Developing Urban Brand Creation Based on Smart Tourism Infrastructure: Design and Validation of a Hybrid Model
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence, Online Consumer Behavior, Smart Retailing, Heuristic Mixed Method, Data-Driven TheoryAbstract
The present study aimed to design and validate a hybrid model for urban brand creation based on smart tourism infrastructure and to explain the factors, strategies, and outcomes influencing this process. This study employed a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, Grounded Theory methodology and semi-structured interviews with 15 tourism managers and experts were used to identify the dimensions and components of urban brand creation. In the quantitative phase, a researcher-developed questionnaire derived from the qualitative findings was administered to 384 experts in tourism and urban management. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. The structural model demonstrated a strong goodness-of-fit index (GOF = 0.739), indicating satisfactory model validity. Qualitative findings identified causal conditions including urban brand identity, changing branding perspectives, and the inevitability of smart tourism development; contextual conditions including the city’s strategic position, urban branding, and brand structural coherence; and intervening conditions including tourist behavioral patterns, environmental factors, and investment issues. The core category comprised stakeholder engagement, smart tourism facilitation, and integrated urban brand management. Quantitative results confirmed the reliability and validity of all constructs, with composite reliability values exceeding 0.70 and AVE values above 0.50. Furthermore, strategies such as urban brand culture-building, enhancement of urban advertising systems, and smart branding design were found to contribute significantly to competitive brand advantage, quality of life improvement, and social capital development. The findings suggest that successful urban brand creation in the era of smart tourism requires an integrated framework grounded in urban identity, smart infrastructure, stakeholder participation, coordinated governance, and advanced digital technologies. Smart tourism functions not merely as a support mechanism for tourism services but as a strategic foundation for creating, strengthening, and sustaining urban brands. Consequently, it can enhance destination competitiveness, improve residents’ quality of life, and strengthen social capital, thereby contributing to sustainable urban development.
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