Current Attitudes Towards The Littlehampton Harbour Website Gemma Williams, Georgia Saunders, Sophie Eaton & EloĂŻse Downer 1500624
1503230
1502057
1502622
The Littlehampton Harbour Tourism Office is in the process of realigning its marketing strategy to key customer groups in order to promote the tourism product that the town has to offer. Investigate current attitudes towards the town’s website. Across a range of visitor profiles, including families with children, couples, and the
retired market.
The results will be used to determine the structure and content of the new
Littlehampton Harbour Tourism website.
2
Tourism is an important part of Arun’s economy; short breaks, activity holidays, visiting friends and relations and visits by people from abroad have all increased.
Marine-based tourism, focused on the harbour and seafront.
The 'Sussex By The Sea Visitor Strategy 2006-2011' identified a number of strategic priorities including; Increasing the value and spend by day and staying visitors Improving the quality of the visitor experience
The outcome would add increased value to the local economy. (Arun District Council, 2017a)
3
DMO Websites ‘Destination Management Organisation’ (Morrison, 2013)
Most important part of destination marketing (Lončarić at al., 2003; Morrison, 2013)
Target Marketing Positioning
Partnerships
Programmes and Activities
Littlehampton Harbour Website: Social Media
Marketing Functions of DMO Websites
Destination Branding
Globalisation
Target Marketing Positioning Destination Branding
Market Research
Relationship Marketing Database Marketing
(Adapted from Morrison, 2013, p.374)
4
Example: A Successful DMO Website
Cornwall, like Littlehampton Harbour has varied visitor profiles. Conducted questionnaires and interviews (Beaufort Research, 2013). Award winning DMO website (British Travel Awards, 2016; Visit Cornwall, 2016a; Travel Perspective, 2016)
Result: improved functionality and accessibility (Visit Cornwall, 2016b).
5
Aim:
To assess the attitudes of key visitors' profiles towards the Littlehampton Harbour tourism website in order to determine the improved structure and content to be implemented.
Objective 1: To identify key visitor profiles of the Littlehampton Harbour Website. To understand the key visitor profiles and stakeholder attitudes toward the
Objective 2: Littlehampton Harbour Website.
To develop Littlehampton Harbour’s website contents that meets the needs of
Objective 3: the key visitor profiles.
To advise Littlehampton Tourist Board to implement targeted website contents
Objective 4: that meets the needs of the key visitor profiles.
6
In Data Collection:
Benefited by Research Results:
Visitors of Littlehampton Harbour
Littlehampton Harbour Tourism Office
Residents of Littlehampton
Littlehampton Town Council.
Residents of the Arun District (participating in focus groups)
Residents of Littlehampton
Littlehampton Harbour Website Users
Businesses (linked within Littlehampton Harbour Website)
7
 Mixed Approach
Data Collection Tools: Observation Questionnaires Focus Groups
Interviews
Adapted from Nielsen Norman Group (2014)
8
Observation
Behavioural
What People Do
Why & How To Fix
How Many & How Much
Focus Groups
Questionnaires
What People Say
Interviews
Attitudinal Qualitative
Quantitative
Adapted from Nielsen Norman Group (2014)
9
1503230
"Observation is a way of gathering data by watching behaviour, events, statistics, etc..." (Driscoll, 2011)
Observations are a common research method because… They’re cheap They’re easy They need few resources (McLeod, 2015)
But how do we observe a website? 10
1503230
Data Collection Tool #1 Observation Google Analytics is the world’s most popular website statistics service, giving you the digital analytics tools you need to analyze data from all touchpoints in one place. (Q-Success, 2017; Google, 2017)
- WebEVAL system, by Belle Tourism
25%
International (BTI), suggests evaluating the ‘Technical Perspective’ of a DMO website is 25% of the process.
- Looks into link popularity, downloads, and identifies technical problems (Morrison, 2013, p.377) 11
1503230
Data Collection Tool #1 Observation Population Size: unique visitor numbers (IP addresses)
Sample Size: identified through time or location
Littlehampton South England Rest of the UK Europe Rest of the World
12
1503230
Google Analytics will help us find out…
Most and least visited pages How long typical users spend on the site Files that are downloaded How easy it is to navigate Peak times of use (times of day, days of week, time of year, etc) Platform that site is accessed from
However…
Google Analytics provides quantitative data only It answers what visitors are doing, when they are doing this and how they are doing this It does not answer why visitors do this – “Analytics simply aren’t going to tell you why a visitor came and left your site.” (Digital Current, 2014) 13
1502057
 A predefined series of questions used to collect information from
individuals. (Research Connections, 2017)
 Quantitative data gained from close-ended questions will be
analysed using pie-chars, bar charts and percentages. (Research Methodology, 2017)
 Using a questionnaire will help us gain a better understanding of
the attitudes of the Littlehampton Harbour website users, and achieve our objective 2 and 3.
14
1502057
 The questionnaire needs to consider the details and attitudes of
the Littlehampton Harbour website user in order to help categorize character profiles.
 Asking these questions will give us the data to help us
understand objective 1 and 2.
 According to Denscombe (2009, p.15) When considering the
research questions, they need to specify exactly what is to be investigated. Specific things that are to be observed, measured and integrated in order to shed light on the broader topic. 15
1502057
Examples of the data topics we want to collect through the questionnaire will include: Basic personal information
Usability Information Service Interaction Why they visit Littlehampton Harbour (Shia et al., 2016)
Once we have collected this data we will be able to categorise and understand Littlehampton Harbour's key visitor profiles as well as draw attention to the key issues regarding the quality of the website. 16
1502057
Our population will be the users of the website and our sample
size will be stratified random sampling.
The questionnaire will be posted on the current Littlehampton
Harbour website to reach the appropriate audience in a cost effective way. (Wiersma, 2016, p.2)
A disadvantage to using online questionnaires is that they have
a low level response rate of 10%. This means in order to gain 1,000 responses we will need to receive 10,000 website clicks. (PeoplePulse, 2017)
We aim to get as many responses as possible.
17
1502057
•Can be quickly designed, implemented and applied to large populations such as Littlehampton and surrounding areas in West Sussex. •Respondents can take their time to answer the questions when the time best suits them. (Brace, 2008) • Cost effective method as it is free to create and upload onto the Littlehampton website. (Simply
•When a questionnaire is posted on the website, there is no one on hand to help or clarify a question. •Difficult to obtain a good response rate when only posted on the website. •Respondents may ignore certain questions. •Respondents may misunderstand questions. (Evalued, 2017)
Psychology, 2017) 18
1500624
‘A method for collecting data whereby selected participants discuss their reactions and feelings about a product, service, situation or concept, under the guidance of a group leader’ (Collins and Hussey, 2014, p.341)
Useful in applied market-research studies:
Obtaining customer feedback Stimulating new ideas and creative concepts Diagnosing potential problems with a new program, service
or product (Collis and Hussey, 2014; Davies, 2007; Easterby-Smith et al, 2015; Stewart et al., 2007) 19
1500624
Ideal for following quantitative data collection and
analysis (Denscombe, 2012; Stewart et al., 2007) - Website analytics Key Visitor - Questionnaire Profiles! Research objective 2: ‘To understand the key visitor
profiles and stakeholder attitudes toward the Littlehampton Harbour Website’. Mostly fitting for the research However, limitations
should be considered relating to this scenario. (Denscombe, 2014; Easterby-Smith et al, 2015; Stewart et al, 2007) 20
1500624
Arun District Population size:
Schedule •
Formulate Research Question
•
Identify Sample
•
Identify Moderator
•
Generate Interview Guide
•
Recruit Sample
•
Conduct Focus Group(s)
•
Analyse and Interpret Data
•
Write Report
•
Action!
The Arun District Sample:
- Families (with children) - Couples - Retired Market
155,732 People
(Arun District Council, 2017b)
Desired number of participants: 6-12 per focus group (Stewart et al., 2007)
Three focus groups per visitor type (Litosseliti, L., 2003)
(adapted from Stewart et al., 2007, p.48)
21
1500624
Schedule •
Formulate Research Question
•
Identify Sample
•
Identify Moderator
•
Generate Interview Guide
•
Recruit Sample
•
Conduct Focus Group(s)
•
Analyse and Interpret Data
•
Write Report
•
Action! (adapted from Stewart et al., 2007, p.48)
Other considerations:
(Digital Current, 2014; Ellis-Chadwick and Jobber, 2013; Lijadi and Schalkwyk, 2015) 22
1500624
Research Aim: To assess the attitudes of key visitors profiles toward the Littlehampton Harbour Tourism website in order to determine the improved structure and content to be implemented. Guided by a ‘topic guide’ that is designed based on the analysis
of completed data collection methods (Easterby-Smith et al, 2015).
+ Probing Questions (Litosseliti, 2003; Collins and Hussey, 2009)
1. Navigation, Usability and Accessibility 2. Content and Information Quality 3. Aesthetics and Design
Is the website easy to navigate?
Was there any difficulty finding information? Could you explain further? Can you give me an example?
Is the information on the website useful?
How would you use the information? Is the information useful?
Do you find the website design appealing?
What would you want to change? How much does this affect you?
Adapted from Bartels et al. (2002, p.5), Park and Gretzel (2007), Ryan (2017).
23
1500624
24
1502622
Structured interview “The aim is for all interviewees to be given exactly the same context of questioning” (Bryman and Bell, 2011) Via Skype, synchronous mediated interview or by face to face interviews (Easterby-Smith et al, 2015) Audio Recorded (Denscombe, 2014) Conducting interviews is relevant to this scenario as it allows qualitative data to be collected on a person's attitudes. 25
1502622
Data Collection Tool #4 Interviews
Six visitors to Littlehampton Harbour within identified visitor types. The environmental health officer from West Sussex County Council. Two residents living within two miles of Littlehampton Harbour.
(Clegg and Gutic, 2013; Morrison, 2013)
Eight business managers from company's within two miles of Littlehampton Harbour and within identified key tourism segments. 26
1502622
Data Collection Tool #4 Interviews
 Population Size: Visiting/ Residing/
Working in Littlehampton Harbour.
 Sample Size: Identified interviewees who
align with the VERB model.
27
1502622
Formulating questions for an interview guide (Bryman and Bell, 2011)
28
1502622
Visitors
Environment
Residents
Businesses
Navigation
Awareness of environmental responsibility (on the website)
Sense of community within website
External Links
Accuracy of information
Information relevance
Graphic Design
Communication
Overall Quality
Coherence of information Website Accessibility (Campbell, 2013)
29
1502622
Data Collection Tool #4 Interviews Benefits to this scenario
Limitations to this scenario
Depth of information
Interviewer effect/ Inhibitions
Insights
Time-Consuming
Equipment
Invasion of privacy
Flexibility Validity of the data Adapted from: (Denscombe, 2014) 30
To advise Littlehampton Tourist Board to implement targeted website contents that meets the needs of the key visitor profiles.
Objective 1
4th
Observation (Analytics)
1st
Questionnaires
2nd
Focus Groups
3rd
Interviews
Objective 2
Objective 3
Objective 4
31
Thank You. Any Questions?
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Arun District Council (2017a) Draft Local Plan (2013 – 2028) Consultation. Available at: http://arun.objective.co.uk/portal/planning/04__local_plan_consultation_190712/dlp_13-28_consultation?pointId=2243789 (Accessed: 23 March 2017). Arun District Council (2017b) Population Key Facts. Available at: http://www.arun.gov.uk/population (Accessed: 6 March 2017). Bartels, W., Breeze, M. Peterson, N. (2002) ‘Evaluating Web Sites through the use of Focus Group Interviews’. University of Florida IFAS Extension. Available at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC04900.pdf (Accessed: 14 February 2017). Beaufort Research (2013) Cornwall Visitor Survey 2012. Available at: https://www.visitcornwall.com/sites/default/files/generic_files/Cornwall%20Visitor%20Survey%202012.pdf (Accessed: 14 March 2017). Brace, I (2008) Questionnaire Design: How to Plan, Structure and Write Survey Material for Effective Market Research. 2nd edn. London: Kogan Page. British Travel Awards (2016) British Travel Awards 2016 Finalists. Available at: http://britishtravelawards.com/cac.php?min=d&max=e&title=DEA-EXP (Accessed: 20 March 2017). Bryman, A., Bell, E. (2011) Business Research Methods. 4th edn. New York: Oxford University Press. Campbell, A. (2013) Improving Travel Website Accessibility. Available at: https://www.nomensa.com/assets/assets/document/asset_files/Improving-Travel-Website-Accessibility_QpL2791.pdf (Accessed: 14 March 2017). Clegg, A., Gutic, J. (2013) ‘Enhancing Education For Sustainable Development In Business And Management, Hospitality, Leisure, Marketing, Tourism’. The Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/esd_clegg_final_0.pdf (Accessed: 14 March 2017). Collis, J. and Hussey, R. (2009) Business Research. 3rd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Collis, J. and Hussey, R. (2014) Business Research: a Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students. 4th edn. London: Palgrave. Davies, M. B. (2007) Doing a Successful Research Project: Using Qualitative or Quantitative Methods. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Denscombe, M. (2009) Ground Rules for Social Research: Guidelines for Good Practice. 2nd edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press Denscombe, M. (2012) Research Proposals: A Practical Guide. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
33
• • • • • • • •
• • • • • • •
Denscombe, M. (2014) The Good Research Guide. 5th edn. Berkshire: Open University Press Digital Current (2014) Focus Groups: Marketing’s Oldest Technique Adapts to the Digital Age. Available at: http://www.digitalcurrent.com/digital-marketing/focus-groups-in-digital-age/ (Accessed: 3rd March 2017). Driscoll, D. (2011) Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews. Available at: https://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces2/driscoll--introduction-to-primary-research.pdf (Accessed: 5 March 2017). Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. R. (2015) Management & Business Research. 5th edn. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Ellis-Chadwick, F. and Jobber, D. (2013) Principles and Practice of Marketing. 7th edn. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. Evalued (2017) Questionnaires. Available at: http://www.evalued.bcu.ac.uk/tutorial/4a.htm (Accessed: 7 March 2017). Google (2017) Improve the customer experience with digital analytics. Available at: https://www.google.com/analytics/analytics/#?modal_active=none (Accessed: 7 March 2017). Lijadi, A. A. and Schalkwyk, G. J. V. (2015) ‘Online Facebook Focus Group Research of Hard-to-Reach Participants’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286544645_Online_Facebook_Focus_Group_Research_of_Hard-to-Reach_Participants (Accessed: 3 March 2017). Litosseliti, L. (2003) Using Focus Groups in Research. London: Continuum. Lončarić, D., Bašan, L., Marković, M, G. (2013) ‘Importance of DMO websites in tourist destination selection’. Marketing in a Dynamic Envinronment – Academic and Practical Insights, 2013. Available at: https://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/666923.Loncaric_Basan_GligoraMarkovic.pdf (Accessed: 14 March 2017). McLeod, S. (2015) Observation Methods. Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/observation.htm (Accessed: 7 March 2017). Morrison, A. M. (2013) Marketing and Managing Tourism Destinations. Oxon: Routledge. Neilsen Norman Group (2014) When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods. Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/ (Accessed: 2 March 2017). Park, Y.A. and Gretzel, U., (2007) ‘Success factors for destination marketing web sites: A qualitative meta-analysis’. Journal of Travel Research, 46(1), pp.46-63. PeoplePulse (2017) Survey Response Rates. Available at: http://www.peoplepulse.com/resources/useful-articles/survey-response-rates/ (Accessed: 15 March 2017).
34
• • • • • • • • • • •
Q-Success (2017) Usage Statistics and Market Share of Traffic Analysis Tools for Websites. Available at: https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/traffic_analysis/all (Accessed 7 March 2017). Research Connections (2017) Survey Research and Questionnaires. Available at: https://www.researchconnections.org/childcare/datamethods/survey.jsp (Accessed: 7 March 2017). Research Methodology (2017) Questionnaires. Available at: http://research-methodology.net/research-methods/surveymethod/questionnaires-2/ (Accessed: 7 March 2017). Ryan, D. (2017) Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. 4th edn. London: Kogan Page. Shia, B., Chen, M., Ramdansyah, A., Wang, S. (2016) ‘Measuring Customer Satisfaction toward Localization Website by WebQual and Importance Performance Analysis (Case Study on AliexPress Site in Indonesia)’. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management. (6), pp 1-12. Simply Psychology (2017) Questionnaires. Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/questionnaires.html (Accessed: 28 February 2017). Stewart, D. W., Shamdasani, P. N. and Rook, D. W. (2007) Focus Groups: Theory and Practice. 2nd edn. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Travel Perspective (2016) Social Travel Britain Awards 2016 – Winners. Available at: http://www.travelperspective.co.uk/2016-winners/ (Accessed: 20 March 2016). Visit Cornwall (2016a) Visit Cornwall wins at Social Travel Britain Awards 2016. Available at: https://www.visitcornwall.com/aboutcornwall/blogging-cornwall/visit-cornwall-wins-social-travel-britain-awards-2016 (Accessed: 20 March 2017). Visit Cornwall (2016b) New and improved destination website for Cornwall. Available at: https://www.visitcornwall.com/media/new-andimproved-destination-website-cornwall (Accessed: 14 March 2017). Wiersma, W. (2016) The Validity of Surveys: Online and Offline. Available at: http://papers.wybowiersma.net/abstracts/Wiersma,Wybo,The_validity_of_surveys_online_and_offline.pdf (Accessed: 20th March 2017).
35