Waterford Institute of Technology Postgraduate Research Opportunities 2014 Project Number: WD/2014/18 Funded By: Waterford Institute of Technology PhD Scholarship Programme Monthly Student Stipend: €833 Project Supervisors: Dr Anthony Foley; Dr Mary T. Holden; Dr Noel Murray

Project Title: Brand Co-creation in the Digital Space: Investigating Managerial Capability Project Outline: The context of this doctoral project is the phenomenon of tourists creating their own destination brand image via social media. An example would be a US visitor blogging (or using other social media such as Facebook) on her perceptions of the Wild Atlantic Way (destination brand image). This does not mean that the marketing communications from the relevant Destination Management Organisation (DMO) (such as Tourism Ireland) do not have an impact on the content of this blog. For example, Tourism Ireland promote the core values of the Irish tourism brand (such as People and Place) through intensive media campaigns. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate and determine how the DMO can influence online consumer brand co-creation, so that the relationship between the tourist and the destination brand is optimized. The theoretical basis of the study relies on the Resource-based View of the Firm (RBV). There will be a major contribution in providing insight into the relationship between managerial capabilities and the consumer/brand co-creation process, with the outcome of a prescriptive model that will have utility for tourism strategy. Qualifications / profile required to undertake this study: Minimum: degree in marketing/business/management/tourism at 2.2 award level, however, preference will be given to applicants with a 2.1 or higher. This is an exciting opportunity for a graduate who is interested in studying, in depth, the nature of consumer branding and also tourism marketing and management strategy. The study will be using mainly quantitative methods, and while full training will be provided, an interest in statistical analysis is desirable. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit evidence of competency in English, please see WIT’s English Language Requirements for details. How do I apply? Download the Postgraduate Application Form at http://www.wit.ie/research/for_researchers/wit_phd_scholarship_2014 and return your completed application to pgadmissions@wit.ie by Friday 15th August. Please be sure to insert the appropriate project code WD/2014/18 for this project. To discuss informally, please contact supervisors Dr Anthony Foley at 00353 (0)51 302411, afoley@wit.ie or Dr Mary T. Holden at 00 353 (0) 51 845600, mtholden@wit.ie