Waterford Institute of Technology

Postgraduate Research Opportunities 2014

POSTGRADUATE STUDIES PROJECT INFORMATION SHEET

Project Number: WD/2014/18

Project Title: Brand Co-creation in the Digital Space: Investigating Managerial

Capability

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 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.

Waterford Institute of Technology

Postgraduate Research Opportunities 2014 Applicants whose first language is not English must submit evidence of competency

in English, please see WIT’s English Language Requirements for details.

Closing Date for Applications: Friday 15th

August 2014

To discuss this, please contact supervisor at tel: Dr Anthony Foley at 00353 (0)51

302411 or Dr Mary T. Holden at 00 353 (0) 51 845600

Or email: afoley@wit.ie or mtholden@wit.ie