Priorities of the citizens in city brand development: comparison of two cities (Nicosia and Kyrenia) by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach

City branding has come to occupy an increasingly important position in contemporary branding literature due to the global competition between cities and the desire for the municipal authorities to find new methods to secure or improve their positions in this competition. Recent studies have begun to address the challenge of city branding derived from its multitude of stakeholders. Among all the various stakeholders, residents are believed to be the most influential target group in the cities, since as well as being citizens they have a key role in establishing a solid brand and acting as ambassadors for the cities. Thus, the primary goal of this research was to develop a valid scale to measure citizen city satisfaction and rank the factors of this scale by using eight residents who live and/or work in both the cities of Nicosia and Kyrenia and later compare and analyse these two cities using the analytic hierarchy process. This study demonstrates the effective use of this new method and its application of a new citizen satisfaction index for place branding scholars. This will also enable the two municipal authorities to understand the priorities of the residents living in Kyrenia and Nicosia and their perceptions of the two cities. Findings of the research show that personal and public safety is the most prioritised factor and according to the overall evaluation, Nicosia has slightly higher city satisfaction level than Kyrenia. These findings will direct municipal officials to allocate their resources appropriately and prepare educational programmes which will encourage the residents to establish stronger city ambassadorship and citizenship behaviours. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V.