Title: Attracting more tourists by taking account of their cultural background
1Attracting more tourists by taking account of
their cultural background
- Marinel Gerritsen
- Professor of Intercultural Business Communication
- Department of Business Communication Studies
- Radboud University Nijmegen
- The Netherlands
- M.Gerritsen_at_let.ru.nl
2Three aspects of marketing communication of a
tourist area that will be dealt with
- a) Content of the information about the area
(text and pictures) - b) Communication media used to convey information
about the tourist area - c) Form of the communication
3Outline of the paper
- A model and a hypothesis that indicate that
responding to the communicative conventions of
the culture of a target group might be an
important device in attracting tourists - A communication model
- The similarity attraction hypothesis
- Which elements of culture visible and/or
invisible elements? - Applying knowledge of the values of the target
group in the marketing communication of a tourist
area - Adapting to the communication style of the target
group - Implications for tourist marketers
4In communication at least two persons are involved
- Sender
- A person who sends a message in the form of
symbols for example words, pictures -
- Receiver
- A person who interpretes these symbols and
deduces a message from these symbols
5Effective communication
- Communication between sender and receiver is most
effective if the interpretation of the message by
the receiver is similar to what the sender
intended to communicate with the message
6(No Transcript)
7Targowski/Bowman Layer-based pragmatic
communication model
8Twitter in Europe, the more colour the more
twitter is used
9Targowski/Bowman Layer-based pragmatic
communication model
10The marketer of the tourist area has to adapt to
the communicative conventions of the target group
and has to realize
- In intercultural marketing communication, what
matters is not what you show, but how it is seen,
and not what you say but how you are heard
11Similarity attraction hypothesis
- The more similar two individuals are, the higher
the attraction between them - and that is precisely what a tourist area
wants attract tourists. - Ng et al (2007) Tourist marketers should taken
into account cultural similarities between their
tourist area and the target group in their image
building of a tourist area.
12Similarity between which elements of a culture
play the major role in attracting tourist?
13Model of culture Hofstede's onion-diagram
13
14Symbols
15(No Transcript)
16 Tea rituals in Japan
16
17Model of culture Hofstede's onion-diagram
17
18Model of culture The floating ice berg of Edward
T. Hall
Behavior, customs, language , history 1/9 visible
elements
Values, perception of the world, way of thinking
,presuppositions 8/9 invisible elements
18
19Similarity between which elements of the models
of culture should be taken account by tourist
marketers the visible or invisible elements?
- Invisible elements, values
20Why taking account of the invisible elements?-1
- Because tourists travel to see and experience
new things, and they can especially observe the
visible elements of a culture - Two questions that call for further research
- 1. Do touristst from high uncertainty avoidance
cultures (what is different is dangerous) and
tourists from low uncertainty avoidance
cultures (what is different is interesting)
differ in the extent to which visible elements
of a culture attract them? - 2. Do difference between tourist area and target
group in all visible aspects of a culture play
the same role in attraction? -
21Why taking account of the invisible elements? -2
- Values are learned at ones mother knee
- By the age of twelve a child has acquired values
and because this learning process has taken place
so early and unconsciouslousy, a person believes
that persons all over the world have the same
values
22Six basic values (Kluckhohn Strodtbeck 1961)
- 1. Human nature
- 2. Underlying motives for acting
- 3. Human Relations
- 4. Time
- 5. Space
- 6. Person-Nature
22
2316 values anno 2012 and the six basic values of
(Kluckhohn Strodtbeck 1961)
- 1. Human nature
- 2. Underlying motives for acting
- Indulgence-Restraint (Hofstede)
- Uncertainty Avoidance (Hofstede)
- Masculinity-Feminity (Hofstede)
- 3. Human Relations
- Collectivism-Individualism (Hofstede)
- Power distance (Hofstede)
- Particularism-Universalism (Trompenaars)
- Achieved-scribed status (Trompenaars)
- Neutral-Affective (Trompenaars)
- 4. Time
- Past, present, future (Trompenaars)
- Polychrony-monochrony (Hall)
- Confucian Dynamism (Hofstede)
23
2416 values anno 2012 and the six basic values of
(Kluckhohn Strodtbeck 1961)
- 1. Human nature
- 2. Underlying motives for acting
- Indulgence-Restraint (Hofstede)
- Uncertainty Avoidance (Hofstede)
- Masculinity-Feminity (Hofstede)
- 3. Human Relations
- Collectivism-Individualism (Hofstede)
- Power distance (Hofstede)
- Particularism-Universalism (Trompenaars)
- Achieved-scribed status (Trompenaars)
- Neutral-Affective (Trompenaars)
- 4. Time
- Past, present, future (Trompenaars)
- Polychrony-monochrony (Hall)
- Confucian Dynamism (Hofstede)
24
25Indulgence versus restraint ( the 6th value of
Hofstede (Hofstede, Hofstede, Minkov 2010, p.
281))
- Indulgence
- A tendency to allow relatively free
gratification of basic and natural human desires
related to enjoying life and having fun - Restraint
- A conviction that such gratification needs to be
curbed and regulated by strict social norms
26Indulgence versus restraint and attracting
tourists
- Content
- Indulgence aspects of a tourist area that show
that one can have fun, enjoy life and pamper
oneself - Restraint aspects of a tourist area that are
related to learn something (history, geography,
art) - Communication media
- Indulgence glossy, glamorous
- Restraint serious books, flyers
27Uncertainty avoidance
-
- The extent to which the members of a culture
feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown
situations - High uncertainty avoidance What is different
is dangerous - Low uncertainty avoidance What is different is
interesting
28Uncertainty avoidance and attracting tourists
- Content
- High uncertainty avoidance package tours, all
inclusive, travelling in groups, well known hotel
chains, well known destinations, booking long
before the journey, risk free activities,
transparency of information (facts and figures),
strengthen de confidence of travelers by assuring
stability, free insurance, guarantee of personal
safety and security - Low uncertainty avoidance new things,
adventures, last minutes, bed and breakfast - Communication media
- High uncertainty avoidance travel agency
- Low uncertainty avoidance internet, word of
mouth - Form of the communication
- High uncertainty avoidance precise, facts and
figures, information long before the journey will
take place - Low uncertainty avoidance last minute
information
29Masculinity versus Femininity
-
- Masculine
- Emotional gender roles are clearly distinct men
are supposed to be assertive, tough and focussed
on material success, whereas women are supposed
to be more modest, tender and concerned with the
quality of life -
- Feminine
- Emotional gender roles overlap both men and
women are supposed to be modest, tender, and
concerned with the quality of life
30Masculinity versus femininity and attracting
tourists
- Content
- Masculine division of gender roles, one can show
achievement in personal life and in for example
sport and financial soundness during the holiday - Feminine no division of gender roles,
environment friendly, sustainability, one helps
the population by visiting the area as a tourist
, social responsibility, development assistance - Communication media
- Masculine media that show achievement (glossy
magazines) - Feminine simple environment friendly media
31Collectivism versus Individualism
-
- Individualism
- Ties between individuals are loose everyone is
expected to look after him- or herself and his or
her immediate family - Collectivism
- People are from birth onward integrated into
strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout
peoples lifetime, continue to protect then in
exchange for unquestioning loyalty
32Collectivism versus individualism and attracting
tourists
- Content
- Collectivistic to have a holiday with the whole
(extended) family and the possibility to travel
in groups - Individualistic individual activities that are
tailor made to the individual desires - Communication media
- Collectivistic more reliance on family/ friends
or company colleagues for travel information - Individualistic more reliance on the internet
- Form of the communication
- Collectivistic high context, indirect, flowery
style, metaphors, narratives - Individualistic low context, direct, facts and
figures
33Power distance
-
- The extent to which the less powerful members of
institutions and organizations within a country
expect and accept that power is distributed
unequally
34Power distance and attracting tourists
- Content
- High power distance highest quality and service,
you will be treated as a queen, well known
destinations (Montreux!), the most important,
powerful and famous people of the world were here
too. - Low power distance population of the area is
easily approachable - Communication media
- High power distance glossy, luxurious brochures
- Low power distance internet
- Form of the communication
- High power distance show respect to elderly and
people with power - Low power distance you will be one of us
35Past, present, future orientation
-
- People differ in the way they think about the
past, present and future, which of the three is
most important and how they are related
36Past, present, future orientation in a number of
countries
37Past, present, future orientation and attracting
tourists
- Content
- Past history, historical monuments, archeology,
glorious past - Present modern buildings, modern life, hic et
nunc mentality, innovations
38Polychrony and monochrony
- In monochronic cultures time is sequentially
ordered, one prefers to do one thing at the same
time and one does not like to change schedules
that are settled - In polychronic cultures one likes to do several
things simultaneously and schedules are not
important and can be changed easily
39Polychrony and monochrony and attracting tourists
- Content
- Polychronic appointments can be changed easily
and time is flexible - Monochronic everything will be organized in the
way that is announced before, in time, there will
be no changes in schedules - Communication media
- Polychronic many different media and information
about an area has not to be univocal - Monochronic univocal, same information
everywhere - Form of the communication
- Polychronic communication way be woolly
- Monochronic facts and figures, direct, logically
structured, sound communication
4016 values anno 2012 and the six basic values of
(Kluckhohn Strodtbeck 1961)
- 1. Human nature
- 2. Underlying motives for acting
- Indulgence-Restraint (Hofstede)
- Uncertainty Avoidance (Hofstede)
- Masculinity-Feminity (Hofstede)
- 3. Human Relations
- Collectivism-Individualism (Hofstede)
- Power distance (Hofstede)
- Particularism-Universalism (Trompenaars)
- Achieved-scribed status (Trompenaars)
- Neutral-Affective (Trompenaars)
- 4. Time
- Past, present, future (Trompenaars)
- Polychrony-monochrony (Hall)
- Confucian Dynamism (Hofstede)
40
41Communication style
42The Context theory of Edward T. Hall
- Cultures differ in the extent to which they use
context and situation for the interpretation of a
message -
- In high-context cultures, most of the meaning of
a message is deduced from the context in which
the words occur, for example non-verbal
communication, and the setting of the
communication -
- In low-context cultures, the meaning of a
message is primarily deduced from the words
43Context and attracting tourists
- Form of the communication
- High context implicit, indirect, flowery,
narrative, poetry-like, non-verbal - Low context explicit, direct, to the point, no
waste of words - Communication media
- High context media with a high information
richness ( face-to-face communication, travel
agencies) - Low context media with a low information
richness (travel guides, e-mail, letter, text
message, twitter )
44Implications for tourist marketers
- Determine target markets
- Adapt the communication about a tourist
destination to the communicative conventions of
the culture of the target group regarding - content (text ánd pictures),
- communicaiton media used to convey the message
- form of the message
- This implies market segmentation and different
marketing approaches for different target groups
(Reisinger and Turner 2002, Frias et al 2011) - Suggestion web sites tailor made for each
target group. Just as tourist areas have web
sites in different language they could have web
sites for different cultures (reduction of costs
by asking students from the target group cultures
to help with content and design)
45Consequences for education of tourist marketers
- Future tourist managers should have knowledge
about the cultural background of their customers
(Tsang and al 2007).
46- More information M.Gerritsen_at_let.ru.nl