Is warmth more critical than competence? Understanding how destination gender affects destination identification and destination advocacy

Purpose This paper aims to examine a new approach to understanding the interrelationships between destination brand gender, stereotypes, destination brand identification and brand advocacy, as well as the mediating role of destination warmth (vs. competence) in the connections between destination brand femininity (vs. masculinity) and destination brand identification. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study and literature review were conducted to revisit and refine the items on the scale. Preliminary item reduction was qualitatively grounded in focus groups, a panel of experts, and a pilot study. A follow-up quantitative evaluation of two studies (N1 = 705 and N2 = 472) was conducted to test seven hypotheses using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modeling. Findings The findings provide robust evidence for the interrelationships among destination brand gender, stereotypes, destination identification and destination advocacy. The outcomes also reveal that warmth is more important than competence for destination identification. Finally, the results indicated that only destination warmth serves as a partial mediator in the association between destination brand masculinity and femininity, on the one hand, and destination identification, on the other hand. Originality/value This article adds to the destination branding literature by using social role theory and the stereotype content model to explore novel connections among destination brand gender, stereotypes, destination brand identification and brand advocacy.