Lin, NaiqingRoberts, Kevin R.2019-03-112019-03-112019-03-11http://hdl.handle.net/2097/39448Citation: Lin, N., & Roberts, K. R. (2019). Destination personality: how to make the metaphor simpler? Anatolia, 0(0), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13032917.2019.1588758A well-established destination personality facilitates differentiation of destinations and helps to create emotional loyalty and increase repeat visitors. Although destination personality and brand marketing have become increasingly important, there is still a lack of applied research that simplifies the salient dimensions of destination personality. This study applies parsimony analysis to help establish the simplest possible determination of destination personality to identify the top destination personality traits of Kansas. Participants (N = 209) were recruited by an online marketing company, and descriptive statistics, Garrett ranking analysis, and Mann-Whitney U-tests were conducted. The top brand personalities of Kansas identified amongst all visitors included hardworking and reliable. Compared to first-time visitors, repeat visitors perceived Kansas as contemporary, outdoorsy, and less sincere.en-USThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Anatolia on 2019-03-11, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13032917.2019.1588758Garrett RankingRural TourismEmotional LoyaltyFirst-Time VisitorsRepeat VisitorsDestination PersonalityText