Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
work and reduce social desirability bias. Informants were guaranteed confi dentiality in all aspects
of discussion and trust was generated by both researchers having personal experience of seasonal
work in ski areas. Both researchers also spent time in the ski area before data collection
commenced to observe interactions between workers and become a familiar sight to potential
informants, thus reducing barriers and assisting with open and honest discussion.
Data was collected six weeks after the start of the season to allow an understanding of working
at Cardrona to be established within informants. An open ended questioning technique was
used; informants were encouraged to tell their story of how they fi rst came across the name
Cardrona and their unfolding experience and interactions. In depth probing was utilized to
explore emerging perspective on the relationship they had with the destination of Cardrona
and associated meanings thus allowing naturalistic data to emerge without prompting, giving
trustworthiness to the resultant following themes. The 15 informants were selected to represent
a range of departments and experiences (some returning workers, other fi rst timers); the ages
within this sample ranged from 21 to 48 years.
Content analysis is an appropriate tool for this research, as it is a method used to systematically
evaluate the symbolic content of all forms of recorded communications (including interviews).
Braun and Clarke's (2006) process of performing a thematic content analysis was applied to
the interview transcripts, through analysis of whole texts. The method of emergent coding was
appropriate given the exploratory nature of the research problem. The themes are produced
inductively and not restricted to pre-determined codes (Creswell 2003), hence providing a
consistent and insightful interpretation of the data. The coding protocol used was a combination
of Thomas' (2006) general inductive coding approach, which is well regarded for similar social
science research, and Mayring's (2000) six step model of category development. Following the
coding, a thorough reading of the text with the research direction in mind was undertaken
(Mayring 2000; Thomas 2006). Through this process of analysis, many rich and interesting
themes emerged that related to brand culture. Specifi c and defi ned themes emerged which were
applied consistently throughout the different documents (transcripts, notes etc.), in order to
create congruency of themes and codes. Peer coding was also utilized to ensure trustworthiness
of the themes emerging from analysis to support coder reliability. Through these processes the
following fi ndings emerged and are subsequently explained.
Findings and discussion
The desired brand culture of Cardrona as described by Nadia Ellis, Cardrona's marketing manager
was 'family friendly and fun'. She develops her description of the brand culture in relation to
Cardrona's competition, one ski area is much steeper and more extreme, another is very racing
orientated and effi cient thus Cardrona occupies a middle ground of easy family orientated
terrain and staffed by happy and welcoming staff. When asked to describe the culture of Cardona
every single informant used the words 'family orientated and friendly'. Clearly the staff have
a similar understanding of the core elements of Cardona's brand culture as desired by the
management team. The literature describes brand culture as being dialectically constructed
through an iterative and continuous action, hence even though the management and staff may
hold similar views on Cardrona's brand culture, this does not mean that there is agreement on
how that culture is created and maintained. One informant expresses his understanding of the
Cardrona brand culture thus,
We want them (the customers) to come back, they're on holiday, they pay a shit load of cash.
So I personally think that the culture here is giving people the best experience that they
