Ask someone who’s never been to Gippsland what they picture, and you’ll likely get a mix of country roads, paddocks, maybe a cow or two. The imagery arrives fast, fully formed. That’s not laziness—it’s schema.
In psychology, schemas are cognitive shortcuts—mental models that help us quickly interpret the world. They are built from a lifetime of exposure: photos, stories, personal experiences, films, advertisements, even throwaway lines from talkback radio.
In tourism, they shape everything.
Not just whether someone visits a town, but how they feel about it before they arrive. Whether they remember it fondly, talk about it afterward, or invest in its future. And for regional councils and development boards, understanding how schemas work is essential—not for “marketing,” but for strategic transformation.
Because most regional towns don’t suffer from anonymity. They suffer from being mentally filed in the wrong drawer.
What Schema Theory Really Tells Us
Schema theory, rooted in cognitive and social psychology, argues that humans don’t perceive places neutrally. We perceive them through categories.
A schema is a set of expectations: what a “coastal village,” “art town,” or “mining community” should look like, feel like, and offer. They’re sticky. They resist contradiction. And they tend to favor first impressions over complexity.
For regional branding, this means:
- Your brand is not what you say—it’s what people already believe.
- Changing a place’s schema is harder than increasing awareness.
- Schemas are socially shared, emotionally charged, and slow to shift.
But here’s the opportunity: with the right cultural cues, policy signals, and consistent storytelling, schemas can evolve. And when they do, so do tourism numbers, community pride, migration patterns, and investment flows.
There are three levers:
- Schema Confirmation – Lean into what people already believe, and refine it.
- Schema Disruption – Break the mold with something unexpected or provocative.
- Schema Expansion – Layer depth and complexity into a familiar frame.
Let’s see how this plays out across real places.
Gippsland – Reimagining the Rural Template
Gippsland has long lived within a well-worn schema: dairy farms, timber towns, scenic drives, and sleepy Sundays. That schema is not incorrect—it’s just too narrow. And it hasn’t kept pace with the lived reality of the region.
In recent years, a quiet shift has begun.
- Cultural capital is emerging: from Gippslandia’s punchy journalism to indie music and art festivals in places like Meeniyan and Yarram.
- Agri-innovation is visible: boutique regenerative farms are hosting tastings, workshops, and long-table feasts.
- Creative migration is rising: younger families, post-COVID city leavers, and first-generation Australians are bringing new rhythms.
But here’s the tension: the public schema hasn’t caught up.
The role of councils here isn’t just to fund events or promote trails. It’s to coordinate a consistent narrative that nudges the schema outward: yes, Gippsland is green and peaceful—but also culturally vital, future-facing, and deeply local.
Strategies to consider:
- Develop a visual identity system that integrates traditional landscapes with contemporary aesthetics (e.g. art, music, diversity).
- Fund storytelling grants to local creatives—not just marketers—to narrate the region on its own terms.
- Work with tourism operators to co-create language that avoids clichés and activates curiosity.
The goal isn’t to discard the rural schema—but to move it from “pastoral” to “plural.”
Daylesford – The Power of Schema Reinforcement
Not every place needs to rewrite its schema. Some just need to maintain it with care and coherence.
Daylesford is a masterclass in schema reinforcement. It’s widely known as a spa and wellness retreat, steeped in mineral springs, vintage stores, queer culture, and boutique hospitality. And the genius lies in how every aspect of the town supports the schema:
- Signage and branding are tactile, elegant, and grounded in natural hues.
- Experiences align: yoga retreats, crystal shops, and slow food kitchens.
- The social fabric reflects the brand: it’s visibly queer-friendly, artist-run, and community-centered.
This isn’t accidental. Over time, local business owners, councils, and tourism boards have coalesced around a clear identity. What’s more, it invites emotional belonging: visitors don’t just relax in Daylesford—they often feel seen.
The risk here? Over-curation. As property prices rise and boutique fatigue sets in, Daylesford risks becoming a museum of itself. Schema reinforcement must evolve to avoid stagnation.
Strategic implications:
- Encourage authentic, locally-led innovation within the brand frame.
- Preserve the “weird edges” and cultural quirks that made the schema feel real in the first place.
- Support initiatives that maintain affordability for creatives and long-term residents.
Schema reinforcement, at its best, isn’t replication—it’s stewardship.
New Zealand – Schema Disruption at Scale
Before the late 1990s, New Zealand was largely absent from most international schemas. It was seen—if at all—as an offshoot of Australia. Then came “100% Pure.”
More than a tourism slogan, it was a schema constructor. Through careful visual storytelling, film tie-ins (The Lord of the Rings), and adventure branding, New Zealand became synonymous with untouched nature, spiritual purity, and bold landscapes.
The branding strategy hit two marks:
- It offered a clean, distinct category: “nature as epic.”
- It disrupted the Australia adjacency by refusing to echo its desert-sun-outback narrative.
Today, the challenge is schema evolution. Critics have rightly noted the gap between the “100% Pure” image and the environmental pressures of intensive agriculture and tourism. The response? Shift the narrative again, toward indigenous storytelling (M?ori-led tourism), regenerative practices, and carbon-conscious travel.
Key lesson for councils:
- Big schema shifts require coordinated cross-sector alignment—policy, culture, education, and tourism must point in the same direction.
- Disruption doesn’t have to mean shock. It can mean clarity.
Implications for Regional Councils and Development Boards
Schema shifts don’t live in brochures. They live in patterns of investment, collaboration, and repetition. If you want to change how a town is perceived, the entire ecosystem has to participate.
Ask yourselves:
- What’s the current public schema of your town—and who shaped it?
- What counter-evidence already exists that could disrupt or expand it?
- Are your visual identity, economic strategy, and cultural programming reinforcing the same story?
Practical steps:
- Commission place audits—not just of infrastructure, but of public perception.
- Align grant funding with story-rich, schema-shifting projects.
- Support boundary-crossers: chefs, artists, farmers, scientists—people who blend the expected and the unexpected.
Place is a Story We Tell Ourselves
To change the future of a place, we need to change how it’s understood in the minds of those who haven’t yet arrived.
That’s the power of schema theory. It reminds us that branding isn’t a coat of paint—it’s a cognitive act. A reshaping of collective memory and expectation.
And for regional Australia and Aotearoa, the task isn’t to imitate cities or chase trends. It’s to author deeper, truer, and more memorable stories about who you already are—and who you’re becoming.
