Perceptions of experience marketing of ski resorts in Austrian Alps and Finnish Lapland
Koivujuuri, Sara (2022)
2022
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022053013364
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022053013364
Tiivistelmä
The objective of this thesis is to analyse the experience marketing content of ski resorts in Austrian Alps and Finnish Lapland and study how this marketing content creates people’s perceptions towards the countries as winter holiday destinations. The thesis looks at destination image formation based on these perceptions and introduces the experience marketing of the ski resorts Ischgl, Mayrhofen and St. Anton am Arlberg from Austrian Alps and Levi, Ylläs and Ruka from Finnish Lapland. The research looks at the experience marketing content from all the six ski resorts’ official websites and Instagram channels, which are maintained by the local destination management organisations (DMOs).
The theoretical framework introduces central concepts of the study, such as ski resorts of Austrian Alps and Finnish Lapland as tourism destinations and the role of destination management organisations in destination marketing. Common experiences in ski resorts are presented through six experience categories and the concepts of destination image and individual perceptions are introduced. The second part of the theory discusses experiences and marketing. The theories concerning experience realms and product specific elements of experiences are explored. Afterwards the experience marketing is discussed together with the concepts of visual content, website marketing and social media marketing through Instagram.
The research was conducted as multimethod research. First, the qualitative method of content analysis was used to objectively observe and analyse the experience marketing content of the six ski resorts. As the second method, quantitative research was used in the form of an online Webropol survey to collect statistical data on the subject. The survey was open for one week and collected 57 individual responses during this period.
The content analysis demonstrated that the countries focus on different experience elements in their content, but that they also share similarities in their ski resort marketing. Both countries highlighted the experience opportunities within sports and nature. Austrian Alps stood out with downhill skiing focused marketing, but the Alpine traditions were also present. Finnish Lapland highlighted the Northern winter, often together with local animals and especially Northern Lights. Based on the survey results, the most important and attractive elements that the respondents were looking for in the destinations was to experience and enjoy the nature. The DMOs that succeeded to display the local nature and activities in a versatile way in their marketing were seen as attractive choices.
The results derived from the multimethod research indicated that the experience marketing content can effectively influence the perceptions towards the individual ski resorts, but also towards the destination image of Austrian Alps and Finnish Lapland as winter holiday destinations. All the DMOs could benefit from evaluating their experience marketing content to see, that they are offering diverse opportunities in experiences and activities, where the local nature is highlighted and offered as a meaningful experience in itself.
The theoretical framework introduces central concepts of the study, such as ski resorts of Austrian Alps and Finnish Lapland as tourism destinations and the role of destination management organisations in destination marketing. Common experiences in ski resorts are presented through six experience categories and the concepts of destination image and individual perceptions are introduced. The second part of the theory discusses experiences and marketing. The theories concerning experience realms and product specific elements of experiences are explored. Afterwards the experience marketing is discussed together with the concepts of visual content, website marketing and social media marketing through Instagram.
The research was conducted as multimethod research. First, the qualitative method of content analysis was used to objectively observe and analyse the experience marketing content of the six ski resorts. As the second method, quantitative research was used in the form of an online Webropol survey to collect statistical data on the subject. The survey was open for one week and collected 57 individual responses during this period.
The content analysis demonstrated that the countries focus on different experience elements in their content, but that they also share similarities in their ski resort marketing. Both countries highlighted the experience opportunities within sports and nature. Austrian Alps stood out with downhill skiing focused marketing, but the Alpine traditions were also present. Finnish Lapland highlighted the Northern winter, often together with local animals and especially Northern Lights. Based on the survey results, the most important and attractive elements that the respondents were looking for in the destinations was to experience and enjoy the nature. The DMOs that succeeded to display the local nature and activities in a versatile way in their marketing were seen as attractive choices.
The results derived from the multimethod research indicated that the experience marketing content can effectively influence the perceptions towards the individual ski resorts, but also towards the destination image of Austrian Alps and Finnish Lapland as winter holiday destinations. All the DMOs could benefit from evaluating their experience marketing content to see, that they are offering diverse opportunities in experiences and activities, where the local nature is highlighted and offered as a meaningful experience in itself.