The brand value continuum Countering co-destruction of destination branding in social media through storytelling

Social media users are increasingly harming destination brands through their posts. This paper examines how to counter brand co-destruction in social media through the application of storytelling practices. Based on a netnography of TripAdvisor and Facebook, combined with a case study of the Danish destination management organization (DMO) VisitDenmark, the paper investigates the prospective ways in which social media users co-destroy the DMO’s brand. We demonstrate how value creation is a fluid process generated along a ‘brand value continuum’, as complex interplays between co-creation and co-destruction manifest through user generated content. The paper provides recommendations on how DMOs can counter co-destruction by using storytelling to influence perceptions and set agendas for user conversations that stimulate brand co-creation