An Assessment of Obstacles for Place Marketing. Lessons from an Exploratory Study among Place Marketing Practitioners in a Suburban Area of a Big City
An Assessment of Obstacles for Place Marketing. Lessons from an Exploratory Study among Place Marketing Practitioners in a Suburban Area of a Big City

Summary/Abstract: Purpose: To fill the knowledge gap referring to identification of obstacles for place marketing, in particular in rural areas and in smaller towns. Methods: Exploratory research among practitioners of place marketing with the use of in-depth interviews was conducted. Totally 14 interviews were conducted in 14 communes, in which participated a total number of 24 people. The indicated communes form the institutionalized functional area of the city of Cracow. Findings: The field research and the comparative analysis with the results of former research projects allowed for identification of place marketing obstacles, specific for the population of rural areas and small towns. The budget limitations occurred to be the most frequently indicated obstacle both in researched suburban rural area and the cities from the previous research. The other obstacles differed between cities and rural areas. The research covered the suburban rural area around Cracow – the second biggest city in Poland. Therefore it must not be generalized to the general population of all rural areas in Poland. However one may assume that some similarities are very much likely in suburban areas of other big cities in Poland / Central Europe. Research implications: The research provides one of the first insights into perception of place marketing obstacles among practitioners from rural areas. The results are a good starting point for the future research including e.g. conducting quantitative research among rural areas.

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