Heather Skinner

I spy with my little eye: A comparison of manual versus computer‐aided analysis of data gathered by projective techniques

Purpose – The paper arose from an experienced qualitative market researchers desire to challenge her working methodologies in analysing and interpreting data for commercial clients. Faced with tight deadlines, and working largely on her own, the researcher wished to consider if alternative working practices might be worth the necessary time investment and if outputs could actually be enhanced.Design/methodology/approach – This paper compares the results of projective techniques of qualitative data collection analysed manually with computer‐aided analysis of the same data. Four focus groups were set up. Various creative and projective techniques were incorporated into the groups in order to explore and test the boundaries of both the manual and computer‐based analysis data to the full.Findings – The organisation of data was aided by the use of CAQDAS file management structure, but a general overview of the results was somewhat lost to the researcher. Moreover, visual rather than textual data do not lend i...

The importance of destination image analysis to UK rural tourism

Purpose – The Forest of Dean attracts relatively low numbers of staying visitors and low visitor spend. The paper aims to explore the image of this destination and identify the potential to visit along with any underlying factors that may deter visitors.Design/methodology/approach – A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods were used to gather and analyse responses to an online survey. Respondents offered a range of words and pictures from which they were asked to select those they felt best represented the destination, and also then asked to explain their selection. Quantitative data were also analysed for frequency of occurrence. A content analysis of qualitative data was conducted to generate destination image clusters of the Forest of Dean.Findings – The findings show there is a very positive and unique image associated with the Forest of Dean among previous visitors, with many expressing an intention to visiting the area again.Research limitations/implications – Although response rates are relati...

Nightclubs and bars: what do customers really want?

Purpose – This paper aims to give a wider understanding of what customers really want from first and subsequent visits to mainstream city centre nightclubs and bars by examining customer attitudes to various aspects of the services arena and service offerings provided by such venues.Design/methodology/approach – Purposive sampling was used to establish two focus groups within the industrys main target market age group. This qualitative data were analysed from a grounded theory approach in order to identify the emerging themes that were then tested by quantitative data gathered by means of a questionnaire in phase 2 of the research. These data were then subjected to a frequency analysis in SPSS in order to identify those elements that were most preferred by the majority of respondents.Findings – Findings point to the relative importance of various elements of the servicescape in influencing customer decisions to enter a venue for the first time, and also to the relative importance of factors which prompt ...

Tries and conversions: are sports sponsors pursuing the right objectives?

Sports sponsorship is perceived as important in developing relationships with key clients. However, few companies set relationship marketing objectives when sponsoring sports. This paper aims to examine whether sports sponsors are pursuing the right objectives. It concludes that a deeper understanding of the sponsors relationship marketing objectives could heighten the sponsors success, thereby reinforcing and sustaining their own relationship with the sponsoring organisation.

Men and Women: Do They Value the Same Things in Mainstream Nightclubs and Bars?:

This paper explores whether young men and women, the main target market for mainstream nightclubs and bars, have similar or different preference priorities in respect of a first and subsequent visit to these venues. It suggests that an understanding of the gendered nature of place and the differing preferences of men and women can assist businesses in shaping their products and services around the needs of their customers. It suggests that this can be done through a study of preferences and expectations for price and non-price mechanisms of differentiation. In Phase 1 of the research, purposive sampling examined men and womens attitudes to the servicescape and offerings by mainstream nightclubs and bars. In Phase 2 of the research, the emerging themes were tested using quantitative data gathered by means of a questionnaire. The results highlight differences as well as similarities, in terms of the importance to men and women of various elements of the servicescape and service offering. In a saturated and competitive marketplace, these findings can assist mainstream venues within the late-night economy improve their competitive position. They can do this by isolating the elements that are gendered, thereby providing the venues with the opportunity to deliver service offerings that match these preferences and expectations.

International Business Tourism: Destination Dublin or Destination Ireland?

Abstract The Republic of Ireland has been running the same basic brand proposition in its various marketing campaigns for some decades (Morgan, Pritchard and Pride, 2002). However, it is unclear whether the destination brand construct that has served Irelands general tourism market so well can apply equally when attracting business tourism to Dublin, the nations capital city. This research primarily applies repertory grid analysis and on-line focus groups to understand the brand of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, and explores the way the marketing of a national capital city for business tourism both influences, and is influenced by, the marketing of the nation itself.

Speaking the same language: the relevance of neuro‐linguistic programming to effective marketing communications

Individuals process each and every encounter with the external environment using sensory system representations (pictures, sounds, feelings, etc.). Studies of neuro‐linguistic programming have indicated that each individual tends to have a preferred sensory representational system with which they will internally code these experiences. Market segments are comprised of individuals who, although possessing similarities across traditional segmentation bases, also have different preferred sensory modalities. Therefore, if consumers within any given target market segment do not all talk the same sensory language, marketers are failing to get their message across to everyone within that segment. This study is concerned with examining the efficacy of television advertising in communicating to those within a target group by exploring the links between the advertisements that ‘speak’ to them most and their preferred representational systems. It finds that participant reactions to those advertisements that they regarded as having the most effect were expressed predominantly in language relating to their preferred sensory representational systems. Furthermore, where participants with different representational systems chose the same advertisement as having the most effect, the reasons for their choice differed on a sensory basis.

Embedding Enterprise: A Business School Undergraduate Course with an Enterprise Focus.

This study profiles, through a case study of an undergraduate business programme, how a business school has embedded the theme of enterprise in its core undergraduate programme. Key participants in the development of the strategy and programme tutors and students were interviewed, to provide information for an analysis of the principle objectives and the impact of the course. The findings confirm the need to adopt a top-down strategy to identify underpinning themes that support all programme activities: the programme curriculum should focus on key themes and use innovative assessment and teaching and learning strategies, as well as added-value activities that enhance its effectiveness. The authors offer recommendations for best practice, including specific modules of study, use of guest speakers, added-value activities for developing student skills and innovative assessment strategies. It is argued that the paper will help university policy makers to construct valid programmes in which themes of enterprise and self-employment are integrated in order to enhance experiential and added-value activities.

And did those feet? Getting medieval England “on-message”

Purpose – This paper aims to gain an understanding of the nature and extent of the practice of “public relations” in history.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses an analysis of popular narratives (in particular rumour, legend and myth) to inform a detailed case study of Glastonbury abbey in the medieval period.Findings – Glastonbury Abbey worked in partnership with the Crown to develop a detailed promotional campaign based on powerful narratives. As a consequence it was able to grow to become one of the wealthiest communities in the country. The Crown, meanwhile, consolidated its position by being able to engender a whole national “brand” around the mythical corpus.Research limitations/implications – Methodologically, using folklore and other popular narrative material is useful as to an extent it is outside official control, but also provides information about the story tellers and the audiences.Originality/value – The research builds on Watsons recent work on St Swithun and Winchester, taking t...

International marketing in an enlarged European Union: some insights into cultural heterogeneity in Central Europe

We inhabit a global village in which international marketers are encouraged to think and act with both global and local interests in mind. The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in January 2007 has created a 27 member state EU with a population of nearly half a billion. The purpose of this article is therefore to examine the nature of these differences in so far as they impact on the segmentation decisions made by international marketers. This article examines the literature on culture, identity, and self-concept and presents empirical results showing the diversity of these concepts within three countries that are now full EU members - the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.