A Tourist Attraction’s Members: Their Motivations, Relations and Roles

Olsson, Anna

doi:10.1080/15022250.2010.520858

Cited by 13 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…The research process started with an exploratory pre-study with participant observations, shadowing and semi-structured interviews with active members at the attraction to approach the membership phenomenon. The pre-study (Olsson, 2010) addressed the consumer's perspective of active membership from a marketing perspective to study why consumers are motivated to become members of a tourist attraction (member motivations); what kind of relations are members involved in (member relations); and what kind of roles members perform within the tourist attraction system (member roles). A survey was then developed based on review of membership literature and the findings of the prestudy to further explore membership interactions related to distance.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding age and gender, membership studies show conflicting findings (see Bhattacharya et al, 1995;Shelley and Polonsky, 2002;Paswan and Troy, 2004). However, many organizations show an ageing membership base (see studies by Bhattacharya et al, 1995;Bussell and Forbes, 2003a;Slater, 2003b;Olsson, 2010) and are in need of innovative strategies to recruit and retain new members.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Members' volunteer work in tourism settings is often performed front-line in the interface between visitors, fellow members and paid staff. Most existing research on tourism volunteers has focused on volunteer motivation (see Slater, 2003b;Paswan and Troy, 2004;Downward and Ralston, 2005;Edwards, 2005;Olsson, 2010) and management of volunteers focusing on recruiting and retention (see Bussell and Forbes, 2002;Elstad, 2003;Smith and Lockstone, 2008). Volunteering is studied in various tourist settings such as major sporting events (Kemp, 2002;Downward and Ralston, 2005); festivals (Smith and Lockstone, 2008;Gallarza et al, 2009;Getz et al, 2007;Hjalager, 2009); visitor information centres (Jago and Deery, 2002); and cultural heritage such as museums, galleries and theatres (Wymer and Brudney, 2000;Holmes, 2003;Slater, 2003a;Paswan and Troy, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Members may hence act as co‐creators in tourism settings when taking part in service encounters, marketing as supporters and advocates, making suggestions for improvements by being a member of boards or committees. Apart from being a low cost type of marketing, volunteering members may also add credibility to marketing efforts based on their personal interest in and often local knowledge of and attachment to the destination (Olsson, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial aspects of member retention, participation and co‐creation in tourism settings

Olsson

2012

J of Philanthropy and Mktg

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Many customers today belong to a number of different membership programs. Memberships have been applied in different ways in tourism settings since the 1970s. Gradually memberships have developed from merely rewarding loyal or frequent customers into building long‐term relationships generating mutual value. Membership programs are of increasing importance as competitive marketing tools. Membership bases are often geographically dispersed as membership organizations attract members living in various locations. This study focuses on member behaviours as interactions within a membership relationship. The influence of distance on member behaviours such as retention, participation, and co‐creation is studied. A survey of 755 members was conducted at a major Swedish nonprofit tourist attraction. Findings indicate that member behaviours such as supporting, visiting, use of member information channels, recruiting new members, performing volunteer work, sense of doing something good, and to get appreciation of member work show significant differences depending on how far away members live. Further studies of members are needed to find ways of developing memberships as strategic resources and especially member interactions as important innovative elements in performance and competition in tourism settings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Spatial aspects of member retention, participation and co‐creation in tourism settings

Olsson

2012

J of Philanthropy and Mktg

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“…A first draft of this study was presented at the 17th Nordic Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality Research, Lillehammer, Norway (Olsson, 2008). The paper was then further developed into an article entitled "A Tourist Attraction"s Members: Their Motivations, Relations and Roles", published in the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism (Olsson, 2010).…”

Section: An Exploratory Pre-studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Members in Tourism Settings – Their Motivations, Behaviours and Roles

Olsson

2013

Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism

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Memberships are used as competitive marketing tools to retain customers and build relationships across a wide variety of organizations and sectors. Membership research is an emergent multidisciplinary field of interest for scholars representing different disciplines.This thesis studies members and memberships at nonprofit organizations in tourism settings from a relationship marketing perspective. The four studies that make up this thesis explore the membership phenomenon with the aim to get insight into why individuals choose to become members, why they stay on as members, and how members interact and use their memberships. The overall objective is therefore to explore motivations related to memberships and how this is reflected in different member behaviours and member roles within tourism settings.Anna Karin Olsson is a lecturer and researcher in business administration at University West. Members in Tourism Settings ABSTRACTMembership programs are widely-used marketing tools. Many customers belong to a number of different membership programs across a variety of organizations and contexts. Memberships are based on the idea of mutual benefits of a relationship. Memberships in general offer tangible and intangible benefits such as free admission, discounts, special offers or access to special services, and a sense of belonging and identity. General organizational benefits of memberships besides customers are funding, fee revenue, legitimacy, and various kinds of member support. Memberships are used as competitive relationship marketing tools to retain customers, build relationships and encourage member participation. Many memberships have developed from merely being reward programs into an attempt to create emotional bonds based on calculative and affective commitment.Research into memberships is an emergent multidisciplinary field of interest for practitioners and scholars representing different disciplines. This thesis is delimited to study members and memberships at nonprofit organizations within tourism settings from a relationship marketing perspective. The aim is to get insight into why individuals choose to become members, why they stay on as members, and how members interact and use their memberships. The overall objective is therefore to explore motivations related to memberships and how this is reflected in different member behaviours and member roles within tourism settings. Throughout this thesis a mixed-method research approach was applied combining qualitative and quantitative research to explore the membership phenomenon. This thesis is comprised of four studies based on data from an explorative pre-study (12 respondents), a questionnaire survey (755 respondents), and a Nordic cross-case study (37 respondents).Findings showed member motivations, behaviours and roles within the tourism system. Member motivations were identified as altruistic (doing good for others), self-interest (doing good for yourself) and social (doing good with others). Findings further showed member interactions with othe...

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Developing a Country‐wide Tourist Loyalty Scheme: A Barren Landscape

Zopiatis

Theocharous

Kosmas

et al. 2016

Journal of Tourism Research

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Loyalty programs, popular in today's competitive business environment, have been capturing the attention of the tourism industry since the mid 80's. While many segments of the industry have successfully utilized loyalty programs, the development of a country‐wide loyalty scheme still poses major challenges. Reflecting the findings of an extensive mixed methods research, the paper set out to empirically investigate tourists' willingness to participate in a country‐wide loyalty scheme, define the incentives they expect from such a scheme, and, explore the perceptions of hospitality stakeholders towards this potential development. Findings are of interest to both academic scholars and industry stakeholders. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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A Tourist Attraction’s Members: Their Motivations, Relations and Roles

Cited by 13 publications

References 56 publications

Spatial aspects of member retention, participation and co‐creation in tourism settings

Spatial aspects of member retention, participation and co‐creation in tourism settings

Members in Tourism Settings – Their Motivations, Behaviours and Roles

Developing a Country‐wide Tourist Loyalty Scheme: A Barren Landscape

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