The Prentice-O'Gorman destination appraisal matrix: Iranian case study

Prentice's model was designed to challenge a tendency in contemporary destination marketing to emphasise SSPs (Standardised Selling Points) rather than USPs (Unique (or at least Unusual) Selling Points). This process of standardisation is what the French have termed Banalisation (Prentice 2006b). Prentice's model is a hybrid of traditional destination choice sets models (Crompton 1992; Sirakaya and Woodside 2005) with inputs from the Theory of Reasoned Action (Aizen and Fishbein 1980) and from heuristic choice models (Pham 1998). Prentice further differentiates USPs into UUSPs (Unique Utility Selling Points) UESPs (Unique Experiential Selling Points) USSPs (Unique Symbolic Selling Points). These may be thought of as summarising those aspects of generic imagery and product beliefs that are pertinent to destination differentiation. As specified, Prentice's model is a model of choosing on the part of potential tourists. The question arises as to how destination managers may readily operationalise Prentice's ideas in both their marketing and market based product development or, indeed, simply to think about their destination. Many managers are familiar with SWOT analysis and the operationalisation of Prentice's ideas suggested here builds on this familiarity. The demonstrated means of application is in the form of a matrix combining Prentice's expansion of USPs with a traditional SWOT analysis.