Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies for Digital Brand Analysis: Applications in Hospitality and Tourism

Framing digital branding as a discursive process, this research examines digital brand discourse in the hospitality and tourism industry through Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS), a methodological approach that combines corpus linguistics and discourse analysis. The dissertation includes three chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the literature on digital discourse, foregrounds the discursive dimension of digital branding, and outlines the foundations of CADS. Chapters 2 and 3 present case studies set in Florida, USA, where part of this research was conducted. Specifically, Chapter 2 analyzes digital discourse in restaurant branding, investigating how Italianness functions both as a cultural-ideological system and a brand positioning strategy on the official websites of Italian restaurants in Miami-Dade County. Chapter 3 shifts the focus to destination branding in Miami Beach, examining the role of digital prosumers on social media in responding to rebranding efforts and contributing to brand co-creation. The study advances a discourse-oriented understanding of digital branding and offers insights relevant to both academic research and industry practice.