The role of image in service promotion: focusing on the influence of film on consumer choice within tourism

Abstract

This paper presents a review and discussion of the role image plays in service promotion and consumer choice in the context of film‐induced tourism. Consumers can be very sensitive to images which are important determinants of what a service customer purchases. In relation to image, the medium of film can have a very influential impact on its audience. Consumers may make purchase choices in a range of areas as a result of what they have seen in the movies. An expanding body of literature suggests that film can influence people's travel decisions and entice them to visit particular destinations they have seen on the cinema screen (reinforced through repeat viewing on video, DVD and television). Tourism is a service industry. Does the image of a destination and how it is represented help overcome some of the challenges of service marketing? Many regions throughout the British Isles have seen their consumer appeal improve because of their links with respective film and television productions. Although they have benefited tourism‐wise from this, in many cases there still has not been enough real support from tourist authorities to this growth phenomenon, and as such, the full potential of film to tap into the consumer psyche has not yet been fully realized. Academic discourse from several disciplines is examined in this communication culminating in a conceptual model of destination enhancement through film‐induced image, featuring the conscious and unconscious communication factors at work on two sets of consumers (film consumers and destination consumers). As a ‘work in progress’, the paper sets the scene for further empirical research in this interesting area of study.

Film tourism – Evolution, progress and prospects

“…as Bolan and Williams (2008) argue, filmic images are presented to a "captive audience for a relatively long period of time" and thus have the capacity for sustained impressions of a viewed destination. Although there have been several empirical studies on the role of film in changing or shaping destination image as noted above, the majority of studies are relatively small-scale and have produced results that require further validation before more general conclusions can be made with regard to how film affects perceptions of destinations, and to what extent such perceptions create or influence a travel decision.…”

How do Saudi Arabians Perceive the Egyptian Tourist Destination through Drama and Films?

“…Film induced tourism have powerful impacts on shaping and changing an individual's image on a destination showed in it create a first-time image or alter an existing image in a relatively short period of time and increase the awareness of the host city [7] besides, influencing tourists' anticipations of a specific location [50].…”

“…Several researchers also provided several empirical studies about the roles played by films in developing a destination's image [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50].…”

Cinematic Plateau and Sustainable Tourism

“…For example, after showing the film of "Brave Heart" in Scotland by Wallace Monument, the growth of tourism has occurred by 300%, or the film of Memories of Africa (Memorias de Africa) in the plateau of Sahara National Game Reserve, Kenya with 250.000 tourists reached by 700.000 visitors after showing the film. (BOLAN, 2008). Today organizations, weblogs and many websites such as the Location Magazine are introducing cinematic plateau to the cinematographers and each as an intermediary, try to attract capital of the cinematographers and to sell their propagation space to the local people to connect the plateaus to the cinematographers.…”