A Review Of Epistemological Issues And Philosophical Positons For The Development Of Theory In Place Marketng

Ntounis, NF ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2517-3031, Lloveras, Javier and Parker, Cathy (2019) A Review Of Epistemological Issues And Philosophical Positons For The Development Of Theory In Place Marketng. In: 3rd Place Management & Branding Conference, Sustainability, Liveability & Connectivity, 06 May 2015 - 08 May 2015, Poznan, Poland. (Unpublished)

Preview

Available under License In Copyright. Download (385kB) | Preview

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a critical review of epistemologies within the place marketing and place branding fields and propose alternative philosophical positions that can contribute to theory development. The paper argues that the majority of place marketing and place branding literature (either explicitly or implicitly) embraces in either interpretivist or positivist philosophical stances, which have helped the field to progress in the past 20 years, but have evident drawbacks when applied as sole epistemologies. Alternative philosophical perspectives of doing research in the field of place marketing are presented, which stem from a mixed-paradigm, pragmatic approach to research, and blend pragmatism, realism and social constructionism in the context of places. Such views can delimit the concept of “place” from practical issues such as deprivation, crisis, and regeneration, as well as explore “marketing” as a social process, which can benefit communities within places. Overall, the paper suggests that philosophical and epistemological debates can clarify the field of place marketing and advance theory-making.