
business groups within the city will be
straightforward. Another observation is that
some attributes are within the jurisdiction of
the authorities, such as safety, culture or
cleanliness, whereas other attributes are outside
the realm of control of the authorities, such as
the decentralized campus, or the town s history.
Another objective was to determine whether
brand perceptions are different when the
participants country of origin is different, as
the authors created a brand map for local
students and a second one for foreign students.
For both groups, Liege is a city with a young
population, a lot of caf s and vibrant nightlife,
supermarkets, arts and culture. The historical
meaning of Liege has greater signicance for
local students. Local and foreign students
acknowledge the large number of schools.
Contrary to local students, foreign students
perceive Liege as being a foreign city
with a famous university and good public
transportation. Local students perceive the
dirtiness and insecure aspect of the city as being
more directly linked to the city than foreign
students.
From a methodological point of view, the
BCM approach is a helpful analytical tool to
understand how people perceive the city as a
brand. Contrary to other mapping techniques
( Higie Coulter and Zaltman, 1994 ; Henderson
et al , 1998 ; Joiner, 1998 ), BCM has proved to
be valid, reliable and relatively easy to apply.
Owing to its link with brand equity, BCM is
an indispensable tool for brand managers to
identify associations and linkages that make up
the brand perception. Taking into account the
differences in preferences allows managers to
distinguish different brand perceptions for
different subgroups of consumers, or different
segments. After appropriate benchmarking, or
making comparisons with the BCM of other
university towns, a decision can be made to
maintain or modify the city brand s core
identity. This change could be made by
improving the basic city services, utilizing greater
media coverage, managing the negative image,
better integrating marketing communication, or
leveraging secondary associations to build brand
equity ( Keller, 2003 ).
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE
RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
Future research on the branding of university
towns may examine the attribute requirements
and the university town perception of specic
groups of students, such as men versus women,
different age groups or specic countries of
origin (instead of foreign and local students).
Adding some control variables such as a limited
budget or the proximity of the university town,
which could affect the perception, could be
useful. The authors would also suggest
comparing students perception of their
university town with the opinions of other
students having chosen a different university
town. Contrary to these realized perceptions,
students from high schools still have to make a
Table 4 : Nomological validity
Foreign Local
Total number of beliefs 8.5 8.4
(4.14) (2.88)
Total number of rst-level 5.73 6.29
associations (1.70) (2.17)
Total number of second- and 3.5 2.15
third-level associations (4.14) (2.26)
Total number of links 9.17 8.68
(4.9) (3.12)
Total number of rst-order 5.83 6.25
links (1.72) (2.17)
Total number of second- and 3.33 2.43
third-order links (4.57) (2.38)
Total number of triple lines 6.4 5.27
(4.39) (2.57)
Total number of double lines 1.8 2.02
(1.52) (1.68)
Total number of single lines 0.9 1.30
(0.88) (1.15)
choice and may have different brand maps too.
Comparing BCMs from other university towns
would show the strengths and weaknesses of
different university towns, as well as their
points of parity and differentiation.
Theoretically, researchers use BCM to assess
how the city is perceived by a certain segment.
However, this method does not explain the
expected level of the different attributes and the
importance of the attributes. The technique
should therefore be accompanied by traditional
importance and expectation measures
(regression on satisfaction).
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2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1751-8040 Place Branding and Public Diplomacy Vol.

mention and the number of interconnections .

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