ABSTRACT

This chapter provides theory for and shows how to examine the stories consumers tell in natural contexts involving brands (in this study, place brands) in ways relevant for psychological archetypes, brand strategies and consumer behaviour. Consumers mention place brands as actors that play roles in the consumers’ lives and that help them (consumers as protagonists) to experience roles that give them the feelings of achievement, well-being and/or excitement. In order to identify and interpret the archetypal themes in stories told by the consumer, this study advances the use of degrees-of-freedom analysis (DFA) and creating visual narrative art (VNA) as useful steps for confi rming or disconfi rming whether or not the stories consumers tell have themes, events and outcomes that match with the core storylines told by brands. The chapter includes a review of work on archetypal theory, DFA and VNA. The study’s theory, method and fi ndings provide useful tools for managers and researchers on issues that relate to tourism and marketing.