Measuring destination image dissonance: A compositional data analysis of cross-media representations in Sanya’s Tourism
- 1Xi’anPhysical Education University, School of Sports Economics and Management, Xi’an, China
- 2Hainan University, School of International Tourism and Public Administration, Haikou, China
Abstract
This study examines Sanya’s tourism image disparities across cognitive, spatial, and affective dimensions in Press Generated Content (PGC), Tourist Generated Content (TGC), and Official Generated Content (OGC) (2013–2022), comparing pre-pandemic (2013–2019) and COVID-19 (2020–2022) periods. Results show: cognitive consistency in “tourism/hotels” but TGC focusing on “coastal + food” vs. PGC/OGC emphasizing policy elements; spatial misalignment between policy-driven spaces and tourists’ preferred spaces, revealing a systematic dissonance between institutional promotion and on-the-ground practices; affective dominance of “enjoyment/romance” but TGC expressing unmet needs and OGC suppressing negatives. Systematic cognitive divergence exists between official and tourist narratives. The Aitchison distance measuring this divergence jumps from 19.574 in the pre-pandemic phase (2013–2019) to 40.648 during the pandemic-impacted phase (2020–2022), demonstrating that structural gaps between the two narrative systems become more pronounced amid the public health crisis. Targeted strategies are accordingly proposed to narrow such narrative discrepancies.
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BibTeX
@article{li2026measuring,
title = {{Measuring destination image dissonance: A compositional data analysis of cross-media representations in Sanya’s Tourism}},
author = {Xueli Li and Jianlan Ding and Yina Zhang and Tao Hu},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0360383},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360383},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Measuring destination image dissonance: A compositional data analysis of cross-media representations in Sanya’s Tourism
AU - Xueli Li
AU - Jianlan Ding
AU - Yina Zhang
AU - Tao Hu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0360383
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360383
AB - This study examines Sanya’s tourism image disparities across cognitive, spatial, and affective dimensions in Press Generated Content (PGC), Tourist Generated Content (TGC), and Official Generated Content (OGC) (2013–2022), comparing pre-pandemic (2013–2019) and COVID-19 (2020–2022) periods. Results show: cognitive consistency in “tourism/hotels” but TGC focusing on “coastal + food” vs. PGC/OGC emphasizing policy elements; spatial misalignment between policy-driven spaces and tourists’ preferred spaces, revealing a systematic dissonance between institutional promotion and on-the-ground practices; affective dominance of “enjoyment/romance” but TGC expressing unmet needs and OGC suppressing negatives. Systematic cognitive divergence exists between official and tourist narratives. The Aitchison distance measuring this divergence jumps from 19.574 in the pre-pandemic phase (2013–2019) to 40.648 during the pandemic-impacted phase (2020–2022), demonstrating that structural gaps between the two narrative systems become more pronounced amid the public health crisis. Targeted strategies are accordingly proposed to narrow such narrative discrepancies.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -