This book integrates new thinking on the image, marketing, and branding of places at all levels, from town squares to cities and countries, and of the products and peoples associated with them, thereby bridging the 'country' and 'place' silos in place-related research and practice. Insightful contributions from top scholars reflect fresh theorizing and provide a critical appraisal of conventional wisdom by juxtaposing intriguing contexts, questioning commonplace practices, and challenging methodologies and theoretical assumptions. Chapters explore interdependencies among residents, visitors, brand managers, and consumers; image effects of place and social identity, cross-border acquisitions, popular culture exports, and sporting mega-events; country-of-origin research, cross-cultural consumer behaviour, international marketing, destination branding, and brand modelling; and cutting-edge methodological approaches and managerial best practices in place marketing. The book's interdisciplinary know-how and approach makes it an invaluable and comprehensive reference for researchers, managers, consultants, and students alike, in areas from marketing, place management, international business, and tourism to communications, social psychology, urban geography, and regional economics.

Through the growing penetration of new technologies, online consumers can now share and collaborate amongst themselves while shopping online. As they receive information about products from media exposure and their collaboration with other consumers, it is critical for businesses to understand the social impact and influence of social and mobile commerce and how it can affect consumer habits. Strategies and Tools for Managing Connected Consumers provides emerging research exploring the techniques and impacts of new technologies deployed in today's digital marketplace as well as recent development and empirical research on consumer behavior. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as social computing, virtual communities, and consumer management, this book is ideally designed for professionals, researchers, business managers, and students who want to improve their understanding of new strategies for conducting online business in networked environments.