Raija Komppula

Are Growing SMEs More Market‐Oriented and Brand‐Oriented?

The aim is to examine whether growing, stable, and declining small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) differ from one another in terms of market orientation and brand orientation. The results show that growing SMEs have adopted market and brand orientations to a greater extent than have the stable or declining ones. They also suggest that these orientations can prove to be helpful in achieving different kinds of growth goals. Thus, in order to support the growth of SMEs, more information and training should be offered to them about issues relating to these orientations.

Success and growth in rural tourism micro-businesses in Finland: financial or life-style objectives?

Rural tourism is tourism that takes place outside densely populated communities and tourist centres. It is often considered small-sized and connected to the farming industry and outdoor activities that offer the guests individual service (Borg 1997). Rural tourism is local tourism, tourism “of the area,” sought after and controlled by local authorities (Grolleau 1996: 7). According to Bramwell (1993), the small scale of firms and their functional relationship with nature, heritage or traditional societies make them rural. Rural tourism in Finland includes cottage holidays, farm holidays, bed and breakfast lodging, farm visits and group catering, organised activity services and holiday villages (Finnish Tourist Board 1994: 1–2). The estimated number of this kind of rural tourism businesses in Finland is about 4000 (Ahlgren 2000; Martikainen 2002). In accommodation statistics, only businesses with more than ten rooms or cottages are included, which means that only about 5% of rural tourism accommodation units are included in the statistics. According to the National Rural Tourism Working Group three quarters of the rural tourism businesses have originally been farms. However, today tourism is a major source of income for only 25% of the rural tourism entrepreneurs (Martikainen 2002). The average turnover of a full-time rural tourism business in Finland is about 120.000d (Puurunen 2001). Profitability of full-time tourism enterprises is also weak (Kupiainen et al. 2000), which in most cases is a consequence of the seasonality of the businesses (Martikainen 2002). While rural tourism has much to do with farms, agriculturalists view rural tourism as a category of farm diversification, whereas tourism researchers and regional tourism promoters consider it to be a sector of tourism in its own right (Busby & Rendle 2000: 635). Diversification is oneway for a small rural firm to reduce a firm’s risk of being too dependent upon one product, to gain growth and confirm the income of the owner-manager. Tourism is the third most popular means of farm diversification in Finland (Rantamaki-Lahtinen 2002) and 39% of the rural tourism entrepreneurs are still farmers, too (Martikainen 2002: 10–11).

Lake Wellness — a practical example of a new service development (NSD) concept in tourism industries

Eastern Finland is an area that is rich in lakes, aquatic environments and pure nature. Unfortunately, this rich potential is scarcely utilized in well-being and wellness tourism product development. To answer this, the purpose of this article is to discuss if the experiential environment of the lakes and lake landscape can act as a potential resource for the core content of a ‘Lake Wellness’ experience product. This article introduces the well-being and wellness concepts in general, and further defines the Lake Wellness concept in a Finnish context. The main aim of the article is to present the product content and design of a new Lake Wellness experience.

Understanding the relationship between push and pull motivations in rural tourism.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences and relationships of push and pull motivations in two different rural tourism destinations.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from tourists visiting rural tourism companies in Finland and in Tyrol (Austria). The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and correlation coefficients.Findings – The results indicate significant differences of push and pull motivations in the two regions. In addition, tourists motivated by different variables obviously search for different destination attributes. For example, tourists motivated by the search of a once‐in‐a‐lifetime experience expect different destination attributes than those respondents searching for a sense of comfort or an opportunity to relax.Research limitations/implications – The low sample size in both Tyrol and Finland reduces the generalizability of the results.Practical implications – The findings can be used by rural tourism companies and practitioners to under...

Developing the Quality of a Tourist Experience Product in the Case of Nature‐Based Activity Services

The purpose of this paper is to discuss development of the quality of nature‐based tourist products in the light of a case study in Finland. The paper first conceptualizes the nature‐based tourist product by suggesting a descriptive model of the prerequisites for the customer‐oriented tourist product. The quality of the tourist product is briefly discussed in the framework of seven criteria of good perceived service quality. A case description about a tourism development project called the MONO is then presented and discussed in the light of the theory. The MONO case shows that tourist product quality is in practice (and in theory as well) often seen as a key to customer value. Several researchers, nevertheless, suggest that service quality is only one of a number of factors that influence value for the customer. In relation to tourist experience products, it may be that social and emotional aspects play more important roles than the technical and functional dimensions of service quality, which still seem to have a remarkable role in service quality models and theory, and especially in practice.

Benefit segmentation of potential wellbeing tourists

The purpose of this study is to segment tourists according to the benefits they seek from a tourism destination. These segments are examined in order to find attractive segments for local wellbeing products. Segmentation in the context of wellbeing and wellness provides companies information on what kind of tourists are most interested in buying wellbeing products and contributes to the existing segmentation theory by using data driven segmentation in a situation where traditionally common-sense segmentation is used. The literature surrounding benefit segmentation in tourism is reviewed in order to find the benefits tourists might think of as important. The results of K-means cluster analysis show that tourists in the Savonlinna region, Finland, can be divided into four segments. The segments differ from each other in the benefits they seek and in interest in wellbeing holidays, but are quite similar regarding to their socio-demographic factors. This study shows that data-driven segmentation can be used to find markets for a certain product instead of a priori segmentation. The results also show that benefits sought have a strong influence on customer behavior but little in common with socio-economic factors, which proves the usefulness of benefit segmentation in tourism. Based on the results, tourism companies can find the most suitable segments for their offerings.

The adoption of market orientation in SMEs: required capabilities and relation to success

The purpose of this paper is to offer an integrated view on the adoption of market orientation in SMEs and what kind of marketing capabilities are necessary for a small firm to act in a market oriented way. It is also discussed how market orientation is related to small firm success. Data were collected through a survey and thematic interviews in three different branches of industry in Eastern Finland. In the analysis mixed methods were applied. The results show that the studied SMEs had adopted different levels of market orientation. They generated market intelligence, but this was not necessarily done systematically or continuously. In addition, the acquired customer and competitor information was not disseminated or responded to actively. Consequently, the studied enterprises need to enhance their capabilities concerning these tasks of market orientation. The key elements of market orientation (e.g. customer orientation and market intelligence) were regarded as important success factors in SMEs. The expertise relating to these key elements did not, however, reach the same level with the importance showing room for improvement with regard to the required capabilities.

Are growth-oriented SMEs more likely to adopt market and brand orientations?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how SMEs with varying growth intentions differ from each other with regard to market orientation and brand orientation. Both of these strategic orientations are seen to lead to enhanced market performance. Consequently, the authors investigate whether those small firms that regard growth as an important goal have adopted market or brand orientation. Design/methodology/approach – Responses from 492 SMEs were analysed. They were clustered into four groups according to their growth intentions. These groups included firms that have low growth intention, capital adequacy growth intention, expansion growth intention and high growth intention. ANOVA was used to explore whether these groups differed in their market or brand orientation. Findings – The results indicate that the higher growth intention group the SME belonged to the more market and brand oriented it is. The biggest differences between the SMEs were found with regards to brand orientation. Research li...

Typology of senior travellers as users of tourism information technology

The importance of senior travellers as a travel segment for the tourism industry is continuously increasing as the number of pensioners increases in the Western world. These new senior travellers differ from earlier generations in many ways, one of which has to do with the increasing use of information and communication technologies as part of their information search process. This study examines senior travellers as users of tourism information technology. A qualitative approach was adopted to provide insights into the topic, and nine Finnish seniors were interviewed. The results were analysed using content analysis. The results show that senior travellers comprise a quite heterogeneous market with respect to the use of tourism information technology. However, there is no special marketing or website design that senior travellers really need: a good website will cater to both the needs of younger as well as older consumers. The study also presents a tentative typology of three different types of senior travellers based on their use of online travel services: Adventurous Experimenters, Meticulous Researchers and Fumbling Observers. This typology contributes to our understanding of the heterogeneous use of tourism information technology by senior travellers.

Customer involvement in a new service development process: the case of “Feelgood in Lapland”

Abstract The aim of this study is to examine the ability of a company to utilize customer involvement, benefits derived from it, and the challenges faced in the process of involving customers to participate in new service development (NSD) in different stages of the NSD process by adopting a case study approach. The findings show that a company gained several benefits by involving customers. The company also had the willingness to involve customers in NSD but diverse challenges and other operational development projects affected the realization. The study shows several practical implications that are related to customer involvement in diverse phases of NSD, bringing concrete benefits for a company. Nevertheless, cooperation with external research organizations is almost indispensable for small enterprises.