This is an outdated version published on 2024-05-23. Read the most recent version.

What is the name of Spanish hotels? An analysis of the naming of hotels in Benidorm and Alicante

Authors

Fernando Olivares-Delgado Department of Communication and Social Psychology. Universidad de Alicante (Spain) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2483-6801
Daniel Rodríguez-Valero Department of Communication and Social Psychology. Universidad de Alicante (Spain) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9951-5682
Alberto Pinillos-Laffón Department of Communication and Social Psychology. Universidad de Alicante (Spain) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3346-4739
María Teresa Benlloch-Osuna Department of Communication Sciences. Universitat Jaume I (Castellón de la Plana, Spain) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7713-5785

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51302/marketing.2024.21373

Keywords:

corporate name, brand name, tourism and hospitality, destination branding, Benidorm, Costa Blanca

Abstract

The importance of branding in tourism and hospitality has been the subject of study by the scientific community. However, there is little specific work on brand names in this sector. It is necessary to delve deeper into the predominant naming criteria in the names of hotels and other types of tourist accommodations. We have analyzed the hotel company name in a sample of 212 tourist accommodations, mostly SMEs and family businesses. The results indicate that, regarding the chosen naming criteria, there is mainly a difference between the criteria chosen to name hotels and those chosen to name other types of tourist accommodations, with the latter being more descriptive and less suggestive or evocative. The most recurring naming criterion in the sector is “fantasy” or “creative”. This research aims to expand knowledge about the choice of corporate name in the hospitality sector, based on the typology established by the scientific community, so that it can serve as a reference point for future research on naming or branding.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Fernando Olivares-Delgado, Department of Communication and Social Psychology. Universidad de Alicante (Spain)

Doctor and professor of communication and corporate branding. He directs the UA_Brandscience research group and participates in several postgraduate courses where he teaches content on reputation and brand management in degrees and postgraduate courses in Spain and Europe and Latam.

Daniel Rodríguez-Valero, Department of Communication and Social Psychology. Universidad de Alicante (Spain)

Professor and doctor in brand design from the University of Barcelona (Spain). He coordinates the postgraduate course in Digital Communication at the University of Alicante and is a professor in the Video Game Design degree at various degrees and postgraduate courses in Spain and Europe and Latam.

Alberto Pinillos-Laffón, Department of Communication and Social Psychology. Universidad de Alicante (Spain)

Doctor and professor of verbal identity and naming at the University of Alicante (Spain). He teaches subjects on brand name in various degrees and postgraduate courses in Spain and Europe and Latam.

María Teresa Benlloch-Osuna, Department of Communication Sciences. Universitat Jaume I (Castellón de la Plana, Spain)

Doctor, an expert in place branding. He coordinates the international relations of the Communication Degree at the University Jaume I (Spain) and investigates issues related to the reputation of the territories and financial communication.

References

Aaker, D. A. (1991). Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name. The Free Press.

Aaker, D. A. (2004). Leveraging the corporate brand. California Management Review, 46(3), 6-18.

Alserhan, B. A., and Alserhan, Z. A. (2012). Naming businesses: names as drivers of brand value. Competitiveness Review, 22(4), 329-342.

Arora, S., Kalro, A. D., and Sharma, D. (2015). A comprehensive framework of brand name classification. Journal of Brand Management, 22, 79-116.

Chajet, C., and Shachtman, T. (1991). Image by Design: For Corporate Vision to Business Reality. Addison-Wesley Longman.

Chan, A. K. K., and Huang, Y. Y. (2001). Chinese brand naming: a linguistic analysis of the brands of ten product categories. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 10(2). 103-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420110388663

Chen, L. (2021). Marketing hospitality: An analysis of English names of Taipei hotels. English Today, 37(4), 236-242. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078419000518

Connell, J. (1992). Branding Hotel Portfolios. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 4(1), https://doi.org/10.1108/09596119210007965

Fox, K. A. (2002). Brand Management: Brand Naming Challenges in the New Millennium. The Journal of Business Strategy, 23(6), 12-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb040279

Garzón Castrillón, M. A., Orozco Quintero, D., and Ramírez Gañan, A. E. (2020). Gestión de la felicidad, bienestar subjetivo y satisfacción laboral. Dimensión Empresarial, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.15665/dem.v18i2.2057

Huang, Y., and Chan, A. (2005). The role of language and culture in marketing communication: A study of Chinese brand names. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 15(2), 257-285. https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.15.2.04hua

Ingram, P. (1996). Organizational form as a solution to the problem of credible commitment: The evolution of naming strategies among U.S. hotel chains, 1896-1980. Strategic. Management Journal, 17, 85-98. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250171007

Kashmiri, S., and Mahajan, V. (2010). What’s in a name? An analysis of the strategic behavior of family firms. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 27(3), 271-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2010.04.001

King, S. (1991). Brand-building in the 1990s. The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 8(4), 43.

Kohli, C., and LaBahn, D. W. (1997). Creating effective brand names: A study of the naming process. Journal of Advertising Research, January-February, 67-75.

Kohli, C., and Suri, R. (2000). Brand names that work: A study of the effectiveness of different types of brand names. Marketing Management Journal, 10(2), 112-120.

Kollmann, T., and Suckow, C. (2007). The corporate brand naming process in the net economy. Qualitative Market Research: An international Journal, 10(4), 349-361. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522750710819694

Kormazina, O. P., Ruban, D. A., and Yashalova, N. N. (2022). Hotel Naming in Russian Cities: An Imprint of Foreign Cultures and Languages between Europe and Asia. Societies, 12(2), 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc12020058

Lombard, C. G., and Du Plessis, T. (2016). Beyond the Branding Iron: Cattle Brands as Heritage Place Names in the State of Montana. Names, 64, 224-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/00277738.2016.1223119

Manthiou, A., Kang, J., Sumarjan, N., and Tang, L. (2016). The Incorporation of Consumer Experience into the Branding Process: An Investigation of Name-Brand Hotels. International Journal of Tourism Research, 18, 105-115. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2037

Martínez, J. A. (2023). La Costa Blanca bate el récord de turistas extranjeros al superar los seis millones en solo diez meses. Diario Información, 8 de diciembre de 2023, 8-9.

Muzellec, L. (2006). What is in a Name Change? Re-Joycing Corporate Names to Create Corporate Brands. Corporate Reputation Review, 8(4), 305-316. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540257

Nash, J. (2016). May I have your name please? Norfolk Island hotel names. Tourism. Analysis, 21, 541-547. https://doi.org/10.3727/108354216X14653218477723

Olivares-Delgado, F., Benlloch-Osuna, M. T., and Pinillos-Laffón, A. (2016). An approach to patronymic names as a resource for familiness and as a variable for family business identification. European Journal of Family Business, 6(1), 32-45.https://doi.org/10.24310/ejfbejfb.v6i1.5045

Pinillos-Laffón, A., Olivares-Delgado F., and Rodríguez-Valero, D. (2016). The Name of the Corporate Brand. A Taxonomy of the Names of Family Business in Spain. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 71, 750-774. http://dx.doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2016-1119

Robertson, K. (1989). Strategically Desirable Brand Name Characteristics. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 6(4), 61-71. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000002563

Room, A. (1987). History of branding. In J. Murphy (Ed.), Branding: A key marketing tool. McMillan.

Sujatna, E. T. S., Pamungkas, K., and Heriyanto. (2019) Names as branding on nature tourism destinations in Pangandaran, Jawa Barat-Indonesia: A linguistic perspective. Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 27, 803-814.

Susanto, P. Ch., and Mahadewi, Ni M. E. (2015). Brand Name Distinctiveness of Star Hotels in Bali. Journal of Business on Hospitality and Tourism, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.22334/jbhost.v1i1.8

Taylor, H. (1995). How to develop a strong hotel branding strategy with a weak branding budget. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 2(1), 63-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/135676679500200106

Tent, J., and Blair, D. (2019). A Clash of Names: the Terminological Morass of a Toponym Class. Names, 67(2), 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/00277738.2018.1452907

Turley, L. W., and Moore, P. A. (1995). Brand name strategies in the service sector. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12(4), 42-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363769510095298

Xiang, X. (2012). Linguistic and cultural characteristics of domain names of the top fifty most-visited websites in the US and China: Across-linguistic study of domain names and e-branding. Names, 60, 210-219.

Imagen de hoteles de Benidor con un efecto de fantasía

Downloads

Published

2024-05-23

Versions

2024-11-07 (2)
2024-05-23 (1)

How to Cite

Olivares-Delgado, F., Rodríguez-Valero, D., Pinillos-Laffón, A., & Benlloch-Osuna, M. T. (2024). What is the name of Spanish hotels? An analysis of the naming of hotels in Benidorm and Alicante. Revista De Marketing Y Publicidad. https://doi.org/10.51302/marketing.2024.21373