Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

Image Assessment Before and After the Storm 
The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to assess changes in the overall image of New Orleans among 
study respondents. The test statistic detects differences in the distribution of the two related variables (e.g. overall 
destination image of New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina). Findings indicated that the overall image 
significantly (p£ .001) decreased according to the Wilcoxon signed-rank test statistic (z = 116.488). Space 
constraints however do not permit a presentation of individual image attributes; however all eight pre- and post-
storm image assessments showed (p£ .001) decreased ratings.