City brand coolness in the eye of the beholder: an extended conceptualization of city brand coolness and its dimensions

Abstract

Coolness is a socially constructed positive trait that is attributed to people, brands, products, etc. It is subjective, dynamic, and attained by the beholder. Despite the extensive research on city branding, city brand coolness is neglected in the literature. There is only one study on cool cities. This research aims to deepen the knowledge of city brand coolness, extend its conceptualization, develop an insight into its dimensions, and add to the generalizability of the city brand coolness concept by reflecting the perceptions of a more diverse segment. On that basis, an inductive qualitative approach is employed for defining the characteristics of cool cities and for developing dimensions of city brand coolness rather than adopting coolness dimensions deductively from brand coolness. The data is collected from individual Instagram accounts without geographical restrictions. In total, this research has covered 435 contents (including photos, captions, comments, hashtags, etc.) and 155 cool cities through the eyes of the beholder. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. As a result, cool cities were found to be distinctive, bold, aesthetic, energetic, artistic, and authentic. Individuals, mostly tourists, perceive a city as cool when it possesses several of these characteristics. The findings were discussed in detail.