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Using Benchmarking to Examine Advertising Effectiveness. James F. Petrick, Ph.D. Chief Problem Solver Tourvey Jim@Tourvey.com. Academic vs. Practitioner. Marketing….
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Using Benchmarking to Examine Advertising Effectiveness James F. Petrick, Ph.D. Chief Problem Solver Tourvey Jim@Tourvey.com
Marketing… • “…Marketing battles are fought in a mean and ugly place. A place that’s dark & damp with much unexplored territory and deep pitfalls to trap the unwary. Marketing battles are fought….?” (Rice & Trout, ’86:169) • = image is a key construct • Also “sets”, and positioning • AIDA is-a-da-key • Attention, Interest, Desire & Action (How?!)
Tenured ResearchPhilosophy (Quest for Knowledge) • Research needs to answer Mgt.’s questions • Research must be done scientifically • Temporal differences need to be examined • One-shot studies give little insight • Knowing how you’re doing is not enough • Research must fund graduate students!
Methods Used to Seek Knowledge • Team of Grad Students (6 Ph.D.; 4 M.S.) • Seeking state of the art knowledge • Partnerships • L.I.S.T., SoluServ, eBrains, etc. • Great Clients • States, CVB’s, NPS, USDA, PGA, HA, First Tee, etc.
Case Study Example • Websites as a tool for destination marketing • 55%+ of travel decisions are Web-based! • New methods needed for evaluating the effectiveness of destination websites • How do you know what’s “good”? • No known benchmarks = benchmarking needed
What is Benchmarking? • “The continuous measurement and improvement of an organization’s performance against the best in the industry to obtain information about new working methods or practices”(Kozak, 2002, p. 499) • It helps to: • Learn your own strengths and weaknesses, • Identify best practices or processes, • Make changes and set realistic goals • Tourism Benchmarking Forum (2004)
Purposes of Study • To establish methods for conducting benchmarking analysis of State and City tourism websites • To measure conversion of Website & Materials • To synergize academic and practitioners' strengths in one project • To provide “real-time” reporting & data access • To allow initial & follow-up’s to be paired
Metrics Development = What items do states/cities need? • Use Nominal Group Technique (NGT) • With State & City Tourism People • A&M researchers as facilitators • Continual Analyses of “State of the Art”
What Makes a Website Good? -Key Metrics to Predict “Impressions” “Informativeness” = Variety & Useful Information “Usability” = Info is EZ to Find & Understand “Inspiration” = Inspires a Visit & Represents “Credibility” = You are trusted & Keep promises
Beyond Impression… • How important is your web info? • How did your website visitors find your website? • Why are people visiting your website? • What decisions made prior to visiting your website • What info do visitors hope to find on your website? • What website info was most valuable to visitors?
Other Knowledge Needed • Market Profiles (web v. + V + NV) • Conversion (Net & Gross) & R.O.I. • Differences Between Visitors & NV’s • Tripographics • Satisfaction, Value, Quality, Intent! • Image • Benchmarks for all the above!
Research Design Hard links & pop-ups E-mails fed Into system Phase 1 Website Visit (1) Information Request 4 months later = e-mail sent • Website eval • Decisions made • -Profile Phase 2 Visited Destination (4) Non-Visit Destination (5) Visited Destination (2) Non-Visit Destination (3) • Information eval • Decisions made • Tripographics • Influence of info • Economic Impact • Image & Desires • Sat./PV/Intent • Information eval • Decisions made • Influence of info. • What did the do • Image & Desires • -Intentions • Influence of Web • Tripographics • -Economic Impact • - Image & Desires • -Sat./PV/Intent • Influence of Web • What did they do • -Image & Desires • -Intentions
Ongoing Progress • (Past Study) Has included 23 states • Approximately 300,000 Phase-One responses and 15,000 Phase-Two responses last year • Questions reviewed every year • Recently started its city version (12 participating) • Real-time Reporting and Data
All members are given a user name and password = they just input them here to start the process
Limitations & Conclusions • Coverage error • Not everyone has internet access • Special type of respondents? • Answer two surveys • Collection methods not standardized…yet
Implications & Recommendations • For participating destinations: • information regarding self and competitors • Decision making, travel behavior, and preference profile • Longitudinal changes by season, and over time • Future travel trends • Conversion, ROI & Economic Impact • For researchers: • A feasible tool for benchmarking destination website performance via a set of measures and metrics • Data on travel motivations, vacation decision-making, travel trends, and tourist behavior
Using Benchmarking to Examine Advertising Effectiveness James F. Petrick, Ph.D. Chief Problem Solver Tourvey Jim@Tourvey.com