Mental images of the sunbelt as a travel region

Abstract

Sunbelt is a term which refers to a region of the United States which has become an attractive destination for migrants and vacationers. This study investigated the history of the term and the perceived attractiveness of the region. The study consisted of two phases; a descriptive and a comparative phase. The descriptive phase investigated; 1) the origin and development of the term, and 2) the mental images that attract vacationers to the Sunbelt. Popular and scholarly publications were analyzed to identify Sunbelt definitions and develop a chronology of the Sunbelt. The comparative phase investigated variables hypothesized as influencing people's mental images of the Sunbelt. Images of the Sunbelt were elicited by a mapping task and questions about people's travel behavior. The task and questions were administered to college students and their parents. The descriptive phase results show that the term, Sunbelt, was introduced in 1969 as the title of a growing southern and western region. The term has had numerous definitions, however, it generally refers to a geographic area composed of states below the thirty-seventh parallel. Students' images of the location of the Sunbelt are slightly different than the thirty-seventh parallel definition. The comparative phase results show that the variables of residence, travel experience, and familiarity with the Sunbelt are differentiators of students' images of the Sunbelt. Statistical tests did not support the differences but the differences were observable. The results led to the conclusions that; 1) the Sunbelt is a term recently adopted into the American vocabulary, 2) the Sunbelt has a specific location and characteristics associated with it, 3) student images of the Sunbelt are broader than scholars' definitions of the region, and 4) knowledge of the Sunbelt derived from experiences with the region may influence the development of mental images of the region. Suggestions were made for possible applications of the results for the marketing and planning of the Sunbelt as a vacation area. These applications require the identification of the images of other geographic regions and an understanding of the variables that influence mental images.