Negative symbolic aspects in destination branding: exploring the role of the 'undesired self' on web-based vacation information search intentions among potential first-time visitors

Tourist destination choices depend, among other factors, on the match between the destination’s personality image and consumers’ self-concept, in line with self-image congruence theory. Motives also mediate this relationship, yet tourism research largely neglects the influence of avoidance motives. This study applies the product-based construct of undesired congruity, or consumers’ tendency to avoid undesired stereotypical images, to the context of web-based vacation destination information search intentions among potential first-time visitors. Undesired congruity relates negatively to willingness to search for destination-related information online and serves as an additional predictor, beyond established relevant factors for pre-visit choice contexts. Moreover, it overrides the influence of established, telic, approach motive constructs, which implies its principal role in early destination-related decision making. The findings have practical implications for market research in tourism, as well as for destination branding. (author's abstract

Undesired self-image congruence in a low-involvement product context

The paper seeks to investigate the incremental value of a construct termed “undesired self-image congruence”, and capture consumers’ perceived closeness to negatively valenced brand-related attributes over and above established self-image congruence factors known to affect consumption-related attitudes and intentions. A questionnaire-based study was used to assess consumers’ attitudes and intentions to consume a low-involvement product (Marlboro cigarettes; n = 211). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were employed to determine the incremental predictive value of the newly introduced undesired congruity component over and above established self-image congruence facets. Undesired congruity proved its substantial and incremental value in predicting consumption-related attitudes, but did not directly influence purchasing intentions. Research limitations/implications - Avoidance motives related to undesired brand images appear to influence purchase decisions at early stages of the decision-making process, namely in attitude formation and evaluative responding. Controlled experimental approaches with a broader set of products should be used to corroborate this potential research implication. Because negative stereotypical images appear to feed into purchase-related decision processes at early stages, due caution should be exerted in primary data collection and brand positioning. Primary data collection should capture both positive and negative brand-related meanings attributed by consumers. Because the results show that undesired congruity has an incremental explanatory effect, positive versus negative symbolic meanings are clearly not just "two sides of the same coin". Consequently, brand positioning should define its strategy by simultaneously maximizing both the closeness to desired symbolic meanings and the distance to undesired symbolic associations. The value of the paper lies in testing the operation of undesired congruity and in quantifying its incremental contribution in the symbolic consumption context. (author's abstract

Understanding the willingness to participate in mobile surveys: exploring the role of utilitarian, affective, hedonic, social, self-expressive, and trust-related factors

Mobile technology offers a promising means to collect survey data, though the factors that influence people’s willingness to participate in mobile surveys and their actual participation remain unknown. To identify these factors, this study considers six conceptually distinct influences that may relate to the propensity to participate in mobile surveys. Some of them affect technology acceptance and usage of (mobile) technology in general; another set comes from studies of participation in computer-assisted surveys. The proposed unified framework encompasses utilitarian, affective, hedonic, social, self-expressive, and trust-related factors. An empirical study suggests that this framework explains the intention to participate and actual participation well, though of the six factors, hedonic, affective, self-expressive, and trust-related ones are most influential. Utilitarian aspects and beliefs about perceived social pressure to participate do not play significant roles. The authors discuss the practical implications of these results and outline some further research avenues. (author's abstract

Web Versus Other Survey Modes: An Updated and Extended Meta-Analysis Comparing Response Rates

Do web surveys still yield lower response rates compared with other survey modes? To answer this question, we replicated and extended a meta-analysis done in 2008 which found that, based on 45 experimental comparisons, web surveys had an 11 percentage points lower response rate compared with other survey modes. Fundamental changes in internet accessibility and use since the publication of the original meta-analysis would suggest that people’s propensity to participate in web surveys has changed considerably in the meantime. However, in our replication and extension study, which comprised 114 experimental comparisons between web and other survey modes, we found almost no change: web surveys still yielded lower response rates than other modes (a difference of 12 percentage points in response rates). Furthermore, we found that prenotifications, the sample recruitment strategy, the survey’s solicitation mode, the type of target population, the number of contact attempts, and the country in which the survey was conducted moderated the magnitude of the response rate differences. These findings have substantial implications for web survey methodology and operations

Postvisit Destination Loyalty Judgments: Developing and Testing a Comprehensive Congruity Model

Previous research has established the effect of self-congruity on both pre- and postvisit constructs, but its predictive power has appeared minimal. Departing from both classical and contemporary approaches to human needs and values, this study proposes a comprehensive model explaining more variance in postvisit destination loyalty judgments. The model comprises six explanatory variables, in addition to self-congruity: functional, hedonic, leisure, economic, safety, and m oral congruity. Based on a large-scale web survey among tourists (N = 973), the results provide good support for the proposed model (64% explained variance). Each of the seven congruity components exerts a significant influence on postvisit loyalty, but their relative contributions differ considerably. Other than self-congruity, functional, hedonic, leisure, and safety congruity exert the greatest influence on postvisit loyalty judgments; in contrast, economic and moral congruity have lesser influences. The authors discuss the results in light of their theoretical and practical implications for destination marketing. (author's abstract

A General Interviewer Training Curriculum for Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (GIT-CAPI) (Version 1.0)

Interviewer training is essential to ensure high-quality data in interviewer-administered surveys. Basically, interviewer training can be divided into general interviewer training which provides interviewers with fundamental knowledge about their role in the data collection process as well as succinct practical advice and project-specific interviewer training which provides additional project-specific qualifications. This survey guideline consists of two parts (I) the introductory and explanatory text and (II) the General Interviewer Training for Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (GIT-CAPI) Curriculum. The GIT-CAPI aims at offering guidance on how to design, structure, and implement general interview training for Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI). It includes seven training modules addressing the following topics: (1) procedural view on surveys, (2) quality perspective on surveys, (3) gaining respondents’ cooperation, (4) survey administration and survey instruments, (5) interviewing techniques and fieldwork, (6) professional standards and ethics, data protection and privacy, and (7) a technical tutorial. The GIT-CAPI is written primarily for survey research institutes and large survey projects, but they are also aimed at individual researchers and university research projects to provide them with information on relevant basic interviewer qualifications and allow them to incorporate some modules of the GIT-CAPI into their own interviewer training program. This GIT-CAPI will be revised regularly

Compensating for low topic interest and long surveys: a field experiment on nonresponse in web surveys

Certain survey characteristics proven to affect response rates, such as a survey’s length and topic, are often under limited control of the researcher. Therefore, survey researchers sometimes seek to compensate for such undesired effects on response rates by employing countermeasures such as material or nonmaterial incentives. The scarce evidence on those factors’ effects in web survey contexts is far from being conclusive. This study is aimed at filling this gap by examining the effects of four factors along with selected interactions presumed to affect response rates in web surveys. Requests to complete a web-based, selfadministered survey were sent to 2,152 owners of personal websites. The 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 fully crossed factorial design encompassed the experimental conditions of (a) high versus low topic salience, (b) short versus long survey, (c) lottery incentive versus no incentive, and (d) no feedback and general feedback (study results) versus personal feedback (individual profile of results). As expected, highly salient and shorter surveys yielded considerably higher unit-response rates. Moreover, partial support was found for interaction hypotheses derived from the leverage-salience theory of survey participation. Offering personalized feedback compensated for the negative effects of low topic salience on response rates. Also, the lottery incentive tended to evoke more responses only if the survey was short (versus long), but this interaction effect was only marginally significant. The results stress the usefulness of a multifactorial approach encompassing interaction effects to understand participation differences in web surveys. (auhtor'S abstract

Prenotification in web-based access panel surveys: the influence of mobile text messaging versus e-mail on response rates and sample composition

To compare the effectiveness of different prenotification and invitation procedures in a webbased three-wave access panel survey over 3 consecutive months, we experimentally varied the contact mode in a fully crossed two-factorial design with (a) three different prenotification conditions (mobile short messaging service [SMS], e-mail, no prenotice) and (b) two “invitation and reminder" conditions (SMS, e-mail). A group with nearly complete mobile phone coverage was randomly assigned to one of these six experimental conditions. As expected, SMS prenotifications outperformed e-mail prenotifications in terms of response rates across all three waves. Furthermore, e-mail invitation response rates outperformed those for SMS invitations. The combination of SMS prenotification and e-mail invitation performed best. The different experimental treatments did not have an effect on the sample composition of respondents between groups. (author's abstract

Survey Participation via Mobile Devices in a Probability-based Online-Panel: Prevalence, Determinants, and Implications for Nonresponse

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Effekte des Erhebungsverfahrens? Ein Vergleich zwischen einer Web-basierten und einer schriftlichen Befragung zum ISSP-Modul Umwelt

'Eine inhaltlich identische Befragung (Umwelteinstellungsmodul des International Social Survey Programme, ISSP) wurde sowohl im Rahmen einer bevölkerungsrepräsentativen schriftlichen Befragung als auch in Form einer Web-basierten Version mit Hilfe eines für die Internetnutzerschaft repräsentativen Online-Access-Panels durchgeführt. Im direkten Gruppenvergleich über beide Erhebungsmodi zeigten sich zunächst deutliche Unterschiede über inhaltliche wie auch soziodemografische Variablen. Eine Anpassungsgewichtung der Stichprobe der Internetnutzer an die bevölkerungsrepräsentative Stichprobe auf der Basis soziodemografischer Variablen ergab für den Vergleich über inhaltliche Items ein inkonsistentes Bild. Beschränkt sich dagegen der Vergleich unter beiden Erhebungsmodi auf solche Personen, die über einen ähnlichen Bildungshintergrund verfügen, so sind weder über die Itemmittelwerte noch über ausgewählte Item-Interkorrelationen praktisch bedeutsame Unterschiede ermittelbar. D.h. die Online erhobenen Daten stimmen für eine ausgewählte High-Coverage Gruppe (hier: Personen mit hoher Bildung) weitgehend überein mit denen der schriftlichen Variante.' (Autorenreferat)'The module 'environmental attitudes and values' of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) was administered both as a paper-and-pencil questionnaire to a representative sample of the German population and as a Web-based survey to an online access panel representative for German Internet users. These two Samples differ significantly with regard to sociodemographic and Substantive variables. An attempt to weight the data of the Web-based sample an the basis of distribution characteristics of several socio-demographic variables resulted in rather inconsistent findings for the comparison of substantive items. However, if only respondents with similar education levels are compared, neither relevant differences in item means nor differences in selected inter-item correlations are observable. This means that for high coverage groups (e.g. subjects with a high education level), the data gathered via the Web are basically identical to those obtained in a traditional self-administered mode.' (author's abstract)