The Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management University of Helwan El Manial Street

Dr. Daniel R. Fesenmaier Director, National Laboratory for Tourism & eCommerce Temple University Dr. Wesal Abu Alam The Faculty of Tourism & Hotel Management University of Helwan Dr. Dohaa Mahmood Dean, The Faculty of Tourism & Hotel Management University of Helwan Dr. Amr Salama Chairman University of Helwan

Ph D Workshop January 25, 2004 8:30 – 18:00 The Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management University of Helwan El Manial Street (Next to Cairo Meridian Hotel) PhD Workshop Schedule ENTER2004 Cairo, Egypt January 25, 2004 8:30 – 18:00 The Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management University of Helwan El Manial Street (Next to Cairo Meridian Hotel) 8:30 – 9:00 Registration – coffee 9:00 – 9:45 Welcome and Introduction to Workshop Dr Daniel R Fesenmaier Director, National Laboratory for Tourism & eCommerce Temple University Dr Wesal Abu Alam The Faculty of Tourism & Hotel Management University of Helwan International Federation for Information Technology and Tourism (IFITT) Dr Dohaa Mahmood Dean, The Faculty of Tourism & Hotel Management University of Helwan 9:45 – 10:15 10:15 – 10:45 The Faculty of Tourism & Hotel Management University of Helwan 10:45 – 11:15 11:15 – 12:00 National Laboratory for Tourism & eCommerce Temple University 12:00 – 13:00 Dr Amr Salama Chairman University of Helwan Setting the stage: Graduate research in IT Keynote Speaker: Dr Andrew J Frew Professor/Chair of IT and Tourism Director, SITI, Faculty of Business and Arts Queen Margaret University College The Application of IT on Tourism in Egypt Keynote Speaker: Dr Raafat Radwan Chairman, IDSC Cabinet of Ministers Gen Secretary of the Arab Information Technology Union IT and the Egyptian Tourism Product Keynote Speaker: Dr Fathy Sleh Director, Center for Documentations of Culture & Natural Heritage Cabinet of Ministers Professor of Engineering, The University of Cairo Future of IT: Areas for Research Keynote Speaker: Dr Hannes Werthner Former President International Foundation for IT & Tourism Director, E-Commerce and Tourism Research Lab, ITC/irst Founder/President, EC3 – E-commerce Competence Center Lunch Break Match meetings between graduate students and IT companies 13:00 – 17:00 Break-out groups 17:00 – 18:00 Discussion of Learnings: General Group Discussion 19:00 - Informal discussions List of Proposals An Investigation of On-line Customer Perceived Value in Relationto Purchasing a Tourism Product The Co-alignment Model for the Implementation of a Strategic Information Systems – A Case Study of Virginia Beach .6 Effects of Mobile Information Provision on Tourist Experiences in Natural Parks 10 Operation and IT Service Management of a DMO’s Market Intelligence Tool 20 Assessing the Internet Marketing Strategies of Multiunit Hotels in the UK 22 Semantic Web Based Tourism Harmonisation Framework Towards an Interoperable e-Tourism Market 29 The Relationship Between Service Quality and Routinisation or Work: Communicating Specifications for Tourism Product Delivery to Personnel via Occupational Standards .33 An Investigation into Tourism Destination Image: Consumer Decision Making in Virtual and Physical Spaces 36 Persuasion vs Personalization: Preference Elicitation Processes in Destination Recommendation Systems 45 Customers’ Perceptions of Online Internet Reservation Systems 52 The Impact of Virtualised Destination Images on Online Backpacker’s Travel Destination Choice: A quantitative investigation 56 Disparities in the Adoption of Electronic Distribution Strategies by UK’s Independent Hotels in relation to its Domestic Versus Overseas Guest Ratios .64 Interactivity and Decision Making for On-Tour Travel Recommender Systems .68 Adoption and Beyond: Profiling Potential Adopters and Non-adopters Using Domain Specific Innovativeness to Identify Internet Usage among Tourists to New Zealand .74 Reference Data Model for Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) 78 Software Engineering for Destination Marketing Organizations 82 Tourist Information Processes 84 Satisfaction in Mobile Context-Aware Information Services: the Case of the Tourism Industry 89 Distinction and lookalikes: The Search for Distinctiveness and the Construction of Regional Identity: A Web Based Approach Applied to the Tourism Destination Marketing of Zeeland, the Netherlands .94 An Investigation of On-line Customer Perceived Value in Relationto Purchasing a Tourism Product Connie Chang Warwick Business School, UK Introduction In recent years customer perceived value has become a major focus among marketing and strategy researchers as a prerequisite to retain customers and obtain superior organisational performance (Drucker, 1985; Porter, 1985, 1998, 2001; Slater and Narver, 1998) According to Marcussen (1999), travel related sales on the Internet in Western Europe are set to rise from about $250 million in 1998 to about $4 billion in 2003 Tourism is thought to be among the largest industries in the electronic marketplace, owing to the intangible and digital nature of the distribution channels for tourism products Surveys (Weeks and Crouch, 1999) have shown that travel products are among the most popular products to buy on-line Furthermore, business engaged in selling in the electronic marketplace is forecasted to experience benefits, such as new markets and reduced costs (Strader and Shaw, 1997; Wan, 2002) To attract customers to the electronic marketplace, tourism business websites have to offer convenience and focus on valueadded services that create customer perceived value II Research Objectives To investigate the attributes driving customers’ purchasing decisions and also whether the tourism industry delivered on its promises; To identify which attributes driving customer value at the point of purchase and specify similarities and differences among the key market segments; and, To provide ways to retain customers and promote customer loyalty in electronic marketplace III Research Question Customer perceived value is a focal construct in marketing and is often described as a key determinant of sustainable competitive advantage and superior organisational performance To attract customers to the electronic marketplace, the tourism industries will have to offer convenient and value-added services, which create the customers perceived values VI Research Hypotheses There is no statistically significant differences between online customers make their purchase decisions in terms of using internet as an information search tool; There is no statistically significant differences between online customers make their purchase decisions in terms of using internet at the problem defined stage; There is no statistically significant differences between online customers make their purchase decisions in terms of using internet at the evaluation stage; There is no statistically significant differences between online customers make their purchase decisions in terms of using internet at the searching for alternatives stage; There is no statistically significant differences between online customers make their purchase decisions in terms of using internet at the post-purchase stage; and, There is no statistically significant difference between online customers perceived value at the point of purchase a tourism product V Methodology This project will apply: (1) a secondary review of the literature in marketing and related disciplines, identification of particular positive aspects of the tourism industry noticed by the guests as visible sources of customer value; (2) qualitative research (a discussion of these points in relation to the business strategies stated in the managers’ interviews as the primary reasons for their success) in order to develop hypotheses related to creating online customers’ perceived value; and (3) quantitative research (scale development, data collection) to test these hypotheses Data Collection Content Analysis To identify tourism business websites, a content analysis is undertaken to study the amount of on-line reservation services and on-line value-added services offered on the websites of various tourism business would provide the vital data needed for an effective and accurate conclusion Content analysis is often defined as “any technique for making inferences by systematically and objectively identifying specified characteristics of the message” (Holsti, 1969, p.601) According to Nachmias and Nachmias (2000), objectivity means that the analysis is undertaken on the basis of explicit rules that make it possible for various researchers to obtain the same results when analysing the same object Content analysis is commonly used to study the characteristics of various forms of communication Websites typically communicate text and pictures about various products or businesses Content analysis, therefore, should be a reliable methodology for studying the content of websites on the Internet On-line Customer A mailing list of customers is acquired from a list of postcodes provided by the post office that secures the names and addresses of customers residing in Greater London area A computer generated, random sample of appropriate number of samples is drawn from the population and the self-administered questionnaire is mailed to the sample It is taken to assure that the sample proportionately represented all areas of Greater London by comparing sampled postcodes and area-wide postcodes The initial mailing of the questionnaire is followed with two subsequent mailings to insure a greater response rate According to Dillman’s (1978) method, a reminder postcard is mailed one week after the initial mailing Two weeks after the initial mailing, a follow-up letter and an additional copy of the questionnaire is mailed to the non-respondents IV Expected Results The result of this research could provide the tourism Industries with strategies with which they can build well constructed and effective website In addition to theories, testing the research findings will be useful to managers for undertaking change efforts directed at creating superior value for online customers This will, in turn, enable the achievement of superior organisational performance relative to competitors through higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty References Dillman, D A (1978) Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method, New York, New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc Drucker, P F (1985) Innovation and Entrepreneurship, New York, Harper and Row Holsti, O R (1969) Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities, Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley Marcussen, C H (1999) Internet Distribution of European Travel and Tourism Services, The Market, Transportation, Accommodation and Package Tour, Research Centre of Bornholm, August Marcussen, C H (1999) The Effect of Internet Distribution of Travel and Tourism Services on the Marketing Mix: No-Frills, Fair Fares, and Fare Wars in the Air, Information Technology and Tourism, 2, pp.197-212 Nachmias, Frankort C and Nachmias, D (2000) Research Methods in the Social Sciences, 6th ed, New York, St Martin’s Press Porter, Michael E (1985) Competitive Advantage, New York, Free Press Porter, Michael E (1998) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, New York, Free Press Porter, Michael E (2001) Strategy and the Internet, Harvard Business Review, March, pp 63-78 Strader, T J and Shaw, M J (1997) Characteristics of Electronic Markets, Decision Support Systems, 21, pp.185-198 Wan, C S (2002) The Web Sites of International Tourist Hotel and Tour Wholesalers in Taiwan, Tourism Management, 23 (2002), pp.155-160 Weeks, P and Crouch, I (1999) Sites for Score Eyes: An Analysis of Australian Tourism and Hospitality Web Sites, Information Technology and Tourism, 2, pp.53-172 The Co-alignment Model for the Implementation of a Strategic Information Systems – A Case Study of Virginia Beach David Yao-Jen Chang Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the United States I Introduction and Research Objectives The city of Virginia Beach is the most populous city in the Commonwealth County of the state of Virginia and the 38th largest in the United States With more than 11,000 hotel rooms and a temperate year-round climate, this popular seaside resort is an ideal meeting destination any time of the year It’s easy to mix business with pleasure in Virginia Beach However, the tourism structure is changing under the forces driving change in information distribution and e-commerce, which in turn is also changing the competition and makes the environment more dynamic and complex To meet the challenges of the change, Virginia Beach has been utilizing the co-alignment model (Olsen et al., 1998) to formulate its strategic plans The co-alignment model is a strategy model that allows an organization to conceptualize its relationship with the environment in which it operates in a systematic and logical manner The model entitles a destination management organization (DMO) to cope with the difficulties posted by the environmental information The integration of information technology (IT) into the organizational fabric of the tourist destination management thus becomes an important key to success The research proposes an integration model that attempts to synthesize the co-alignment model and information systems (IS) to meet the future challenges and aid a DMO in formulating and implementing the effective strategic plans The synthesis of the co-alignment model and IS can help develop and maintain an organization’s core competencies and further claims IT’s strategic role in the strategy formulation process The research argues that such integration perhaps is the best solution for a DMO to develop and promote its destination effectively and successfully in today’s highly dynamic, complex, and competitive environment The primary objectives of the present study are as follows: Building an IS to manifest the constructs of the co-alignment model; Synthesizing the co-alignment model and IS implementation to develop and maintain core competencies for the tourist destination management; Utilizing the IS to enhance the information flows in the co-alignment model and further claiming the IT’s strategic role in the strategy formulation process; Utilizing the IS to manage and control the information accurately and effectively for decision making process as well as to develop and accumulate the organization’s resources and capabilities; and, Addressing the challenges for a strategic IT planning and implementation II Problem Definition and Research Questions Environmental information is a very important issue commonly recognized in the literature of the strategic management and tourism With the rapid innovation of IT, the form of digital information has made the environment more complex than ever While synthesizing IS with the co-alignment model, specific emphasis was placed on the information flows amongst the constructs of the co-alignment model The well control or management of the information flows can help an organization recognize the causal relationships of the forces driving change in the external environment, the drivers making up each force, and the competitive methods selected by the DMO as the strategic choices The synthesis is expected to help the DMO formulate better strategic plans to compete in the complex and turbulent environment The problems are reflected on the four research questions raised in the study: What is the IS’s strategic role in the development of a tourist destination? Can we construct an IS that synthesizes the concepts of the co-alignment model? i.e., Can we use the IT applications to obtain a more reliable result for the strategic planning that is based on the co-alignment model? How does the management develop core competencies by utilizing the co-alignment model and IT applications to further sustain competitive advantage? What are the challenges of developing and implementing a strategic IS? III Research Propositions The literature review supports the idea of co-alignment for strategy formulation The coalignment model was selected as the framework to construct an IS because the model suggests that a well alignment of its four constructs can ensure the value adding process and thus improve the management and development of the destination When the value adding process is managed, the destination image can be sustained and the risk of investment return can be minimized Constructing an IS within the context of the co-alignment principle can be in aid of processing environmental information and of achieving the competitive advantage To answer the research questions above, the following are the propositions of the study: If the IS can process and store the tourist’s information, THEN the DMO can development and promote the destination accurately; If the IS can process and store the supplier’s information, THEN the DMO can development and promote the destination accurately; The IS is capable of increasing the understanding of the relationships among the forces driving change and value drivers derived from the co-alignment model; Synthesizing the IS with the co-alignment model will develop and accumulate an organization’s competencies; If the environmental information are processed and stored in the IS, THEN the management can implement the co-alignment model to formulate strategies in the most effective way; The IS is capable of collecting and synthesizing the relative information and of reliably producing the usable information as reports for destination management and development; and, If the synthesis of the co-alignment model and IS can help promote the success of a tourist destination management, THEN the strategic role of the IT application can be discovered The IS plays an intermediate role in the research model to deal with the complex environmental information that starts the strategy formulation (i.e., the co-alignment) process It deals with the environmental information directly and converts them into usable information for management VI Research Methodology Given that the research questions, which are trying to answer the “why” and “how” for an observed phenomenon, the case study research method was employed in this study Of course, the case study method is also justified on the basis of the type of research question, the control an investigator has over actual behavioral events, and the focus on contemporary versus historical phenomenon There are three types of data were collected for the case study methodology in the study The first types of data are the current documentation of the Virginia Beach and the studies and findings in the information management field The second types are the information of the forces driving change and value drivers identified from the environmental scanning conducted by the management (e.g., the managers or the boundary spanners of the organization) The third types of data are the competitive methods The workshop was designed for this purpose in order to induce the participants to formulate the competitive methods within the framework of the coalignment model The first type of data is secondary data but the collections of the last two types of data are very conceptual and require one’s cognitive and reasoning skills Thus, in the justification of the complexity of the environmental issues, the means for collecting information is via communication established between the researcher and the objects Therefore the use of workshop would be effective for the data collection because it provides an opportunity for the management to understand the concepts of the co-alignment model and leads to identify the forces driving change in the near future of tourism In the designing two-day visioning strategic workshop, the participants functioned in a nominal group setting led by facilitators to begin the first step in developing a strategic plan for the local tourism management office Such a strategic plan was aiming at laying out objectives that help build a vibrant community that benefits from the impacts of tourism and meets the needs of investors seeking to invest in the growth of the area The data collected will be entered, analyzed, reorganized, and stored in the designing IS for the management’s further interpretation to meet the needs of various types of users, such as managers, tourists, suppliers, investors, regulators, etc The data stored and produced by the IS would permit the researcher to ensure the reliability and validity of the information and can be replicated for further research Furthermore, the success of the strategic IS implementation would aid the criterion validity including the predictive validity and concurrent validity in the near future V Expected Results The research is conducted primarily on the basis of the knowledge in the strategic management and computer science The IS design is feasible and the implementation of the study would result in achieving and sustaining competitive advantage for an organization The benefit is twofold and seen internally and externally Externally, for example, the benefits are creation of distribution channels, creation of products and/or services, creation of industry leader, and creation of barriers to enter Internally, for example, the organization will obtain the benefits on the creation of information, creation of a knowledge network, operational advantage, improvement of induction and deduction reasoning, and creation of value-adding managers for future value-adding projects Since the IS will be working on the algorithms provided by the co-alignment model, their synthesis will reach a coordination strategy framework for DMOs The coordination framework deals with the environmental information directly and converts them into usable information for management By integrating the co-alignment model and IS, the research would provide significant evidence for the implementation of information technology (IT) in the field of the strategic management in the hospitality and tourism discipline and thus manifest IT’s strategic role in the information era References Baets, R J (1996) Some empirical evidence on IS strategy alignment in Banking, Information and Management, 30, pp 155-177 Benbasat, Izak, Goldstein, David K & Mead, Melissa (1987, September) The case research strategy in studies of information systems MIS Quarterly, 11(3), pp 369-386 Boynton, A C., Zmud, R W & Jacobs, G C (1994) The influence of IT management practice on IT use in large organizations MIS Quarterly, 18(3), pp 299-306 Brown, R.M., Gatian, W & Hicks, J.O (1995) Strategic information systems and financial performance Journal of MIS, 11(4), pp 215-248 Cathoth, P.K (2002) Co-alignment between Environment Risks, Corporate Strategy, Capital Structure, and Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation of Restaurant Firms Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia Cho, W (1996) A case study: creating and sustaining competitive advantage through an informational technology application in the lodging industry Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia Fodness, D & Murray, B (1997) Tourist information search Annals of Tourism Research, 24(3), pp 503-523 Ives, B & Learmonth, G P (December 1984) The information system as a competitive weapon Communications of the ACM 27, pp 1193-1204 King, W & Teo, T (1997) Integrating between business planning and information systems planning: validating a stage hypothesis Decision Sciences, 28(2), pp 279-308 Laws, E (1995) Tourist Destination Management, London, England: Routledge Mata, F.J., Fuerst, W.L & Barney, J.B (1995) Information technology and sustained competitive advantage: a resource-based analysis MIS Quarterly, 19(December), pp 487-505 Olsen M.D.,West, J & Tse, E.C (1998) Strategic Management in the Hospitality Industry, 2nd ed New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc Segars, A H & Grover, V (1998) Strategic information systems planning success: an investigation of the construct and its measurement MIS Quarterly, 22(June), pp 139-163 Sheldon, P.J (1997) The tourism information technology Wallingford, Oxon, U.K.: CAB International Stabler, M.J (1990) The image of destination regions: Theoretical and empirical aspects in B Goodall and G Ashworth (Eds.) Marketing in the Tourism Industry: The Promotion of Destination Regions London: Routledge Taylor, M.H (2002) A Test of the Co-alignment Principle in Independent Hotels: A Case Study Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia Uysal, M., Chen, J.S., & Williams, D.R (2000) Increasing state market share through a regional positing Tourism Management, 21, pp 89-96 Werthner, H & Klein, S (1999) Information Technology and Tourism – A Challenging Relationship New York, NY: Springer-Verlag Wien Yin, R K (1994) Case study research: Design and methods Newbury Park, CA:Sage Publications I have chosen to use three methodological approaches which will each bring answers to parts of the total problem Firstly, we performed 180 IDM-experiments with 63 test-persons (completed) The aim of this phase was to show which information content is being used in specific choice tasks The software to perform the experiments has been self-developed11 Second, telephone interviews have been conducted in Germany (n = 362, completed) aiming at testing the model hypotheses on a quantitative basis and focussing on usage of information sources, the perceived helpfulness of information, the contents of information search on different sources, the involvement level and a number of other operationalisations used for model testing Some of the hypotheses will also be tested in a bigger sample (n = 8.000 face-to-face interviews, January 200112) The third phase, to be performed in November / December 2003, is focussing on the influence of information media, specifically the differences in information presentation between a travel brochure and a website This experimental phase will be conducted with the help of an eye movement camera and a corresponding analysis-software and will include at last 15 test persons Data analysis is being done with standard software systems like WinCross, SPSS and INTERACT and employs analysis strategies suitable for the respective problem situation: Anova, factor, cluster and multiple regression analysis are the most frequently used procedures within this research VI Expected Results Some of the results have already been produced, some others are still in the data analysis phase According to the results, the proposed model will be either supported or rejected (or maybe only parts of the model will be supported and some others rejected) The information field will be described and will save as a basis for hypotheses testing in future research Finally, the hypotheses in the inter-media comparison will be tested and achieving more results on the influence of communication media in tourist information processes (which might be of value for tourism practicioners) 11 12 IDM Visual Procssor 1.02, see http://www.dirk-schmuecker.de/idm subject to permission from data owner 86 References Baloglu, S (2000) A Path-Analytical Model of Visitation Intention Involving Information Sources, Socio-Psychological Motivation and Destination Images In: Woodside, G.A et al (Eds.): Consumer Psychology of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Wallingford, New York pp 63-90 Braun, O & M Lohmann (1989) Die Reiseentscheidung Starnberg Calder, B.J & A.M Tybout (1987) What Concumer Research is Journal of Consumer Research, Vol 14, June 1987, pp 136-140 Chalmers, A.F (1999) What is this Thing Called Science? 3rd ed.; Buckingham Crompton, J.L (1992) Structure of Vacation Destination Choice Sets Annals of Tourism Research, 19 (3), pp 420-434 Datzer, R (1983) Informationsverhalten von Urlaubsreisenden Ansatz des verhaltenswissenschaftlichen Marketing Starnberg DIVO Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Sozialforschung und angewandte Mathematik (1962) Die Reise im Vorstellungsbild und in den Erwartungen des Touristen Frankfurt/Main (unpublished) Fodness, D & B Murray (1999) A Model of Tourist Information Search Behavior Journal of Travel Research, 37 (Feb), pp 220-230 Francken, D.A (1978) Het Vakantie-besluitvormingsproces Breda: Netherlands Research Institute for Tourism and Recreation, 1978 (model published in W.F van Raaij & D.A Francken: Vacation Decisions, Activities, and Satisfactions Annals of Tourismus Research, Vol 11, 1984, pp 101-112) Goodall, B (1988) How Tourists Choose Their Holidays In: B Goodall & G Ashworth (Eds.): Marketing in the Tourism Industry London, pp 1-17 Hahn, H & K.D Hartmann (1973) Reiseinformation, Reiseentscheidung, Reisevorbereitung: Einige Ergebnisse der psychologischen Tourismusforschung Starnberg Hartmann, K.D (1973) Die Bedeutung verschiedener Informationsquellen für Orientierung und den Kaufentscheid am Beispiel von Urlaubsreisen In: ZV+ZV - das Organ für Presse und Werbung Nr Pp 42-43, 1973 Jeng, J & D.R Fesenmaier (2002) Conceptualizing the Travel Decision-Making Hierarchy: A Review of Recent Developments Tourism Analysis, 7, pp.15-32 Mathieson, A & G Wall (1982) Tourism: Economic, Physical and Sociyl Impact London Mayo, E.J & L.P Jarvis (1981) The Psychology of Leisure Travel: Effective Marketing and Selling of Travel Services Boston MA Mill, R.C & A.M Morrison (1985) The Tourism System: An Introductory Text 3rd ed., Englewood Cliffs, NJ Moscardo, G et al (1996) Understanding Vacation Destination Choice Through Travel Motivation and Activities Journal of Vacation Marketing, (2) pp 109-122 Moutinho, L (1987) Consumer Behavior in Tourism European Journal of Marketing, 21 (10), pp 3-44 Pikkemaat, B (2002) Informationsverhalten in komplexen Entscheidungssituationen: dargestellt am Beispiel der Reiseentscheidung Frankfurt/Main Popper, K.R (1935) Die Logik der Forschung Vienna Schmoll, G.A (1977) Tourism Promotion London Wahab, S., L.J Crompton & L.M Rothfield (1976) Tourism Marketing London Woodside, A.G & C Dubbelaar (2002) A General Theory of Tourism Consumption Systems: A Conceptual Framework and an Empirical Exploration Journal of Travel Research, 41 (2), pp 120-132 Woodside, A.G & S Lysonski (1989) A General Model of Traveler Destination Choice 87 Journal of Travel Research, 27 (4), pp 8-14 88 Satisfaction in Mobile Context-Aware Information Services: the Case of the Tourism Industry Argirios Tsamakos George Giaglis Department of Management Science and Technology Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece I Introduction The proposed PhD thesis aims to investigate the Mobile Context-Aware Information Services effects on user’s satisfaction and develop a corresponding model The tourism industry was selected as the application area of the present study, since it highly meets the requirements derived through the specification of the investigated dimensions II Problem Definition During the last decade, mobile communications experienced tremendous growth, resulting in most of the population in Europe nowadays, carrying a mobile communication device Mobile network operators have realized that voice services, which initially were the primary source of revenue, have become saturated, and profit margins have started to decline Therefore, new value adding services are required to generate additional revenue, especially given the huge investments made on 3G licences (Panis et al 2002) The opportunity that arose with the introduction of 2.5G and 3G mobile networks enabled new services to be developed New network capabilities like “always-on” connection, higher data-transfer speed, positioning techniques, and multimedia support, provided the basis for numerous new products and services to be developed Among the most promising ones are context-aware services (CAS)(Durlacher 2001) During the past few years several definitions of context have been proposed, mainly originating from the field of ubiquitous computing (Hightower & Borriello 2001; Schilit, Adams & Want 1994; Pascoe 1998) For the purposes of this study we will follow (Dey 2001), who describes context as “any information that can be used to characterize the situation of an entity, where an entity is a person, place, or object that is considered relevant to the interaction between a user and an application, including the user and applications themselves” (Dey 2001,p.5) Consequently a system is defined as context-aware if it uses context to provide relevant information and/or services to the user, where relevancy depends on the user’s task (Dey 2001) In our case, information relating to context may be location, time, profile or other This information can be used to provide to the user personalized, interesting and relevant information during the user’s activities like for example during a sight seeing tour, a walk around an old city and so on On the other hand, customer satisfaction has always been the “golden chalice” for marketing, and many research efforts have developed a clear view of satisfaction in the traditional environment in various contexts, both in terms of academic and industrial research However, only during the past few years, research has been directed towards understanding e-satisfaction and the way it is differentiated in the new “digital” environment as compared to the traditional “brick-and-mortar” context (Anderson & Srinivasan 2003; Mills & Morrison 2003; Szymanski & Hise 2000) Meanwhile, technology keeps driving forward mobile communications: a medium highly personalized, ubiquitous and convenient, which has already been integrated in people’s everyday life Despite these challenging evolutions, no research has been conducted until now to assess the 89 factors influencing m-satisfaction i.e satisfaction in the context of mobile services On the contrary, the available research insights in the B2C mobile commerce focus on assessing technical qualities and characteristics, from and engineering point of view, rather than investigating consumer behavioral attributes and influences, from a Marketing/Human Computer Interaction (HCI) point of view To that end, the current study adopts a hybrid multidisciplinary research approach by combining Marketing and HCI literature towards assessing how satisfaction and interaction experience evolve in the “mobile” era and correspondingly develop robust m-satisfaction measurement instruments In the marketing literature there have been two basic approaches of satisfaction: satisfaction as a process and satisfaction as an outcome (Oliver 1977; Oliver 1981; Olson & Dover 1979; Poisz & Von Grumbkow 1988; Rust & Oliver 1994; Spreng, MacKenzie & Olshavsky 1996; Tse & Wilton 1988; Yi 1990) However these two different views are complementary and not mutually exclusive For the purposes of this research we will follow (Oliver 1993) who views satisfaction as a process and states that satisfaction judgments are the result of customer’s perceptions of the difference between the perceptions of performance and his predictions / expectations of performance where in this case we will discuss the performance of mobile CAS This approach was selected because these services are innovative, expectations have been cultivated by network operators and service providers, and comparison will inevitably occur Given the aforementioned research challenges, tourism arises as the most suitable field for application of research and investigation relating to m-satisfactions for several reasons Firstly, tourism implies mobility by definition, and the most convenient way to get information while onthe-move is with the use of a mobile device Secondly, tourism is information intensive activity in all phases (before, during and after product/service consumption), and especially nowadays that tourist profile is changing towards more informed tourists seeking greater control and increased decision making power over their tourism activities (Werthner & Klein 1999; Buhalis 2003) Of course one can argue that the Internet can satisfy the information needs of the tourist especially during the pre- and post-travel services However, the following paradox occurs; when the tourist has vast amounts of information, these cannot be related to the surrounding environment, while when at his destination he has little or no information The situational nature of information required by tourists, renders context aware information an ideal solution to address this problem Finally since tourism is an experience good, one can assume that more and relative information to support tourism activities may have a positive impact on tourists’ overall experience and satisfaction The proposed thesis aims at developing a model to describe factors and their relationships that influence satisfaction with context aware services III Research Hypotheses In light of the major research findings discussed above, the core research objective of the present study is to investigate whether a mobile context-aware information service affects users’ interaction experience (HCI point of view) and satisfaction (Marketing point of view) Furthermore, the study aims to investigate the relationship between user satisfaction and user interaction experience in order to reveal potential meaningful relationships between the Marketing and HCI perspectives, respectively Thus, the following generic research hypotheses are being formulated: User interaction experience is affected by the use of mobile context-aware information services User satisfaction is affected by the use of mobile context-aware information services 90 User interaction experience with mobile context-aware information services affects user satisfaction with such kind of services User satisfaction with mobile context-aware information services affects user interaction experience with such kind of services VI Methodology The proposed methodology is comprised of the following steps Literature review Literature from the marketing discipline will be reviewed towards assessing satisfaction (in the traditional context) and e-satisfaction (in the e-context) as well as elaborating on the various relevant measurement models, available today Similarly, literature review in the area of HCI, is expected to reveal important aspects of satisfaction originating from the user interaction with the mobile device and service and provide relevant measurement models This process will contribute to the domain area expertise building and lead to the identification of all the potential attributes influencing m-satisfaction It should be clarified, that a common research practice in the area of e- and m-commerce is to test the established knowledge from the conventional world to the virtual one To that end, the present study aims to employ established models measuring customer/user satisfaction, adapt them to the context of the research (e.g enrich/modify their dimensions) and test them through empirical research designs (e.g field experiments/user surveys Empirical Research – Phase Personal Interviews & Focus Groups: First, interviews with service developers will be carried out, in order record the current business practice as far as mobile context-aware information services are concerned Then, focus groups among potential users of these services will be conducted These focus groups will be initially given some use-case scenarios (as derived through the personal interviews with service developers) in order to be informed about the manipulated variable (i.e the mobile context-aware information services) of the present study Then, focus groups’ participants will be invited to share their view of how they expect these services to be offered to them and what are the important aspects of these services according to their attitudes and beliefs Emphasis will be placed on identifying the attributes that affect users’ satisfaction and interaction experience when using a mobile context-aware information service As an outcome of this process, an exhaustive list with potential relevant attributes will be developed, enriching the attributes’ list as provided through the literature review discussed above Empirical Research – Phase Field Experiment: An initial survey will be carried out with trial users of a pilot system that introduces context-aware information services for exhibition visitors The list of attributes will be tested within this initial survey against real customers/users in order to derive reliable factors (i.e through factor and reliability analysis) affecting satisfaction and interaction experience in the specific research context Then, using the selected established satisfaction model(s) as described above (i.e literature review), the mobile satisfaction model (m-sat model) for the case of the present research will be formulated This model will describe the important factors affecting m-satisfaction, and the relationships among them User Survey: The final questionnaire (i.e the one including all the model’s dimensions) will be tested against visitors coming to Athens, Greece to watch the Olympic Games during August 2004 These questionnaires will be processed in cooperation with a Greek network operator, providing CAS during the Games The research hypotheses will be tested and the model will be 91 validated based on the observations provided through this experiment V Expected Results The expected outcomes of this research are summarized below: Provide findings regarding the mobile context-aware information services effects on users’ satisfaction and interaction experience Develop a model suitable for measuring users’ satisfaction and interaction experience with context-aware information services in the area of mobile commerce The m-sat model will contribute towards the “what we know now that we didn’t know before” dimension in the sense that it will provide a list of factors affecting satisfaction and interaction experience as well as their corresponding relationships To that end, the present study aims to contribute to the m-commerce theory building as well as to provide direct managerial implications to service operators and avenues for further research in the emerging business/research landscape of mobile business References Anderson, R & Srinivasan, S S (2003) E-Satisfaction and E-Loyalty: A Contingency Framework, Psychology & Marketing, 20 (2), pp 123-138 Buhalis, D (2003) eTourism, Infromation Technology for strategic tourism management, Pearson Education Limited, Essex, UK Dey, A K (2001) Understanding and Using Context, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 5, pp 4-7 Durlacher (2001) UMTS Report, An Investment Perspective, Retrieved online (Jul 30, 2002): http://www.durlacher.com Hightower, J & Borriello, G (2001) Location Systems for Ubiquitous Computing, Computer, 34 (8), pp 57-66 Mills, J E & Morrison, A M (2003) Measuring Customer Satisfaction with Online Travel, in Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2003 (ENTER 2003), eds A J Frew, M Hitz & P O'Connor, Springer Wien New York, Helsinki, pp 10-19 Oliver, R L (1977) Effects of Expectation and Disconfirmation on Post-Exposure Product Evaluations: An Alternative Interpretation, Journal of Applied Psychology, 62 (4), pp 480-486 Oliver, R L (1981) Measurement and Evaluation of Satisfaction Process in Retail Setting, Journal of Retailing, 57, pp 25-48 Oliver, R L (1993) Cognitive, Affective, and Attribute Bases of the Satisfaction Response, Journal of Consumer Research, 20 (December), pp 418-430 Olson, J C & Dover, P (1979) Disconfirmation of Consumer Expectation Through Product Trial, Journal of Applied Psychology, 64, pp 179-189 Panis, P., Morphis, N., Felt, E., Reufenheuser, B., Bohm, A., Nitz, J & Saarlo, P (2002) Mobile Commerce Service Scenarios and Related Business Models, in First International Conference on Mobile Business, ed G Doukidis, Athens, Greece Pascoe, J (1998) Adding Generic Contextual Capabilities to Wearable Computers, in The Second International Symposium on Wearable Computers, IEEE Computer Society Press, Pittsburgh, Pensylvania Poisz, T B C & Von Grumbkow, J (eds.) (1988) Economic Wellbeing, Job Satisfaction, Income Evaluation and Consumer Satisfaction: An Integrative Attempt, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands 92 Rust, R T & Oliver, R L (eds.) (1994) Service Quality Insights and Managerial Implications From The Frontier, SAGE, CA Schilit, B., Adams, N & Want, R (1994) Context-Aware Computing Application, in IEEE Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, IEEE Computer Society Press, Santa Cruz, California, pp 85-90 Spreng, R A., MacKenzie, S B & Olshavsky, R W (1996) A Reexamination of the Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction, Journal of Marketing, 60, pp 15-32 Szymanski, D M & Hise, R T (2000) e-Satisfaction: An initial examination, Journal of Retailing, 76 (3), pp 309-322 Tse, D K & Wilton, P C (1988) Models of Consumer Satisfaction: An Extension', Journal of Marketing Research, 25, pp 204-212 Werthner, H & Klein, S (1999) Information Technology and Tourism - A Challenging Relationship, Springer Verlag, Wien Yi, Y (ed.) (1990) A Critical Review of Consumer Satisfaction, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL 93 Distinction and lookalikes: The Search for Distinctiveness and the Construction of Regional Identity: A Web Based Approach Applied to the Tourism Destination Marketing of Zeeland, the Netherlands Gerard van Keken Tourist Office Zeeland, Netherlands Frank Go Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands I Introduction and Problem Definition Globalisation and intensive competition between coastal tourist destinations has led to homogenisation, standardisation and uniformity in the tourism sector and loss of distinction It’s the result of a process of copying of products, services, ideas and concepts of others: a hotelroom is often a hotelroom, a beach is just a beach and a sunny, sandy beach with palm trees is just a sunny, sandy beach with palm trees McDisneyization (Ritzer, 1998), globalization of food (Hall, 2003), fashion, music, Holiday-inn hotels Tourist product development all over the world takes comparable forms, that is why a kind of non-places start to come about (Caalders & Philipsen, 2001) What is or what are the matters, that makes an ‘audience’ able to distinguish one destination (actor) from another? Florian (2002) in ‘City branding’ formulates it as follows: Any region, which wants to remain visible in the global village will need to offer stakeholders a unique proposition The latter consists of a range of experiences, designed to distinguish one’s regional identity from rival regions Therefore, a particular region should offer preferably, authentic experiences, which are hard to copy, and attract a desirable profile of visitors Through services marketing research it has become clear that an ‘audience’ has the potential to contribute to the activities of an actor, that is to say influence the shaping of a regional identity and possibly enrich it, through their presence and behaviour’ Therefore, several salient issues can be put forward that should concern tourism destination marketing systems, which are in search for their identity, including: What is the unique proposition, experience that makes the distinction with all other regions? What are the motives, expectations and scripts of (potential) tourists to choose for a certain destination above the other and based upon what people make their choices? What is the role and function of brands in the battle between tourist destinations? How does consumer decision making happen in the internet jungle and brochure pile? Because we are living in the information age, or rather, the information ‘overload’ age, there is a premium on instruments that aid decision makers to reduce the level of complexity in the decision making process The information explosion has alerted us, that a world order dominated by words has become inadequate In a sense we have entered a new Renaissance wherein picture and word represent a blend rather than a bipolarity (van Dijck, 2002) Our lives nowadays are strongly influenced by visual images: tv, movies, photographs, internet, computer and game play consoles Within a dominantly visual culture, we assume that the application of photographs and 94 images could play a particularly, significant role to increase the effectiveness of tourism marketing Tourism marketing can only be effective if you’re working from the same starting-points The tourist product is co-produced, implies that the client, enterprises, non-profit organizations and public authorities must co-operate to render satisfying guests services One aim is to create loyal guests, who will return again Co-operation between different parties, depends on trustworthy relationships and knowledge exchange It is the foundation for a coherent marketing strategy, which should integrate the continuity of the tourist business (profit), social development of inhabitants, personnel, hosts, guests within a region (people) and sustainable economic growth (planet) Therefore, for any such strategy to be successful it is essential that the various ‘factions’ identify with the strategy and unite their efforts and allegiance with the in-group, which could take the format of a Community of Practice (CoP) under the Zeeland identity archetype (whatever that may turn out to be) Finally, destination marketing organizations (DMO) such as the Tourist Office Zeeland could play a key role to lead the ‘inclusive approach’, which demonstrates that corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices have a positive impact on business economic performance, and is not harmful to shareholder value This case study concerns the province Zeeland It is situated in the South Western part of the Netherlands and metaphorically known as a green-blue oasis in North Western Europe The province is surrounded with urban areas, including the Netherlands Randstad with a population of more than million inhabitants, Germany (the Ruhr area), Belgium, France and Great Britain The province of Zeeland used to consist of several islands, which were connected by dozens of ferries But nowadays the famous Delta works, dikes, bridges and tunnels connect the various island communities and Zeeland with the rest of the world During the last thirty years Zeeland’s tourist product has been sold in Northwestern European market as ‘sun, sea and sand’ But competition has grown and intensified, but also standardised Nowadays tourists choose more and more often for southern countries, which come with a ‘sunshine guarantee’ In the mean time Zeeland tries to position itself as being comprised of ‘more than sun, sea and sand’ However, the tourist sector of Zeeland seems unsure what exactly is meant by ‘more’ It is therefore essential to determine the essence of the regional identity, which can add brand value to Zeeland in general and its tourism sector, in particular The problem definition of this research project has been delineated as follows: “How should the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) Tourist Office Zeeland position and profile Zeeland as a regional brand identity, so that it can generate added value for its stakeholders business, trade and industry, inhabitants and tourists?” II Research objectives To develop a method for assessing a region’s identity and distinctiveness and it’s constructed derived tourist identity; Identity and distinction are concepts that are difficult to define Standardisation in tourism, which is roughly speaking copying of products, services, ideas and concepts of others, has lead to product development which is the same all over the world It has lead to ‘non places’, places that are interchangeable and don’t have their own identity (Caalders & Philipsen, 2001) The need for assessing identities and distinctiveness is therefore growing Olins (2001) says that there are threats for countries that are heavily dependent on traditional tourism Sun, sea and sand which are becoming commodities, have become items on which you can only compete for on price The 95 alternative for countries is upgrading To distinct yourself and put emphasis on your art, culture, kitchen, architecture, landscape and other unique features by refined image making As Florian (2002) puts it for a person ‘the greatest source of originality is within yourself’, this conclusion could be transferred to a region’s identity; the originality should be sought in the region itself But identity is more than just only distinction Erikson (1963: in Franzen & van den Berg, 2002) distinguishes three main components for a person’s identity which also can be applied on a brand identity: physical, mental and social components Franzen & van den Berg (2002) define brand identity as a unique composition of physical, social and mental components of a brand, as far as there’re central, sustainable and salient Physical components of a brand identity can be formed by those factors that are sensory perceptible in nature and answer to four identity criteria, namely: characteristic, distinct, sustainable and salient The mental components are composed of characteristics and values, which are the basis and express the manifestation of a brand, that is to say the corporate identity The social component includes the people who desire to create and sustain a relation with a particular brand They contribute importantly, to the brand character: the founders of a brand, management of the organization that created the brand, people who are the organisation, the users and sometimes ‘celebrities’ who are the representation of the brand Besides the distinctive features of a region, being the physical components, a brand identity is based on the mental component as well The Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) states that culture is a determining aspect of a regional identity Hofstede (2001) describes culture as a collective phenomenon, more or less shared by people living in the same social surroundings: the place where this culture is attained Shortly defined ‘culture is a mental program’ In this regard culture could be seen as the mental component of a brand identity Hofstede (2001) states that four expressions of culture can describe a culture more or less: Symbols, heroes, rituals and values The heart of a culture is formed by values Values are a collective inclination to choose a certain course of things above the other The core value(s) will make up the content of the brand ‘Zeeland’ In research objective two this will further elaborated Besides this, also the symbols, landmarks for instance and heroes of the past and present are part of a regional culture and can become an element of the tourist identity This applies also to rituals, like festivities and all the stories around it The proposed methods for assessing a region’s identity are determining the physical component and the mental component of the region The social component, people who are part of the identity, have to play an important role in telling who they are First of all, their role will be essential in assessing the regional identity and secondly, the construction of the tourist identity To assess the core value(s) that make the content of the brand ‘Zeeland’, which will be used for positioning and profiling the tourist product; In the ‘war on tourists between battling destinations’ and the power of multinationals and superbrands, a regional brand of Zeeland might be a key for surviving Because of the confusion, at the producers as well as the consumers side, Govers &Go (2003) state that ‘as a part of the reengineering process of the tourist industry, where consumers create confused destination images based on an onslaught of information from a wide variety of online as well as offline sources of varying quality, the online environment posts whole new challenges, and destination branding might just hold one of the keys to dealing with this 96 But how does a regional brand come into existence and how can be assessed which values make up the brand ‘Zeeland’? Colin&Porras (1997, in: Franzen & van den Berg, 2002) say that it’s impossible to fabricate a central ideology It has to be discovered You can’t find it out by reasoning and looking at the companies’ surroundings You get to know him by entering the company (or the region) It’s a process that looks like ‘soulsearching’ This ‘soulsearch’ can be seen as the content approach for branding But besides a content approach branding is a process approach as well Gnoth (2002) argues that branding a nation (or region) should be regarded as a process that develops and expands over time It involves the inclusion and consideration of all stakeholders throughout the lifetime of destination and brand The brand promises ‘a memorable travel experience that is uniquely associated with the destination; it also serves to consolidate and reinforce the recollection of pleasurable memories of the destination experience Branding is a managed process whereby management decides on a strategic plan to introduce and build a brand identity (Gnoth, 2002) Tourism is a co-produced product, created by several stakeholders Therefore it’s important to create insight in the values by which these stakeholders are driven: organisational values, employees values, values of the management, share holders values, social values or consumer values (Franzen & van den Berg, 2002) and the plans they have with their product for the brand To assess how networking and innovation within the tourist sector can be organised and what the role of knowledge (- transfer) is and so that destination marketing (Destination Management System, DMS) can be developed in which Zeeland is positioned and marketed as a unique distinct destination based on it’s tourist identity, networks originate, knowledge is created so that product - and process innovation will arise to keep up competition; Destination marketing is concerned with the creation of incentives to visit physically the ‘virtual destination’, which implies an integrated communication strategy This assumes strategic alliances between several suppliers in a place and/or the intervention of new intermediairy organizations to come to a reasoned selection and collection of information on different aggregation levels and targeting for several market segments (Jansen-Verbeke a.o., 2000) This means that destination marketing asks for a network approach Our society, which is a knowledge driven economy, is also a network economy Marketing results will be more and more determined by competition between networks of companies rather than between mutual companies The 21st century is a knowledge driven society in which the most important source is not material, labour or capital, but knowledge Networks can adapt better to that, because of their superior possibilities to process information (Achrol & Kotler, 1999) Crucial is also the importance of recognition of mutual dependency (in these networks) as a key factor Especially in tourism, with a composed product by different suppliers, admitting that mutual dependency exists, is essential Gnoth (2002) states that one of the most powerful reasons why network theory may be considered as more appropriate in developing country as brand leverage is that networks, like communities, rely strongly on trust Another key factor in these networks is social capital Social capital is not only ‘what you know’, but also ‘who you know’ (Baker, 2000) Other key factors are knowledge and innovation Information is available and accessible in growing quantities As long as information is not ordered, arranged or filtered, it is not knowledge There has always been a knowledge society, but now when knowledge is the 97 decisive competition factor, we talk about the knowledge economy Knowledge and networks are very important for innovations Innovation is highly related to breaking through standard ways of thinking and doing New perceptions of reality come about through communication and interaction between different ‘knowledge systems’’ Networks of relations between firms of exchange of information play a central role in stimulating innovation (Caalders, 2002) A distinction can be made between product innovation and process innovations One of the concepts to handle co-operation, networking, learning, exchange of information, experiences and knowledge is a Community of Practice (CoP) CoPs are groups of people in organizations that form to share what they know, to learn from one another regarding some aspects of their work and to provide a social context for that work (Wenger, 1998) An essential tool for the construction of a CoP in this project will be the use of a website, an e-platform, for tourist entrepreneurs This e-platform is a tool in the process of networking, knowledge exchange and - creation and innovation, because it serves as a meeting point Matching the tourist identity of Zeeland (the supply side), with motives, feelings, scripts, experiences and expectations of (potential) tourist’s (on the demand side) in order to deconstruct obsolete images of Zeeland and construct the tourist identity of Zeeland with a balanced DMS as a result Positioning is not a one way process from either the supplier or the consumer Ries & Trout (1981; in Franzen & van den Berg, 2002) state that ‘positioning is not something what you a product, it’s what you to the mind of the prospect’s’ But that’s rather one-sided Positioning is also used for the strategies that companies choose to realise a favourable and controllable competitive position Positioning by companies has to with the choice for consumergroups they want to serve and the choice and structuring of activities that are necessary to meet needs and desires (Franzen & van den Berg, 2002) Positioning has to with both the company’s side and the consumer’s side Therefore it’s essential after assessing Zeeland’s tourist identity and its brand to find out how it matches with expectations and experiences of (potential) tourists Do tourists have an obsolete image of Zeeland? Does Zeeland’s identity still appeals to loyal tourists and how does it appeal to potential tourists? How to enhance Zeeland’s attractiveness? What are the tourist’s scripts in their consumer decision making? These questions can only be answered by looking for a match between identity and image, by looking at the consumer’s side for their expectations, scripts, feelings, values and emotions III Methodology Three central issues can be put forward in the proposed methodology First, the use of a website as a tool to support the creation of a sense of identification amongst the relevant stakeholders within a CoP The CoP will be started to develop a deeper understanding into the process of branding, networking and exchange of information and knowledge between stakeholders of tourism in Zeeland A website will be used as a virtual meeting- and exchange point This is the place where stakeholders can follow the proceedings of the process It will be the place to provide stakeholders with relevant knowledge and to obtain a grip on trends, developments and ‘best practices’ on branding, networking and innovation in tourism in and beyond Zeeland By registering and monitoring the use of the website by stakeholders and conducting (e-) surveys 98 on social capital, networking, trust, the use, need and exchange of knowledge, the foundations for a brand community (from the stakeholders perspective) and a destination management system will be set Second, the use of visual stimuli/photographs to lend visibility to the identity of Zeeland and its component parts (towns and villages, etc) The use of photographs as visual stimuli in the research methods for assessing the region’s identity and the tourist identity is chosen deliberately The relationship between photography and tourism has been relatively sporadically investigated (Dietvorst, 2001) Photographs are a very important part of contemporary society, which is more and more visually orientated Different methods and techniques in applying the use of photographs are/will be: The selection and choice of professional photographers in Zeeland by asking them for the most distincted photographs on the distinctiveness of Zeeland and their home regions (Zeeland’s component regions) from their collections and to use this collection as visual stimuli in personal interviews by inhabitants and (tourist) entrepreneurs of Zeeland in order to get insight in the level of distinctiveness of Zeeland and to elicit information on perceived spheres, feelings and values in regard to Zeeland’s identity; Asking stakeholders to make snapshots on the distinctiveness of Zeeland and their home regions in order to test, embed and extend the results of the personal interviews on Zeeland’s identity; Operationalisation of the results for the search for Zeeland’s identity in the form of photographic spheres in order to get more data on the mental components like values, rituals, symbols and heroes of the past and present, local (hi)stories, additional feelings and emotions, so a corporate brand identity for Zeeland can be created and Zeeland and it’s component regions can be positioned The photographic spheres will be presented in both regional workshops with stakeholders and tourist entrepreneurs and in e-surveys for the inhabitants of Zeeland The results of the search for the region’s identity will be used to construct the tourist identity Third, the application of the tourist identity of Zeeland in practice by matching the needs of visitors (motives, feelings, scripts, experiences and expectations) with the available facilities and services at given place and time The operationalization of the visual identity of Zeeland in a living brand, through spheres, in the form of photographs, afford Zeeland’s component regions an opportunity to position themselves on a ‘complementary’ basis as opposed to a conflicting basis Ideally, sufficient coordination and control through the DMS should lead to a scenario whereby Zeeland could be characterized as province where ‘unity in diversity’, go hand in glove VI Expected Results What has been done so far in this Ph.d project, what will be the done in the (near) future and what are the expected results, are the questions which will be answered in this chapter What has been done so far? In assessing the region’s identity several steps have been taken The first step was to ask professional photographers for their view on distinctiveness of Zeeland and interrogate inhabitants and tourist entrepreneurs of Zeeland in personal interviews for their judgement on the photographs for a top twelve of the most distinct photographs and a top twelve of the least distinct photographs, accompanied with interpretations and elaborations on elements in the pictures By the method of multidimensional scaling, clustering of photographs and elaboration of the interviews eleven spheres were constructed that give an indication of tourists’ 99 perceived spheres, feelings and values with regard to Zeeland’s identity The second step that has been taken is to embed, test and extend the results of the first step In order to involve the stakeholders in the process, the stakeholders were asked to make five distinct photographs of their home region and five distinct photographs of Zeeland Starting-point were the eleven spheres in order to test, embed or even extend the eleven spheres into twelve or thirteen spheres to get a complete view on the distinctiveness of Zeeland and its component region’s The third step, which has to follow in 2004, will be the assessment of the core values of the brand Zeeland, and the construction of the tourist identity for Zeeland and its component regions Both will be done by organising regional workshops and conducting e-surveys Spring of 2004 will be the time for the launch of the e-platform in order to show stakeholders the proceedings of the project, best practices around the globe, trends and developments on both the global and local level References Achrol, R.S & P Kotler (1999) Marketing in the Network Economy, In: Journal of Marketing, 63, pp 146 – 163 Baker, W Achieving success through social capital, San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2000 Caalders, J & J Philipsen (2001) Tijd-ruimte specifieke innovatie: een overzicht, in: Lengkeek, J en L Boomaars, Producten van Verbeelding, Wageningen: Wageningen Universiteit Caalders, J., (2002) Rural tourism Development, a Network perspective, Delft: uitgeverij Eburon Dietvorst, A.G.J (2001) Het toeristisch Landschap tussen illusie en werkelijkheid', Wageningen: Wageningen Universiteit, 2001 Dijck, J van, (2002) Geen Beelden zonder Woorden, in: De plaatjesmaatschappij, Gierstberg F & W Oosterbaan (eds), Rotterdam: Nederlands Foto Instituut/NAI uitgevers Florian, B (2002), The City as a Brand, orchestrating a unique Experience, in: City Branding, image building & building images, Rotterdam: NAI publishers Franzen, G en M van den Berg (2002) Strategisch Management van Merken, Deventer: Kluwer Gnoth, J (2002) Leveraging Export Brands through a Tourism Destination Brand, in: Brand Management, (4-5), pp 262-280 Goovers, R & F Go, (2003) Deconstructing Destination Image in the Information Age, Information Technology & Tourism (in press) Hall, M., Sharples, L., Mitchell, R., Macionis, N & B Cambourne, (2003), Foodtourism around the World, development, management and markets Oxford: Butterworth & Heinemann Hofstede, G (2001) Allemaal Andersdenkenden, omgaan met Cultuurverschillen, Amsterdam, Contact Jansen-Verbeke, M & K Mampaey, e.a (2000) De virtuele toeristische Bestemming, digitale Communicatie en Destination Marketing, Leuven: Leuven Geografische Papers Nederlandse Organisatie voor wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (2001), Thema’s met talent, strategienota 2002 –2005, Den Haag: NWO Olins, W.(2001) Waarom Bedrijven en Landen elkaars Rol overnemen, in: Tijdschrift voor strategische bedrijfscommunicatie, jrg.7, nr.1, pp 62-74 Ritzer, G.(1998) The McDonaldization Thesis, London: Sage Publications Wenger, E (1998) Communities of Practice, Learning, Meaning and Identity, Cambridge: University Press 100 ... Personnel via Occupational Standards .33 An Investigation into Tourism Destination Image: Consumer Decision Making in Virtual and Physical Spaces 36 Persuasion vs Personalization:... of conventional/technological information provision mechanism and localised/non-localised information content and evaluate the effects on the dependent variables through debriefing questionnaires... division of subjects among the groups The control group is composed by subjects that only have access to the conventional information provision mechanism that implies non-localised information content