Connecting the participatory place brand to local realities: a narrative journey to explore residents’ sense of place in Marseille
(2025) SKOM12 20251Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- This thesis investigates the interplay between participatory place branding and residents’ sense of place, exploring its implications on their engagement in participatory initiatives. Following the case of a participatory greening initiative part of a branding campaign launched in 2024 by Marseille’s municipality (France), this study adopts a narrative approach to explore how residents’ lived experiences shape the meanings they assign to place and influence their engagement with the brand. Through semi-structured interviews with residents and institutional officials, this study examines how residents co-create place brands as embodied experiences, drawing on sense of place and narrative theory. The performed thematic narrative analysis... (More)
- This thesis investigates the interplay between participatory place branding and residents’ sense of place, exploring its implications on their engagement in participatory initiatives. Following the case of a participatory greening initiative part of a branding campaign launched in 2024 by Marseille’s municipality (France), this study adopts a narrative approach to explore how residents’ lived experiences shape the meanings they assign to place and influence their engagement with the brand. Through semi-structured interviews with residents and institutional officials, this study examines how residents co-create place brands as embodied experiences, drawing on sense of place and narrative theory. The performed thematic narrative analysis revealed that: (1) Sense of place is materially grounded and collectively constructed through localized, shared experiences; (2) Residents’ engagement depends on the communicated brand’s experiential translation and alignment with their own place experiences, constitutive of their sense of place; (3) Co-creation without shared brand ownership undermines trust and can lead to resistance, especially if the brand experience relies on pre-existing practices. Prior and ongoing relationships between residents and institutions play an important role in the brand’s legitimacy and residents’ willingness to engage. Embracing shared brand ownership is thus key to fostering meaningful, trust-based engagement. Sense of place is not a background context for branding – it is the foundation through which residents experience, interpret, embrace, or contest place brands. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9203965
- author
- Mascaret, Jade Pascale Marie LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKOM12 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- participatory place branding, place branding, sense of place, narrative inquiry, resident engagement, embodied experience
- language
- English
- id
- 9203965
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-23 09:51:08
- date last changed
- 2025-06-23 09:51:08
@misc{9203965,
abstract = {{This thesis investigates the interplay between participatory place branding and residents’ sense of place, exploring its implications on their engagement in participatory initiatives. Following the case of a participatory greening initiative part of a branding campaign launched in 2024 by Marseille’s municipality (France), this study adopts a narrative approach to explore how residents’ lived experiences shape the meanings they assign to place and influence their engagement with the brand. Through semi-structured interviews with residents and institutional officials, this study examines how residents co-create place brands as embodied experiences, drawing on sense of place and narrative theory. The performed thematic narrative analysis revealed that: (1) Sense of place is materially grounded and collectively constructed through localized, shared experiences; (2) Residents’ engagement depends on the communicated brand’s experiential translation and alignment with their own place experiences, constitutive of their sense of place; (3) Co-creation without shared brand ownership undermines trust and can lead to resistance, especially if the brand experience relies on pre-existing practices. Prior and ongoing relationships between residents and institutions play an important role in the brand’s legitimacy and residents’ willingness to engage. Embracing shared brand ownership is thus key to fostering meaningful, trust-based engagement. Sense of place is not a background context for branding – it is the foundation through which residents experience, interpret, embrace, or contest place brands.}},
author = {{Mascaret, Jade Pascale Marie}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Connecting the participatory place brand to local realities: a narrative journey to explore residents’ sense of place in Marseille}},
year = {{2025}},
}