Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
at pre-consumption, consumption and post-consumption stages. Tourism authorities must
develop strategies to positively infl uence the infl uence of social media on this brand experience,
at each stage. At the
pre
-
consumption stage
, social media provides a fi rst exposure to the tourism
brand experience through UGC. Therefore, it is important that tourists are encouraged to
upload to content sharing sites such as YouTube, and also to fi rm/destination sponsored social
networking sites.Virtual tourism communities such as TripAdvisor are enormously infl uential in
representing the fi rst exposure to the tourism fi rm brand experience for the consumer. The most
effective way for the hotel or other tourism fi rm to get positive reviews on TripAdvisor is
through service quality. Consistency between employee and customer understanding of the
service brand, and commitment by managers to employee development is critical (De Chernatony
and Segal-Horn 2003) as employees are at the critical interface with the customer, and it is vital
to remember the critical role of tourism employees in driving positive eWOM.
DMOs and tourism entrepreneurs must facilitate the development of online communities
through engaging with tourists on online blogs, discussion groups and social network groups,
and incentivizing tourist participation - as these are seen to be critical in the consumer co-
creation of the brand (Muniz and O'Guinn 2001; Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2004). The websites
of the tourism fi rm and the DMO are also important in allowing the tourist to embrace the
brand experience, particularly if enhanced by features such as a virtual tour (Hyun and Cai 2009).
The Internet presents the opportunity to present customized multi-component offerings to the
tourist (Buhalis 2011). Employing rich multimedia in the fi rm or destination website can create
a 'telepresence' for the tourist, and this can simulate the experience of interaction with tourism
products and destinations (Buhalis and Law 2008). Intermediary websites (such as Expedia) are
increasingly dominant as aggregators and portals, and so DMOs and tourism fi rms need to be
very conscious of the effi cacy of their own corporate web presence. Similarly, at the
consumption
stage
, when tourists are actively engaging with the physical brand experience, it can be of benefi t
to encourage them to upload content, which shows how they are enjoying the experience.
Tourism communities offer the potential for tourism fi rms to better understand the needs
and the motivations of tourists, therefore informing more consumer focused marketing (Buhalis
and Law 2008). As yet, tourism fi rms and DMOs have been slow to engage with this potential
(Hyun and Cai 2009). This is important because the visitor may have a vertical relationship, e.g.
not being loyal to an airline, but staying true to the destination (McKercher
et al
. 2011). Timing
is also important for tourists contributing to online communities such as TripAdvisor - if the
experience is good, tourists should be encouraged to share this knowledge through a community
or social network, or blog - at the point of consumption. Virtual reality also can enhance the
tourist brand experience consumption, particularly in education and heritage sites (Guttentag
2010).
In the
post
-
consumption stage
, the tourism brand experience lives on through the sharing of
text, videos, images and other content by tourists in social media. Again, DMOs and tourism
fi rms can infl uence this process by encouraging tourists to disseminate, and by promoting
corporate sponsored social networking sites and blogs where customers can continue to engage
with the brand through interaction with other tourists, and the fi rm. The ability to integrate
positive eWOM with online advertising, particularly on third party managed sites, is also likely
to have a signifi cant positive impact for the fi rm (Jones
et al
. 2009). There is a substantial benefi t
to the tourism fi rm and to the DMO in harnessing the information available on the Internet
from tourist enquiries, and the online chatter and comment in a multitude of Internet chatrooms
and communities, to provide valuable market data (see Buhalis 2011). These market insights can
be of immense value in informing modifi cation and redesign of the tourism offering, and helping
to ensure that the tourism brand experience is compelling for the visitor.
