IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v38y2020i7-8p1447-1464.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Representation and power – Discursive constructions of stakeholder positions in regional place marketing collaboration

Author

Listed:
  • Juha Halme

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the power dynamics that unfold as part of communicative processes in place marketing collaboration, as exemplified in the EU’s developed but peripheral regional settings. The paper applies positioning theory to analyse how power dynamics are constructed through the distribution of rights and duties between participating stakeholders in two regional-level place marketing projects carried out in Eastern Finland between 2011 and 2014. The analysis of 24 interviews reveals story lines that unfold as part of a collaborative process between steering group representatives. Focus is given to the attribution of rights and duties to the stakeholders within these story lines, and the power dynamics that manifest as a result. Two central story lines are identified. In the formal story line positioning is related to the distribution of funding, regional scope of the projects, and the formal roles of stakeholders. In the spatial story line positioning concerned the dominance of regional centres and the spatial proximity between stakeholders. While the paper underlines the potential of positioning theory for understanding power dynamics in place marketing contexts, the findings are limited to specific geographical and institutional contexts. However, the paper presents a novel approach to the analysis of power dynamics in place marketing and branding by bringing attention to the normative aspects of power in communicative processes. This helps to identify and address the tension caused by power dynamics in place marketing and branding collaborations, which has been identified as a central challenge in recent literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Juha Halme, 2020. "Representation and power – Discursive constructions of stakeholder positions in regional place marketing collaboration," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 38(7-8), pages 1447-1464, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:38:y:2020:i:7-8:p:1447-1464
    DOI: 10.1177/2399654420932917
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2399654420932917
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2399654420932917?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John P. Houghton & Andrew Stevens, 2011. "City Branding and Stakeholder Engagement," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Keith Dinnie (ed.), City Branding, chapter 0, pages 45-53, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Edward Kasabov & Usha Sundaram, 2013. "A Stakeholder Approach to Branding Clusters: Pointers to a Research Agenda," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 530-543, April.
    3. Erik-Hans Klijn & Jasper Eshuis & Erik Braun, 2012. "The Influence of Stakeholder Involvement on The Effectiveness of Place Branding," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 499-519, May.
    4. Andre Torre & Alain Rallet, 2005. "Proximity and Localization," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 47-59.
    5. Cynthia Hardy & Nelson Phillips, 1998. "Strategies of Engagement: Lessons from the Critical Examination of Collaboration and Conflict in an Interorganizational Domain," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 217-230, April.
    6. Stewart R. Clegg & Martin Kornberger, 2010. "An Organizational Perspective on Space and Place Branding," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Frank M. Go & Robert Govers (ed.), International Place Branding Yearbook 2010, chapter 0, pages 3-11, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Lies Messely & Joost Dessein & Elke Rogge, 2015. "Behind the Scenes of Place Branding: Unraveling the Selective Nature of Regional Branding," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 106(3), pages 291-306, July.
    8. Julian Stubbs & Gary Warnaby, 2015. "Rethinking Place Branding from a Practice Perspective: Working with Stakeholders," Springer Books, in: Mihalis Kavaratzis & Gary Warnaby & Gregory J. Ashworth (ed.), Rethinking Place Branding, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 101-118, Springer.
    9. Pasi Hirvonen, 2016. "Positioning Theory and Small-Group Interaction," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(3), pages 21582440166, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Laura Ripoll González & Fred Gale, 2020. "Place Branding as Participatory Governance? An Interdisciplinary Case Study of Tasmania, Australia," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.
    2. Kasey Clawson Hudak, 2019. "Resident stories and digital storytelling for participatory place branding," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(2), pages 97-108, June.
    3. Maia Maziashvili & Izabela Kowalik, 2022. "City citizenship behavior and participation in promotion," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 113-127, June.
    4. Yu-Min Joo & Bokyong Seo, 2018. "Transformative city branding for policy change: The case of Seoul’s participatory branding," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(2), pages 239-257, March.
    5. Ewa Glińska & Wawrzyniec Rudolf, 2019. "City Brand Personality Projected by Municipalities from Central and Eastern Europe Countries—A Comparison of Facebook Usage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Marta Hereźniak & Magdalena Florek, 2018. "Citizen involvement, place branding and mega events: insights from Expo host cities," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(2), pages 89-100, May.
    7. Yingying Wu & Bowen Zhang & Dian Wang, 2021. "Bridging the language barrier: a Chinese place branding literature review from 1996 to 2018," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 140-154, June.
    8. Alberte Tøttenborg & Can-Seng Ooi & Anne Hardy, 2023. "Place branding through public management lenses: supplementing the participatory agenda," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 114-127, March.
    9. Shahzad Khurram & Sandra Charreire Petit, 2017. "Investigating the Dynamics of Stakeholder Salience: What Happens When the Institutional Change Process Unfolds?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 485-515, July.
    10. Juha Halme, 2021. "The role of social capital in the institutionalization of regional place marketing activity," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(3), pages 249-256, September.
    11. Ouellet, F. & Mundler, P. & Dupras, J. & Ruiz, J., 2020. "“Community developed and farmer delivered.” An analysis of the spatial and relational proximities of the Alternative Land Use Services program in Ontario," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    12. de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & Freel, Mark, 2010. "Absorptive capacity and the reach of collaboration in high technology small firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 47-54, February.
    13. Philippe DUEZ, 2015. "The Role Of The Culture In The Innovation Management," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 489-495, November.
    14. Lorenzo Cassi & Anne Plunket, 2014. "Proximity, network formation and inventive performance: in search of the proximity paradox," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(2), pages 395-422, September.
    15. Laurent R. Bergé, 2017. "Network proximity in the geography of research collaboration," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(4), pages 785-815, November.
    16. Yauheniya Barkun & Ewa Glińska & Katarzyna Dębkowska, 2021. "Differentiation of regional attractiveness for gaining talents in the context of place branding theory," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(1), pages 78-92, March.
    17. Swan, Jacky & Goussevskaia, Anna & Newell, Sue & Robertson, Maxine & Bresnen, Mike & Obembe, Ademola, 2007. "Modes of organizing biomedical innovation in the UK and US and the role of integrative and relational capabilities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 529-547, May.
    18. Sally Maitlis & Thomas B. Lawrence, 2003. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Understanding Failure in Organizational Strategizing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 109-139, January.
    19. Alain Thierstein & Stefan Lüthi, 2012. "Interlocking Firm Networks in the German Knowledge Economy: The Case of the Emerging Mega-city Region of Munich," Chapters, in: Marina van Geenhuizen & Peter Nijkamp (ed.), Creative Knowledge Cities, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Sophie Masson & Romain Petiot, 2012. "Territorial Attractiveness, Logistical Facilities And Sustainable Development [Attractivité territoriale, infrastructures logistiques et développement durable]," Post-Print hal-04153018, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:38:y:2020:i:7-8:p:1447-1464. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.