Why we do it
Why we do it
We are in the middle of a tremendous change.
Until recently, the paradigm of »the more you invest in advertising, the more you sell« was valid. Customers just had limited access to information available and relied to sources, like travel agencies, tourism advertisements or recommendations within a closed circle of friends. Travelers had to rely on travel books and destination information brochures to gather information on specific holiday destinations.
The internet discloses new information resources beyond local travel agencies, family and friends. Besides the availability of information on a vast choice of tourism
products, there are real-time price comparisons of these products available and user-generated reviews on social networks allow a genuine evaluation of them.
This empowerment of customers initiated a shift in tourism marketing thinking from advertising to product quality, since only authentic products with a sound perceived product quality receive positive online recommendations. The product quality itself emerges as the superior marketing tool.
Service Design Thinking offers an approach to enhance the perceived product quality and with it customer satisfaction and online reviews.