Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: This thesis describes and evaluates how regional marketing, based on the ideas of Philip Kotler s Marketing Places (1993), can be a reasonable tool to attract business locators into economic regions. The thesis concentrates on strategic market planning of local economic development programs. It is presented how to make use of local competitive advantages by useful bundling of incentives. The notion of marketing and governing places is combined and shall offer the reader a new perspective of meeting regional economic objectives for places. This thesis is divided into two parts: a theoretical part (where industrial incentives are presented and Kotler s concept is explained and criticized) and an empirical part (where regional marketing is applied and tested for effectiveness). First, it will be defined what regional marketing is and what forms of incentives are considered. Then it will be presented how marketing strategies can be organized in a local environment, followed by a discussion how companies make location decisions. In the last chapter of the first part, a critical discussion of the regional marketing approach is presented. In the second part, an emphasis will be put on the case study; a location (Orange County, California, USA) where economic development based on marketing planning came to work. With a view to the situation and implications analyzed in the case study, it will be tried to scrutinize effectiveness and usefulness of economic development programs based on regional marketing principles for this place in question and in general. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: TABLE OF CONTENTS0 1.INTRODUCTION2 1.1Delineation of the problem3 1.2Marketing as a regional development approach4 1.3Methodology6 1.4Objectives and structure of the master s thesis6 1.5Region7 2DEFINITION OF REGIONAL MARKETING8 2.1Regional marketing and regional economic development11 OBJECTIVES13 2.2Major elements of a regional marketing program14 2.3Strategic market planning process16 2.3.1Conducting the place audit16 2.3.2Describing the vision and objectives18 2.3.3Formulating the strategy18 2.3.4Operative plan18 2.3.5Implementation and control19 2.4Organization of regional marketing programs19 2.4.1Forms of economic development organizations in the USA20 2.4.2Participants of a regional marketing program22 2.5Objectives of regional marketing programs23 2.5.1Increasing the attractiveness of a city as a place of [...]