The consumer journey in the digital age: the challenges faced by destination and place marketing agencies

Abstract

This conceptual paper evolved from an extensive literature review and a consultancy project conducted in a United Kingdom (UK) based university business school/commercial sector collaboration. The paper explores how the digital age is presenting challenges for destination and place marketing agencies. Key trends in consumer behavior are identified and their significance is examined. The context is largely the European tourism sector with a particular focus on the UK. The paper argues that many place and destination marketing agencies are not responding to the challenges of the digital era. With this as the backdrop a novel conceptualisation of the customer journey model is offered which can be tested empirically. A vignette supports the model and this illustrates the complexities in consumer behavior that are involved in a decision over where to take a city break. The paper concludes with strategic recommendations for destination and place marketing agencies.

Do visitors gaze and reproduce what destination managers wish to commercialise? Perceived and projected image in the UNESCO World Heritage area 'West Norwegian Fjords'

“…This matches with the notion that Bonini (2008) proposes to understand the process of learning in virtual environments (relation-centred approach), in which the users are not observers but interplay in/with the eco-system to continuously reshape knowledge. Scott et al (2017) reviewed studies investigating the implications of digital technology for DMOs. Their results suggest that DMOs are struggling to understand and account for the increasing effects of social technology on the consumer decision-making process.…”

“…In their task of creating an image to promote their destination and make it more attractive, DMO messages are now blended with a much larger amount of information, not only from individual tourism suppliers located in the destination, who can now more easily reach out to the world, but also from visitors themselves. In an attempt to assist DMOs to make better choices Scott et al (2017) proposed a new, less linear model, to describe the decision process of choosing a destination.…”

“…Given the rise and relevance of the digital media in destination promotion (Scott et al, 2017) and its implications for DMOs concerning destination choice, it was clear to us that the analysis needed to focus on online photography. This has also practical advantages, as the process of collecting and analysing data can be performed with relatively minor expense (Gennari, 2008).…”

“…Thus, tourists not only consume but also produce places through photography (Larsen, 2006) and contribute to the "collective image of a destination" (Latorre-Martínez et al, 2014;Lo et al, 2011). This expands the range of informational material against which the tourism supply industry must compete (Lo et al, 2011) and reduces the level of control that tourism service providers, such as DMOs, can exert on the type of information available online (Scott et al, 2017;Miguéns et al, 2008).…”

Role-Play . . . Take 1 . . . Action: An Experiential Activity for Marketing Students

“…As an instructor of MM and being exposed to a variety of students every year, we understand that the consumer decision-making process is one of the most important concepts for the students, which they tend to use in the future electives of consumer behavior as well. However, the traditional concept of “consumer decision-making” has transformed itself in the multichannel era (Scott et al, 2017). The multichannel marketing concept is a full topic under the heading Marketing Channels in the books of MM that emphasizes marketing channels, channel design decisions, channel management decisions, and channel integration systems (Pure Brick, Pure Click, and Brick and Click Companies).…”