Vol 17, No 34 (2019): January-June

Since destination image is an important construct for tourism research, cities and regions try to understand and to develop a positive image in order to guarantee the number of visitors and the tourism revenue. The main objective of this article was to develop a model of evaluation of destination image through the use of pictures shared in virtual social networks. We propose that the image of a destination can be analyzed through the way tourists picture the destination in virtual social networks. Hence, we have developed a measurement to evaluate destination image based on pictures posted on Instagram, and we made a model to analyze destination image based on pictures shared in virtual social network. Our method was composed by an analysis of 1,500 pictures of three important destinations in Brazil (Foz do Iguaçú, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador). Our results contribute to tourism research by indicating that it is possible to determine the main characteristics of a destination by the pictures in virtual social networks, and by providing a 5-dimension model to do so. This study contributes to tourism research in two venues. First, we propose a method for evaluating destination image based on pictures posted in social media rather than the usual questionnaires. This may help scholars by providing an alternative way of evaluating destination image without recall, social desirability and non-response bias. And secondly, this study also contributes to practitioners and public policy in tourism by showing which characteristics of a destination image are more prominent to the destination image, based on virtual social networks.

The electoral processes in Mexico during the 21st century have been characterized by a high level of uncertainty regarding the motivations and conditions in which citizens cast their vote. The role played by emotions when casting the vote that will determine the direction of an election day is becoming more evident.

The purpose of this research was to identify the role of emotions in the political-electoral definition for the 2018 Mexican elections, in order to demonstrate that it is an emotional choice, rather than a rational one, what shapes Mexico’s emotional public space and its governance. To achieve this purpose, a qualitative methodological approach was used, because the discursive strategies used by one of the candidates competing for the presidency of the Mexican Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was leading the polls and eventually won the elections, was analyzed.

Among the most significant findings of the investigation, it was found that Andrés Manuel López Obrador has known how to take advantage of an emotional public space of irritation and social anger, in order to give rise to a kind of emotional governance. Recent studies in the field of neuroscience show that the decisions made by human beings are not only a product of reason, but that emotions triggered by the media and social networks, among others, have a defining role in them.

This work seeks to characterize the image of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002-2010) as crafted in Matador’s cartoons published in the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo during three relevant periods in his two governments (2004, 2006, and 2010). From a semiotic perspective, mindful of visual and verbal signs that make cartoons, we analyze the satirical framing from which the political cartoon operates based on the topics addressed, the characters that are represented, and personality that can be identified in the presidential character. A correspondence analysis —a multivariate analysis technique— also allowed us to study whether there are variations between the personality traits identified in Uribe Vélez’ character in each of the aforementioned periods. It is concluded that the political cartoons constituted a symbolic struggle for the depiction of the president, given that Matador focused on the negative aspects of his actions, as well as associated some of his decisions judged as positive by the public with negative facts and features, and questioned the ethos built by Álvaro Uribe Vélez in his speech. It was found that the shortcomings in the five dimensions of personality traits identified in the depiction made by Matador (competence, integrity, emotional stability and decision-making, loyalty and responsibility, charisma and empathy) varied in some situations during the two terms, depending on the political agenda. Thus, the features identified in the character are interpreted as a composite and dynamic satirical ethos.

This article presents a research on the information structure of the media with the highest audience rating in Colombia during the 2014 presidential election in Colombia. This process is widely recognized because the election campaign revolved around the peace process and had the highest abstentionism in recent years (60%), only surpassed by the 1994 presidential election. The process is analyzed from March 15 (after the legislative elections) to June 15, in order to consider both the first and second rounds, as well as the relationship with the results obtained during this electoral process. Therefore, the research was carried out with the critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach, based on the contributions of discourse analysis in terms of its structural description, but with a more stressed interest in social problems in which the abuse of power is practiced, reproduced and scarcely refuted by texts and political discourse. Considering that CDA uses empirical and practical methods for evaluating different discourses, the research takes the concepts developed by theoreticians such as Teun Van Dijk, Gilles Gauthier, Beaudoux, D’Adamo and Slavinsky, as well as the contributions of the agenda setting theory, as key referents, because that ensures the influence of the media on the public in determining and classifying the issues that have media interest. Therefore, a matrix with qualitativequantitative variables of communicational nature was designed, aimed at analyzing whether the news’ structure issued by the selected media spawned a particular political climate, and caused that candidates whose news were more in line with the climate of opinion receive more mentions and be legitimized before the population, compared to the candidates who campaigned based on issues not related to the media agenda, which ends up undermining the democracy of a fair competition between candidates, and the right of the audience to receive impartial information that allows an analysis of the proposals of all candidates without it having been previously distorted.

In the field of political communication, social networks have become an indispensable tool for election campaigns in recent years. In addition to opening communication and dialogue channels that are not available in other media and public spaces, these platforms promote the emergence of online communities that spawn conversations and exchange of political opinions. However, democratic participation in the digital age can lead to overcome certain obstacles, but also to deepen them. A content analysis technique to the messages published during the last twenty-five days of the 2015 mayoral campaign in the official Twitter accounts of the four candidates for Manizales Mayor’s Office, aimed at establishing if the followers of these accounts confronted their points of view with dissimilar perspectives, or if they expressed them only to users who were politically sympathetic to them. The results show a pivotal difference between the two accounts with the greatest participation of citizens regarding the formation of political communities: only one of facilitates the meeting between politically opposed voices, but they appeal to grievance, hostility and disqualification of the other as someone who has an opinion. Nevertheless, the dynamics of both accounts raise the same consequence: The fragmentation of the public sphere, the polarization and the dissolution of the essence of deliberative democracy.

The paper presents evidences of the consolidation of organizational communication as a profession in Latin America, and proposes a review of empirical research published on scientific databases about the role of the organizational communication and public relations professional in the region. Different traditions existing in the region and the debate on the name of the professional field, in which the denominations of ‘organizational communication’ and ‘public relations’ prevail, are highlighted. Then, the outstanding consolidation process of that profession in Brazil, achieved by the fact that both market and academia bolstered it, as well as by its early institutionalization, is analyzed. As a result of the review, a classification of the lines of thought on the aforementioned profession that have been most widely disseminated in scientific journals is proposed, and the main researchers and the most empirical research on for each line are shown. It is found that, unlike in European and North American scholarly publishing, in which the performance study of the professional role predominates, in Latin America the concern about the situation of the professional role stands out. Three schools of thought stand out in empirical studies: Research on the profession’s political and social role with studies on its contribution to development and social change; research framed in a strategic view of the profession; and a series of empirical studies that conclude on the influence of the social environment in the practice of the profession in Latin America.

This work conducted a quantitative study of gender representation in five top-selling multiplatform action video games leading in sales of the seventh generation, through the technique of content analysis. The central narrative of each game was analyzed by using the character as an analysis unit and the mission as a registration unit; the latter is taken as each section of the game in which the player needs to achieve a goal to progress through the story. The physical appearance, behavior, language and dress of both masculine and feminine leading, supporting and tertiary characters were categorized. A 4:1 ratio between male and female characters was found, which comprises a serious under-representation of the female gender in these games. Significant differences were also found in both physical and behavioral representation between male and female characters. Regarding physical appearance, it was found that female characters’ outfits are noticeably more revealing than those of male ones. Concerning behavior, female characters were found to have a greater presence of sexualized behaviors and to have less confidence, violence and leadership attitude than their male counterparts. It is claimed that, despite what has been found, gender representation in the media has improved when compared to the findings of previous studies, and that it is necessary to do research on the way in which players relate to these contents.

By means of a literature review, this paper presents an analysis of trends that impact the radio at digital level to facilitate the strategic formulation of online stations from the identification of trends, the transformation of the medium and the recognition of digital actions. The methodological proposal was developed with the Micmac matrix in which three categories are considered: 1) characteristics of the radio as a means of diffusion, 2) digital consumption strategies, and 3) the relationship between audience and medium. This approach facilitates the process of gathering trends and information for its implementation. Secondary sources such as IAB, Hubspot, and P & M Magazine, among others, were used, taking the 306Radio digital station as a reference. As a result of using the aforementioned matrix, three trends that impact the radio at digital level were found. First, programmatic audio; secondly, programming mix; and thirdly, radio branded content. These trends, explored in a real context, facilitate the strategic approach through the support of new technologies for the medium.

Brands must provide valuable content that can attract attention of their audiences to generate positive results regarding their communication objectives. This becomes much more relevant in the fashion industry, where the construction of symbolic value ---even more so than the product’s exclusivity--- is essential to relate oneself emotionally with a consumer of aspirational nature. Currently, traditional advertising, which is a paradigm of the push model, is no longer efficient to reach the public. Given this, hybrid messages have become particularly relevant, and specially the fashion film as a kind of audiovisual content that is typical of fashion marketing. In order to identify the concepts that draw near to fashion films, this research began with an exhaustive literature review of, on the one hand, product placement as a type of advertising and, on the other hand, of content marketing, advertainment and branded entertainment as types of branded content. Thus, after an analysis of different hybrid messages that could host the fashion film category, features that lead to the conclusion that the subject matter responds not only to advertainment, but also to branded entertainment. Although, given the particularities of the fashion industry, within the latter it is necessary to admit the irreparable presence of products in history, as long as they do not take part in the narrative when they are exposed in a leading way, but rather establish themselves as objects of embellishment of the characters.

Beyond their monetary value, private cars have a social value that keeps them in use despite the economic and environmental restrictions upon them. This research analyzes the social representations that were built in Medellin (Colombia) around the private vehicle, and why is the use of this luxury good increasing even though the city boasts public transport alternatives. The existing literature on social representations, especially of luxury goods, was reviewed, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a group of people between 30 and 40 years old who own vehicles for private use that cost at least 50 million of Colombian pesos at the time of their purchase. The discourse analysis of the interviewees allowed to know the social value that people give to private cars. The owners’ assessment of that good goes beyond the concepts of freedom and independence as recognized by the related literature. This research showed that the owners’ first goal is to distance themselves from public transport systems. Car owners understand the car’s symbolic value and foresee the reactions that the good cause on other people, and they use it to build a speech and show themselves as they want to other members of their community. From a sociological point of view, this analysis revealed that car consumption among the aforementioned group of study presents itself an ascending scale that is directly related to the status aspired by the car’s owner.

This research presents listening as a communication element that must be managed in organizations that face a constantly changing society, and in which it is important to know the opinion of the public that interacts with it. When understood as an intangible asset, listening adds to others of its kind that become relevant today in institutions, such as reputation, image, identity, corporate responsibility, among others. This study aims to show what are the most relevant features and elements of organizational listening to date. The research was carried out through an analysis that draws from the theory, and that reviews the main contributions from the communication field. As a subject matter, the act of listening does not have a broad body of research to support itself, but it is in development. However, its importance is indirectly inferred from the background analysis in some academic fields. For the purposes of this study, approaches made from strategic communication, public relations, relational marketing and organizational communication are reviewed.

On the basis of a theoretical analysis, this research on listening proposes a definition of organizational listening and its most relevant elements as a contribution to the field of communication: Listening belongs to a continuous and systematic process in organizations that requires different instruments to be carried out, which is aimed at knowing the different audiences with which the institution is related, and that should be established as an important factor to be considered so that institutions are sustainable over time.

This paper shows the results obtained in a research on sensory marketing and its influence on the shopping experience, which seeks to contribute knowledge to the sensory marketing field and its importance in making memorable experiences for the public. In this way it is intended to understand if a particular scent can be related to the experience of the service received in the facilities of fund of employees in Manizales through a quantitative-descriptive research with a quasi-experimental correlational scope.

In the first week, 301 people who entered the facilities of the fund of employees without any scent scheme were interviewed. In the second week, an intervention was made: 301 surveys were collected from people who entered the same facilities, but this time with a scent scheme, and who rated the same variables.

Surveys were systematized in a Microsoft Excel 2013® spreadsheet, and the statistical analysis was carried out with the IBM SPSS v. 2.1. software. Internal consistency was verified with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.856. Also, the population was characterized, and ordinal associations were established by the Gamma coefficient of Goodman and Kruskal. In addition, the possible associations were verified with a Chi-square test. One of the most important results of the study showed that smell stimulation can be linked in a positive way in the perception of the attention variables regarding service and cleaning.