City Branding: A Brand Concept Map Analysis

The purpose of this study is to identify the dimensions of beliefs among students choosing a university town and investigate if brand concept mapping (BCM) is applicable to cities. The city brand image is captured through Zaltman’s Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), BCM and importance-performance ratings. The authors identified 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 paper 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, confirms the improvement of the methodology and widens its applications to city brands.