Short answer
Design and marketing teams must actively monitor and reconcile the messaging about their products or services across all touchpoints, especially when user-generated content plays a significant role.
- Field
- Innovation & Markets
- Source
- Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing (2020)
- Method
- Mixed-methods research (quantitative and qualitative text and image analysis)
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
Discrepancies in the designative, appraisive, and prescriptive meanings across different tourism information sources (e.g., official tourism boards, agencies, guides, blogs) significantly shape a destination's overall image. This innovation & markets research insight is drawn from a 2020 study published in Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing. Using Mixed-methods research (quantitative and qualitative text and image analysis), researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Design and marketing teams must actively monitor and reconcile the messaging about their products or services across all touchpoints, especially when user-generated content plays a significant role.
Destination Image Incongruence: A Multi-Source Analysis of Tourism Marketing Content
Discrepancies in the designative, appraisive, and prescriptive meanings across different tourism information sources (e.g., official tourism boards, agencies, guides, blogs) significantly shape a destination's overall image.
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing · 2020
Key Findings
- 01Blogs and travel agencies tend to present more appraisive (evaluative) content about destinations compared to official sources or guides.
- 02Guidebooks and blogs are more likely to offer prescriptive (recommendatory) content.
- 03Significant incongruences exist in the way different sources construct the image of a tourism destination.
Application
Design takeaway
Design and marketing teams must actively monitor and reconcile the messaging about their products or services across all touchpoints, especially when user-generated content plays a significant role.
How to apply
When launching a new product or campaign, analyze how it is being discussed on social media, review sites, and official company channels. Identify any discrepancies in how its features, benefits, or usage are portrayed and address them through targeted content creation or community management.
Project actions
- 01When researching a product or service for your design project, consider the different types of information available online (e.g., official websites, reviews, forums) and how they might present conflicting views.
- 02Analyze the language and imagery used in these different sources to understand their underlying message (factual, opinion-based, or instructional).
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Large-scale quantitative analysis of text and images provides robust data.
- +Comparison across multiple distinct information sources offers a nuanced view of image formation.
Limitations
It can be challenging to quantify the exact impact of each type of information source on a user's overall perception. The subjective nature of 'appraisive' and 'prescriptive' meanings can also be a limitation.
Reliability & validity
The reliability of the findings would depend on the consistency of the coding scheme used to categorize the text and images into designative, appraisive, and prescriptive meanings. Validity is supported by the large sample size and the comparison across multiple, distinct sources.
Think critically
To what extent can a single DMO or company control the 'appraisive' and 'prescriptive' meanings of their destination or product when user-generated content is prevalent?
Design Principles
"Maintain message consistency across diverse communication channels to build a coherent and trustworthy brand image."
Understanding these incongruences is crucial for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and travel businesses to effectively manage their brand perception. By analyzing how different platforms present information, marketers can identify potential misalignments and develop targeted strategies to ensure a consistent and appealing destination image.
What This Means for Your Design
Different websites and social media posts about a place can say different things, which can confuse people about what the place is really like.
How to use in your project
- 1.This research can inform your analysis of existing products or services by highlighting the importance of examining multiple information sources to understand their market perception and potential areas for design improvement.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This study highlights the critical role of analyzing diverse information sources to understand a destination's image. By examining the designative, appraisive, and prescriptive components across official channels, agencies, guides, and blogs, significant incongruences emerge. For instance, blogs and agencies often employ more appraisive language, while guides and blogs lean towards prescriptive content. This suggests that for any product or service, a comprehensive understanding of its market perception requires evaluating how it is presented across various platforms, as discrepancies can influence user expectations and overall satisfaction.
Source
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing
Online tourism destination image: components, information sources, and incongruence
journal · 2020
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about destination image incongruence: a multi-source analysis of tourism marketing content?
- Design and marketing teams must actively monitor and reconcile the messaging about their products or services across all touchpoints, especially when user-generated content plays a significant role. Evidence: Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing (2020).
- Why does "Destination Image Incongruence: A Multi-Source Analysis of Tourism Marketing Content" matter for design?
- Understanding these incongruences is crucial for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and travel businesses to effectively manage their brand perception. By analyzing how different platforms present information, marketers can identify potential misalignments and develop targeted strategies to ensure a consistent and appealing destination image.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Design and marketing teams must actively monitor and reconcile the messaging about their products or services across all touchpoints, especially when user-generated content plays a significant role.
- What were the main findings?
- Blogs and travel agencies tend to present more appraisive (evaluative) content about destinations compared to official sources or guides.. Guidebooks and blogs are more likely to offer prescriptive (recommendatory) content.. Significant incongruences exist in the way different sources construct the image of a tourism destination.
- What research method was used?
- Mixed-methods research (quantitative and qualitative text and image analysis).
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2020 journal from Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When launching a new product or campaign, analyze how it is being discussed on social media, review sites, and official company channels. Identify any discrepancies in how its features, benefits, or usage are portrayed and address them through targeted content creation or community management.
- What are the limitations?
- The study focused on a single destination (Barcelona), and the findings may not be universally generalizable to all tourism destinations. The specific time period of the data collection might also influence the results.