Description
To demonstrate how brand netnography is useful in showing how visitors interpret the
places, people and situations that they experience when traveling
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Etic interpreting of naïve subjective personal introspections of tourism behavior:
Analyzing visitors' stories about experiencing Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo
Drew Martin Arch G. Woodside Ning Dehuang
Article information:
To cite this document:
Drew Martin Arch G. Woodside Ning Dehuang, (2007),"Etic interpreting of naïve subjective personal
introspections of tourism behavior", International J ournal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol.
1 Iss 1 pp. 14 - 44
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Etic interpreting of na?
¨
ve subjective
personal introspections of tourism
behavior
Analyzing visitors’ stories about experiencing
Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo
Drew Martin
College of Business and Economics, University of Hawaii at Hilo,
Hilo, Hawaii, USA
Arch G. Woodside
Department of Marketing, Carroll School of Management,
Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and
Ning Dehuang
School of Management and Economics,
Kumming University of Science and Technology,
Kumming, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – To demonstrate how brand netnography is useful in showing how visitors interpret the
places, people and situations that they experience when traveling.
Design/methodology/approach – Through analysis of online consumer stories about their travel
experiences, this paper probes how visitors interpret their experiences while visiting cities in Asia.
Deconstructing texts written by consumers via Heider’s balance theory provides the method of
analysis for samples of both positive and negative travel experiences of foreign visitors.
Findings – Mapping consumer experiences shows immediate and downstream positive and negative
associations of concepts, events, and outcomes in visitors’ stories. These maps include descriptions of
how visitors live speci?c destination’s unique promises.
Research limitations/implications – The population of bloggers who report their experiences
may not be representative of the population of all visitors.
Practical implications – Blog-journal stories provides the opportunity to collect emic interpretative
data unobtrusively. These stories have the potential to in?uence substantial numbers of future visitors
who go online in search of ?rst-person unbiased, unrehearsed reports of others’ destination experiences.
First-person (emic) reports enable managers of places (brands) to learn and talk in dialects of customers.
Originality/value – This paper provides a revisionist proposal to Holt’s ?ve-step strategy for
building destinations as iconic brands and suggestions for tourism management. The revisionist view
includes interpreting consumers’ own interpretations of their place experiences.
Keywords Tourism, Travel, Storytelling, South Asia, South East Asia, Far East
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-6182.htm
The authors gratefully acknowledge the data collection assistance of Ning Dehuang, Kunming
University of Science and Technology, PRC.
IJCTHR
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Received April 2006
Revised July 2006
Accepted October 2006
International Journal of Culture,
Tourism and Hospitality Research
Vol. 1 No. 1, 2007
pp. 14-44
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1750-6182
DOI 10.1108/17506180710729592
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Certain cities are able to project unique place identities that transform visitors from
their ordinary lives to extraordinary experiences (Judd, 1995; Pagano and Bowman,
1996). For example, New York often is called the Big Apple. What does this metaphor
imply about New York? “Big” may suggest a major transformation, or largeness.
“Apple” conjures up images of Adam and Eve and forbidden knowledge, or perhaps
rebellion against parental authority, banishment, and achieving adulthood. The point
here is that destination nicknames widely shared are kernel expressions of iconic
myths rooted in medieval allegories (Stern, 1988, 1995) – allegories permitting
“the championing of the id over the ego” (Holt, 2003, p. 49) via a personal
experience-event-happening that leaves an indelible memory (Peters, 2003, p. 113).
Consumers often are unwilling to admit/know (to ourselves or to others) the need to
enact the promise that an iconic brand offers (for a review, see Woodside, 2006) – thus,
the possible scof?ng at the Big Apple allegory. Part of the visitor’s enacting a
brand-destination experience occurs unconsciously and this part is often stored and
retrieved unconsciously (Bargh, 1989, 1994; Bargh et al., 1996; Woodside, 2005;
Zaltman, 2003) – see Zaltman’s (2003) literature review con?rming that most thinking
is done unconsciously.
This paper’s objectives include analyzing naturally occurring communications by
?rst-time visitors to cities in countries beyond their home nations. The paper examines
whether or not Heider’s (1958) balance theory is useful for understanding the
?rst-person reports visitors communicate about themselves and interpretations about
their self-reports of own travel experiences and destinations they visit (e.g. emic
storytelling). Heider’s theory includes the proposition that individuals seek to maintain
psychological balance and to overcome states of imbalance when psychological
imbalance occurs in their lives. For example, a Jewish couple buying a German car has
to overcome an imbalanced state of automatically associating Germany with the
Holocaust (Woodside and Chebat, 2001).
The work of several scholars in consumer research(Arnould and Price, 1993; Arnould
and Wallendorf, 1994; Hirschman, 1986) and relating ?elds of human inquiry (Bruner,
1990; Mitroff and Kilmann, 1976; Orr, 1990; Zukier, 1986) support the proposition
that, “. . . people think narratively rather than argumentatively or paradigmatically”
(Weick, 1995, p. 127). Two additional propositions complement this ?rst one:
P2. A substantial amount of information stored and retrieved from memory is
episodic – stories that include inciting incidents, experiences,
outcomes/evaluations, and summaries/nuances of person-to-person and
person-and-brand relationships (Fournier, 1998; Shank, 1990).
P3. Stories expressing how and why life changes are highly persuasive (McKee,
1997, 2003).
Storytelling research (Arnould and Wallendorf, 1994; Fourier, 1998; Shank, 1990) is
useful because such research helps to clarify and to deepen knowledge of how people
resolve paradoxes triggered in their minds by unbalanced states. Learning stories
enables the researcher to perceive the complexity often associating when initial
balanced states become unbalanced and the steps taken to achieve old or new balanced
states (Heider, 1958; Woodside and Chebat, 2001). Storytelling research enables holistic
views on how initial balanced states become unbalanced and the steps taken to achieve
the old or a new balanced state.
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First-person stories (i.e. a story that the protagonist in the story reports to herself
and possibly to others, that is, an emic interpretation of how, why, who, when, and
where events unfold with what immediate and long-term consequences) are what
people bring back from travels and destination visits. Ethnographic researcher (i.e. etic)
reports of city visitors’ behaviors and meanings visitors have of their experiences often
fail to include emic interpretations (Moore, 1985) – the reader of such reports might
well ask, do the visitors actually report to themselves and others very similar
interpretations as the ethnographer reports?
Visitors’ storytelling about their own experiences often describes myth
enactments/climaxes uniquely relevant to speci?c destinations. The internet has
become an important medium for sharing these experiences. Travelers satisfy both
hedonic and social needs in telling their stories online (Wang and Fesenmaier, 2004). Such
storytelling frequently closes with advocating future visitors by oneself and others, or the
avoidance of such visits – the present paper examines this fundamental proposition.
Myths and consumer brand experiences
According to Holt (2003), people always have needed myths. These simple stories with
compelling characters and resonant plots, myths help to make sense of the world.
Encapsulated within myths are icons. Icons are powerful because they deliver myths to
us in a tangible form, thereby making them more accessible. Although icons can be
brands, often they are people (e.g. Ronald Regan, Marylyn Monroe, and Martin Luther
King). When a brand creates a myth, often through advertisements, consumers come to
perceive the myth as embodied in the product. Buying the product serves to consume
the myth and to forge a relationship with the brand. Anthropologists call this event
“ritual action.” For example, Nike’s core customers laced up their Air Jordan’s in the
early 1990s to tap into Nike’s myth of individual achievement through perseverance.
Iconic brands embody myths that attempt to resolve acute tension people feel between
their own lives and society’s prevailing ideology (Holt, 2003).
Holt (2003) urges marketers to consider moving away from conventional marketing
of attempting to position a brand as offering unique attributes and bene?ts; he outlines
a brand strategy for competing to provide the most compelling myth. Brand winners in
myth markets become icons; they are the greatest performers of the greatest myths,
and they bask in glory and cultural leadership. More often than not, in America at
least, those who win in myth markets are performing a myth of rebelling: the most
successful icons rely on an intimate and credible relationship with a rebel world: Nike
with the African-American ghetto, Harley with outlaw bikers, Volkswagen with
bohemian artists, Apple with cyberpunks, Mountain Dew with slackers – protagonists
who would rather pursue quixotic activities than “grow up” and get serious abut
careers (Holt, 2003).
While Holt approaches iconic brand analysis from the perspective of marketers,
the need exists to learn how consumers implicitly and explicitly enact brand myths.
For example, from one marketer’s perspective at Harley: “What we sell is the ability for
a 43-year-old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns, and have
people be afraid of him” (Peters, 2003, p. 116). Does the 43-year-old accountant’s
lived-myth plot match with the marketer’s plot? Responding to this issue, a substantial
number of studies focus on how consumers enact myths via experiences with iconic
brands (Brown et al., 2003; Stern, 1988).
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Relating to the primary focus on destinations providing visitors the opportunity to
enact iconic myths, Borgerson and Schroeder (2003) detail such a myth for the holiday
vacation destination frequently found to rank ?rst among Americans: Hawaii.
Through furniture, books, dishes, and record albums from the 1950s, Borgerson and
Schroeder (2003) describe how marketing, tourism, music, and stereotypes combine to
“package paradise”: metaphorically, connections to the primitive, pagan, and virginal
inspire visions of exotic young females, sensual, sexually available, and ready to frolic.
What better escape than the postcoital sigh, the fall into slumber, and a tasty luau meal
upon awakening (Borgerson and Schroeder, 2003, p. 223). However, the issues remains
for further study of if and how visitors enact this myth as Borgerson and Schroeder
interpret from the artifacts they examine; such additional research complements and
extends “insightfulness” only research approaches (Holt, 1991, p. 61; Holt, 2003). Hunt
(1993) informs this observation and suggests using multiple methods for exploring the
issue of objectivity (Woodside, 2006); Hunt tellingly describes accuracy limitations of
insight-only etic interpreting.
This paper reports an exploration of the stories visitors tell themselves and others
about their visits to four Asian cities (Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo) and
brie?y reviews the iconic myths implied by ?rst-thoughts (e.g. nicknames, kernel
concepts) these four cities imply. Section 2 following this introduction presents the
method. Section 3 covers the ?ndings. Section 4 provides a revisionist paradigm to
Holt’s recommendations on how to build a brand icon. Section 5 provides a general
discussion, limitations, and suggestions for further research.
Method
An individual-level netnography using a purposive sampling of visitors’ journal
stories provides the interpretive data for this report. Kozinets (2002) provides details of
conducting ethnographic studies in cyberspace – what he labels to be netnography.
The attempt was made to ?nd diverse (both positive and negative) visitor journal
postings of their on-going experiences and ?rst impressions while visiting Mumbai,
Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo (with separate informants for each area). Similar to the
method that Brown et al. (2003) outline, the method include acquiring diverse stories.
The sampling strategy used does not offer representativeness or transferability
(Hwang and Fensenmaier, 2004); but focuses on building theory through analytic depth
and insights into lasting iconic impressions.
For this study, purposive sampling includes implementing the following plan.
Search for informant reports focusing on ?nding mainly overseas visitors writing blog
reports on their ?rst-visits to Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. The search
includes ?nding two positive communications and at least one negative communication
per city. Google searches using the city name, “blog” and “good” was conducted as well
as the city name, “blog,” and “bad,” plus additional variations on these broad themes. In
addition, Google searches included visiting the tourism marketing sites and major
attractions and locations frequently identi?ed with each. This paper includes lengthy
excerpts from two positive and one negative story for each city.
The method includes mapping each of the 12 stories according to relationships fromone
concept to the next that appear in the stories. The concepts include persons, places, acts,
outcomes, beliefs, and the linkages re?ect positive/negative sentiments or states of unit
versus not unit relationships (e.g. Mumbai is a city in India expresses a unit relationship).
Na? ¨ve subjective
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Following Heider’s (1958) balance theory, the resulting maps were examined to
consider the balance and imbalance relationships among the concepts implied by the
story:
By a balanced state is meant a situation in which the relations among the entities ?t together
harmoniously; there is no stress toward change. A basic assumption is that sentiment
relations and unit relations tend toward a balanced state. This means that sentiments are not
entirely independent of the perceptions of unit connections between entities and that the
latter, in turn, are not entirely independent of sentiments. Sentiments and unit relations are
mutually interdependent. It also means that if a balanced state does not exist, then forces
toward this state will arise. If a change is not possible, the state of imbalance will produce
tension (Heider, 1958, p. 201).
While unit and sentiment relations are non-orthogonal, they represent independent
theoretical and empirical constructs grounded in cognition (i.e. units) and affection
(i.e. sentiments). When tension caused by imbalance arises in the mind of the
individual, then the individual is likely to exercise some mental and physical effort to
eliminate the tension:
Unbalanced situations stimulate us to further thinking; they have the character of interesting
puzzles, problems which make us suspect a depth of interesting background . . . Stories in
which the stress is laid on unbalanced situations are felt to have a deep psychological
meaning. Dostoevsky, for instance, describes again and again feelings full of con?ict
resulting from just such situations (Heider, 1958, pp. 180-1).
Woodside and Chebat (2001) provide further details of mapping balanced and
imbalanced states found in consumer stories with the resulting maps analyzed
following Heider’s (1958) balance theory. Two of the authors worked independently in
developing the maps; the resulting maps where shared in additional meetings among
all three authors; the maps were revised until agreement through discussion was
reached among all three authors as to direct and indirect linkages and the sentiments
and unit relationships that the story concepts express.
Findings
The ?ndings include a summary of the iconic myth each city presents over several
decades and centuries as found in popular literature and tourism marketing web sites.
Following a summary exhibit for each city, additional exhibits offer abstracts or
complete blog-journal stories – two positive and one negative stories per city.
A balance/imbalance map deconstruction exhibit follows each story.
Mumbai (formerly Bombay)
Mumbai (Figures 1-3), is the capital of Maharashtra, is located on the west coast of
India. Its townscape includes Victorian buildings that are evidence of England’s
colonial period. Arguably, Mumbai is India’s most cosmopolitan city. It is the center of
India’s commerce, industrial, and ?nancial sectors. Mumbai has India’s largest urban
area population with an estimated 18.84 million people (City Mayors, 2006). In 2004,
this region received 1.2 million foreign and 13.4 million visitors (Government of India,
2006, p. 50).
Mumbai’s principal landmark is the Gateway of India. Gateway’s design appears
to be in?uenced by France’s Arch of Triumph and Sixteenth Century Muslim styles
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of architecture. The Gateway monument was built following the visit of King George V
in 1911. Of?cially, the Gateway to India was opened in 1924. Today, the monument is a
popular location for people to congregate. The surrounding area has many bazaars that
sell an array of tourist trinkets. From the Gateway to India, one can catch a boat to
Elephanta Island. Elephanta Island is a UNESCO world heritage site that includes
stone carvings that date back to the sixth century.
Mumbai also is the home of Bollywood. Bollywood is the center of India’s ?lm
industry. This destination has the highest annual production of movies in the world.
A number of India’s actors live on Malabar Hills, India’s equivalent of Beverly Hills.
Figure 2.
Marketing Mumbai
(Bombay)
Mumbai (Bombay), the cosmopolitan capital of Maharashtra, is located in the west of India.
Not in the least because of its location and the mark the British left on the city, it changed
from a fairly isolated town into a major commercial city with over a million inhabitants.
Recently, the government changed the city's former, Anglicised name Bombay, into
Mumbai. But what's in a name? Mumbai still is a must for travelers and is, to a certain
extent, a match for cities such as Paris and London.
Although not everyone is pleased with its nickname, Bollywood, the film industry in Mumbai
produces over 300 films a year and is therefore, in this respect, second after Hollywood. The
actors enjoy their god-like statuses and dwell in exclusive mansions on Malabar Hill, the area
that holds its own with Beverly Hills. Although not may people are permitted to actually see
the ins and outs of the film shooting process, there are some tours to the film studies and if
that doesn't work, there is always a place where you can bathe in the typical mélange of Indian
dance, songs, optional violence and melodrama.
Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by the big city character because there are plenty of nice things to see and do. There are museums, such
as the Gandhi Museum (in one of the Mahatma's former residences- it's light on history and heavy on memorabilia), art galleries, bazaars
(check out Jhavari Bazaar, where bargaining is done comfortably on piles of pillows), parks (the hanging gardens are a must) and temples.
Especially in the Hutatma Chawk area, you'll find a large concentration of impressive and important historical buildings, such as the fabulous
Town Hall in neo-classical style. Marine Drive nearby the seaside, which is also called the Queen's Necklace because of its sparkling
nightlights, is a nicearea to stroll and relax in the evening hours.
However, you haven't actually been to Bombay if you haven't seen the Gateway to India. This monument was built to commemorate the
visit of king George the V and Queen Mary in 1911. At the same time, it's the place where you can catch a boat to the Elephanta Island, a
UNESCO world heritage site where you can see rock-cut temples and caves dating back to the 6th century. Daytrips from Bombay include
visits to the Kanheri Caves at Borivli (more rock carvings), Bassein (to see its Portuguese fort) and Cheul (ruins of Muslim and Portuguese
forts). From Bombay visit Ellora and Ajanta.
Source: World66 (2006)
Figure 1.
Basic pro?le of Mumbai
(Bombay)
• Location:18. 96°N 72. 82°E
• Population:12,691,836 (2001)
• Racial Groups
• Main Industry: Mumbai has a vast array of different industries. However, textiles
are still Mumbai's largest industry. Some of the other industries that Mumbai has
include: Pharmaceuticals, construction, engineering, metals, silks, glassware, printing,
plastics, bikes and film. It also has a large petroleum industry. Nearly all of India's
petroleum is marketed in Mumbai. Mumbai has one of the world's best natural
harbors,which is located on the Arabian Sea.
(Source: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/espencer/industry.html)
• Tourism Industry: Tourism in Mumbai does not need any boosters. Being the
capital of Maharashtra and hub of film stars, Mumbai as such attracts tourist from
all over the world.
(Source: http://www.indiatravelog.com/mumbai/mumbai-tourism.html)
• Tourism marketing
The Location of Mumbai in India
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
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As a result, Malabar Hills is a popular destination for tourists wishing to catch a glimpse
of India’s famous movies stars. Malabar Hills also is the location of Jain temple, the
Hanging Gardens and Kamala Nehru Park which offer outstanding views over Mumbai.
Lubna Kably’s interpretation of a visit to Mumbai (August 12, 2002)
The following statement is Lubna Kably’s (2002) interpretation of Mumbai:
Everyone who visits Mumbai hears of and invariably visits the Gateway of India. This
26 meter-high stone gateway was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen
Mary to India in 1911.
Tourists throng to visit it now, and right opposite stands the 5-star luxury hotel of the
Old Taj, equally impressive. I learned that there was an attempt to drive away the many
pigeons that roost here, through methods not really humane. Fortunately, the pigeons are still
here. My visit here was for a different purpose. Steep stone steps lead into the sea, and one can
ride on the small motor boats or ships and see Mumbai’s coastline or, better still, satisfy one’s
curiosity of the island looming in the distance. I opted for the latter. In just under 40 minutes,
we reached the island of the Elephanta Caves. Jumping off the jetty, I walked up to the caves.
A long walk, one also has to trudge up steep stone steps, but I did not think it worthwhile to
wait for the little toy tram (if there really is one as I did not see it) to take me up there. The
island seems to have got its name after a huge elephant idol, which was discovered by the
Portuguese who ?rst landed here. A few guides mention that this elephant statue is found in
one of the local museums, yet others swore that it is in the Victoria Gardens, the local zoo.
On my next trip to Mumbai, I shall try and trace it out. It seems to me that the name of the
island should be changed to “Monkey Island”. No offence meant, but the throngs of monkeys
were a real nuisance, as were the guides. I ?nally joined a group of other Asian tourists; most
of them were from Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Heavy pillars carved from rocks held up
the main cave. There are three entrances to the temple caves, from the north, east and west
sides. We stepped gingerly into the opening in the volcanic cave. The guide informed us that
these caves date back to 6th century AD and were built during the reign of Raja Krishnaraja
Figure 3.
Mumbai (Bombay): Kernel
concepts, elaborations,
and consumer behavior
implications)
Kernel Concepts
Concept Elaboration
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city. Mumbai is
located on an island off the west coast of India. With an estimated metropolitan population in 2005 of 17 million, it is the sixth largest
metropolitan area in the world, and clustered along with its outlying satellite townships forms one of the world's most populous conurbations.
The city, which has a deep natural harbor, is also the largest port in western India, handling over half of India's passenger traffic.
Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, and houses important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock
Exchange, and the corporate headquarters of many Indian companies. Within Mumbai is located Bollywood, the epicentre of the country's
Hindi film and television industry, producing the world's highest number of films annually. Mumbai is also one of the rare cities to
accommodate a National Park within its municipal limits.
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
The city's most recognizable landmark:
The Gateway of India, Mumbai
Mumbai
The commercial
capital of India
It contributes 10% of factory employment,
33% of income tax collections, 60% of
customs duty collections, 20% of central
excise tax collections, 40% of India's
foreign trade and rupees 40,000 crore
(US $9 billion) in corporate taxes
The home
to Bollywood
the epicenter of the country's Hindi film
and television industry, producing the
world's highest number of films annually
One of the rare cities to
accommodate a National Park
within its municipal limits
The Borivali National Park,
also known as Sanjay Gandhi
National Park
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and are dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, who has three avatars (persona): the creator, the
preserver, the destroyer. The tiny guide booklet, which I held ?rmly in hand, has another
story to tell. It stated that the caves date back to the 9th century, when the Silhara Empire
reigned. Irrespective of these contradictions, it is certain that the temple caves are dedicated
to Lord Shiva. The most famous carving is that of Maheshmurthi – a huge (20 ft-high
according to the guide) three-headed bust of Shiva, depicting these three avatars; it is in fact a
carving found in the inner recesses of the cave.
The main cave has many other carvings: a dancing Shiva; Shiva with his wife Parvati
during their wedding ceremony (the ceremony is presided by another god, Brahma, and is
attended by scores of other gods and goddess); Shiva in meditation with snakes coiled around
him; Shiva gently releasing the goddess Ganga (the holy river of India to ensure that she does
not ?ood the world); and Shiva depicted as Ardhanareshwar (I hope I have got this spelling
right!). It seems that Shiva split his body, creating two forms, the male and female, and thus
birth was possible. A few other carvings are found on the walls of this main cave. Added to
this, however, is the graf?ti by the local Romeos – sickening. At another end is the Linga.
The Linga (a conical shape) depicts Shiva as the Lord of Fertility and Reproduction. Bright
red and yellow ?owers were being offered at this place. There are other smaller caves (rooms),
most of which are in much need of repair. In fact, restoration is on going in some places, as the
Elephanta Caves are now labeled as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the of?cials
mentioned that the rock formation is of basalt and limestone, thus the carvings are easily
susceptible to wear and tear. Most of us stood mesmerized by the Maheshmurthi. Once our
eyes had gotten used to the dim light inside, we noticed that the middle head, gazing straight
ahead, depicted an unbelievable calm and serenity. Our guide informed us that it is not
always so. During the day, he has witnessed Shiva having several different expressions.
We knew that this was largely because of the interplay of light; light enters the cave from
different angles. But we preferred to believe him as we made our way back to the jetty.
Mumbai’s Arabian Sea did offer quite a few pleasant surprises (Kably, 2002).
Figure 4 shows the story using Woodside and Chebat’s (2001) mapping application of
Heider’s balance theory. Visiting the Elephanta Caves is an example of an incident that
meets McKee’s (1997, p. 191) dictum: the protagonist must react to the inciting incident.
Overall, Lubna’s reaction is favorable. It takes only 40 minutes to reach a cave ?lled
with ancient treasures. The artifacts inside the cave data back to the sixth century AD.
They include a famous carving of Maheshmurthi and many carvings of a dancing
Shiva. The storyline Lubna provides from her Elephanta Caves experience re?ects
satiating sensuality for the eyes – in story writing terms (McKee, 1997). This thought
pattern represents the controlling idea of her visit report to the Elephanta Caves in
Mumbai implying both the story’s central idea and its function:
A CONTROLLING IDEA may be expressed in a single sentence describing how and why life
undergoes change from one condition of existence at the beginning to another one at the end
(McKee, 1997, p. 115).
Positive visitor emic interpretations of Mumbai by Rob Wallis (June 28, 2005)
Rob Wallis provides another example of a positive travel experience in Mumbai:
Mumbai is a very interesting place, we visited the gateway to India, built by the British at the
turn of the 20th century, a very well built monument, it was the place where the British
ceremoniously left India after the second world war ?nished. A lot of local people congregate
here at night and we were continuously trying to be sold ridiculous 6 foot long balloons the
shape of skittles, why??? I have no idea . . .
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There are plenty of bazaar’s selling useless stuff, but some have interesting cloths and
trinkets, etc. not worth buying though. There are many restaurants offering very good
traditional Indian cuisine, I have decided not to eat any meat (health reasons and so forth),
however, the vegetarian choice is excellent and there are many pure veg eateries to choose
from anyway.
On the second day we tried to get a boat to Elephenta Island, really worth visiting
apparently, however, due to the monsoon the sea was too rough. Instead we decided to hire a
guide for half a day. After ?ghting off some ludicrously priced hustlers barely managing to
say hello in English promising to show us the city we made our way to the tourist of?ce and
arranged a government approved guide by the name of Mr Veer, this method proved to be a
fraction of the price of the touts. We also hired a taxi for 4 hours and set off. To start we
visited the ?rst English church built here after our occupation started. In a stark contrast to
the rest of the many unpleasant smells of Mumbai, the church smelt musky and damp like
one of our churches, it was built in a very similar 19th century style with all the materials
imported from the UK. Cruising the city, heading north we made various stops along the way
to view interesting buildings and architecture, notably close replicas of Notre Dame and Big
Ben. The main train station (CST) is very similar to St Pancras station in London. Our next
destination was Malabar Hill to visit a Hindu temple called Jain temple. It was a fascinating
building with exceptionally ornately painted ceilings and amazing panoramic views over
Chowpatty beach and the rest of the city. Just along the road are Mumbai’s Hanging Gardens,
again brilliant views and home to many giant snails. The guide was very good and spoke
very sound English. On our return journey to Colaba we brie?y stopped to see the site where
all the dirty washing in Mumbai is washed, it was a huge, many people were hard at work, a
bit like Widow Twankies! The main thing I took from the tour was that so much architecture
Figure 4.
Mapping Lubna’s visit to
Mumbai story: story
elaboration
1. Lubna
3. the Elephanta Caves
2. Mumbai
+
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4. “The Cave Filled with Treasures”
“a UNESCO World Heritage Site”
5. Position
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“Mumbai's Arabian Sea did
offer quite a few pleasant
Surprises”
6. “In just under 40 minutes,
we reached the island
of the Elephanta Caves”
7. “The guide informed us
that these caves date
back to 6th century AD”
8. “The most famous carving is that of Maheshmurthi
– a huge (20 ft-high according to the guide) three-headed
bust of Shiva, depicting these three avatars”
9. “The main cave has many other carvings:
a dancing Shiva…”
10. “At another end is the Linga. The Linga
(a conical shape) depicts Shiva as the Lord
of Fertility and Reproduction”
11. “Most of us stood mesmerized
by the Maheshmurthi…”
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has been built with our in?uence, the majority of buildings are pre WWII and as such the city
bares a great resemblance to many parts of central London (Wallis, 2005).
Rob’s story focuses on the city’s buildings and architecture. Rob takes great interest in
the English in?uence on the architecture in Mumbai. Figure 5 shows a map of his story.
The conclusion, “Mumbai is a very interesting place.”
Negative visitor emic interpretation of Mumbai, report by Shakirah and Erik
Shakirah and Erik record a less positive visitor experience in a 2005 visit to Mumbai:
. . . or Bombay nightmares, as this was not our most enjoyable stop.
First, we endured a 15 hours overnight bus ride from Goa – not nice:- (Then just as we
thought we’d found a nice place to stay (Apollo guest house), our room was located next to the
side of a rubbish dump in an alleyway, so a funky smell came seeping through the AC!!! And
all kinds of bugs were crawling through the sink . . . nuff said! After we both started to get a
bit sick, physically and mentally, we spent some extra bucks on another room.
We had a some good and bad experiences during our 5 day stop in Bombay . . .
Bad ?rst – The pollution was extreme and there was no way of taking one deep breathe, it
was just ?lthy . . . There were rats the size of small pigs crawling the side streets, and worst of
all, the poverty really hit home.
Good – We hit a few good bars and clubs in the suburbs including a club called “Seijo and the
Soul dish” which was a mixture of Japanese, western and live drumbeats and the interior
Figure 5.
Mapping Rob’s visit to
Mumbai story: story
elaboration
1. Rob
3. Buildings &
architecture
2. Mumbai
+
+
+
4. “interesting buildings and architecture”
“It was a fascinating building with…”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“Mumbai is a very
interesting place”
6. “we visited the gateway
to India,…a very well
built monument”
7. “On the second day we tried to
get a boat to Elephenta Island,
really worth visiting apparently”
8. “To start we visited the first English church
built here…it was built in a very similar 19th century
style with all the materials imported from the UK”
9. “Cruising the city…we made various stops along the
way to view interesting buildings and architecture,
notably close replicas of Notre Dame and Big Ben.
The main train station (CST) is very similar to St. Pancras
station in London”
10. “Our next destination was Malabar Hill
to visit a Hindu temple called Jain temple.
It was a fascinating building with…”
11. “Just along the road are Mumbai’s
Hanging Gardens, again brilliant views”
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walls were painted with large sized manga characters. We also celebrated HOLI, a Hindu
festival which involved spreading the lurrve through paint . . . see pics. We partied in the
street with some local Indians and ended up being bigger attractions than the Gateway of
India (Shakirah and Erik, 2005).
Figure 6 shows the Shakirah and Erik’s bad experience in Mumbai. When a trip starts
out bad, it is dif?cult to recover. In this case, the travelers have an unpleasant, 15-hours
bus ride. Upon arrival, Shakirah and Erik ?nd negative visual and olfactory stimuli to
compound their misery. The ongoing exposure to pollution, poverty, and vermin
resulted in the conclusion that Mumbai is not an enjoyable stop.
Seoul
Seoul (Figures 7-9) is South Korea’s capital as well as the country’s center for business
and industry. Its metropolitan area population is estimated at 9.52 million people (City
Mayors, 2006). South Korea’s ?rst city is located in the northwest region of the country
on the Han River. Seoul is old city that has been a capital city since the fourteenth
century.
Although Seoul is a modern city, visitors interested in historical sites and museums
have a number of options. Seoul’s South Gate (Nam-Dae-Mun) is a good place to start. It
used to be the main entrance to the city. Today, it is surrounded by modern architecture
showing an interesting contrast of traditional and modern architecture. In Jongno ward
of Seoul, there are a number of historical sites. For example, Gyeongbokgung Palace
is worth a visit. It was the main palace during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).
Figure 6.
Mapping Shakirah and
Erik’s visit to Mumbai
story: story elaboration
1. Shakirahand Erik
3. Rubbish & dirt
2. Mumbai
+
–
+
4. “Bombay nightmares”
5. Negative
outcome
(Gloss)
13. Conclusion Gloss:
“this was not our most
enjoyable stop”
6. “First we endured a 15 hour
overnight bus ride from Goa”
7. “Then just as we thought
we'd found a nice place to stay
(Apollo guest house)”
8. “our room was located next to the side of
a rubbish dump in an alleyway, so a funky
smell came seeping through the AC!!!”
9. “And all kinds of bugs were crawling
through the sink.... nuff said!”
10. “After we both started to get a bit sick,
physically and mentally, we spent some
extra bucks on another room”
11. “Bad first -The pollution was extreme
and there was no way of taking one deep
breathe, it was just filthy...”
12. “There were rats the size of small pigs
crawling the side streets, and worst of all,
the poverty really hit home”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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Near Gyeongbokgung Palace is Insa-dong. At Insa-dong, visitors can visit numerous
galleries and see traditional crafts and goods.
South of Jongno is the Jung ward and Namsangol Hanok Village. This Village is
comprised of ?ve traditional Korean houses that have been restored. Also, Jongno is
the location of Myeong-dong, a shopper’s paradise. Myeong-dong hosts a number of
brand name shops and department stores that sell high quality merchandise.
Helen Percival’s positive visitor emic interpretations of Seoul (June 27, 2005)
Helen provides the following information about her visit to Seoul:
After a day of teaching children I re?ect upon my 4 months here in South Korea. I have just
recovered from a day of white water rafting where the water was ankle deep. The most
unusual whitewater rafting trip I have experience, a lot of walking and lifting the raft. But we
got too see beautiful river side rock formations, but not a lot of wildlife.
The monsoon has arrived, but the spring time has been great with pleasant days and
beautiful spring blossoms, I climbed to the top of a mountain in Seoul to get a view of the city
which was amazing and looked like a toy town. Seoul is enormous and is surrounded by a belt
of mountains. Everyone over the age of 45 climbs mountains even in sweltering 30 degree
Figure 7.
Basic pro?le of Seoul
• Location: Seoul is located at 37°35' N 127°0' E
• Population: 10,276,968 (the end of 2003)
• Racial Groups: The number of foreign residents in Seoul as of the end of 2003 is
102,882 or about 1 % of Seoul's total population. They include 52,572 Chinese,
11,484 Americans, and 6,139 Japanese.
(Source: http://english.seoul.go.kr/today/about/about_01quick.htm)
• Main Industry: Seoul functions as an "industrial incubator", nurturing information
technology & financial service industries, and is also the center of banking, securities
and insurance for Korea.
(Source: http://english.seoul.go.kr/business/environ/envi_01info_01.html)
• Tourism Industry
• Tourism marketing
The Location of Seoul in South Korea
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Figure 8.
Marketing Seoul
The capital of South Korea is a modern city with a long history. This ancient city has been
the capital of Korea since the 14th century.Some of the old city gates can still be seen -most
notably the South Gate (or Nam-Dae-Mun), which used to be the main entrance to the city.
There is no better picture of Seoul than The South Gate, which stands as an architectural feat
and a reminder of Korea's heritage and history. But much like Paris' Champs-Elysees, it is
situated right in the middle of a modern and bustling city, serving as a constant symbol of
Korea's proud past intersecting with its bright future.
While there are many modern sites to visit, perhaps the typical tourist would like to visit the
old city first.
In the old city there are many sights to see. Toksu Palace is set in a park and is a nice place.
The Kyongbok Palace (built in 1395) houses the folklore museum and has beautiful pavilions.
Other sights include the Tonggunung tombs Chonsugongbang, Changkyong Palace, Pomun-sa
Temple and the Toksugung Palace. For a quiet afternoon head to one of the numerous gardens
and parks. The Secret Garden in the Changdok Palace complex is probably the nicest of them all.
Source: World66 (2006)
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heat you can ?nd groups of woman and men kitted in the most up-to-date winter walking
gear. You can imagine the looks of surprise when I walked with my ?ip ?ops.
My most recent school trip was to a race course with the children a surprise location but it
proved to be very peaceful and a pleasant day out of the classroom (Previcil, 2005).
Helen is enamored with the natural beauty of Seoul. From her vantage point on the top
of a mountain, Helen is amazed by the enormity of the city and the belt of mountains
surrounding it. Her whitewater rafting experience also provides an opportunity to view
beautiful rock formations. Finally, she remarks at the beauty of spring ?owers in
bloom in the area. Figure 10 shows Helen’s positive experience in Seoul.
Positive visitor emic interpretations of Seoul by Carrie Neilands (October 23, 2004)
Carrie Neilands provides the following positive travel experience:
Seoul was great. it’s probably a good thing that I don’t live there though . . . I’d dress great!
But I’d live in a box in an alley somewhere. Soooo [sic] expensive! Anyway, while we were there
we visited a palace and a folk village, complete with Buddhist temple, and of course, we
checked out the night life. I [sic] posted some of the more picturesque pictures, enjoy . . .
(Neilands, 2004).
Carrie’s travel experience combines Seoul’s traditional and modern attributes. She
enjoys visiting a palace and folk village. From her pictures, it appears that Carrie is
most impressed with the Buddhist temple. The modernity of Seoul also impresses this
visitor. She makes favorable comments about the shopping and nightlife. Also, her
picture of Seoul tower suggests some appreciation for the modern skyline of this
destination. Carrie suggests that Seoul is a nice place to visit, but she could not afford
to live there. Figure 11 shows Carrie’s travel experience in Seoul:
Figure 9.
Seoul: Kernel concepts,
elaborations, and
consumer behavior
implications
Kernel Concepts
Seoul Ancient South Gate
Seoul
The capital of South Korea
the political, cultural, social and
economical centre of South Korea
The capital of one of the
world's largest economies
An international centre for business,
finance, multinational corporations,
and global organizations
Attractions
Concept Elaboration
Ancient palaces (Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung),
Temples (Dongmyo, National Folk Museum,
Seoul’s Skyline, Shopping
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Seoul is the capital of South Korea. It is a designated special city. On the establishment of South Korea (the Republic of Korea) in1948 it
became the capital of the country, except for a short time during the Korean War. Seoul is located at 37?35' N 127?0' E.
Seoul is located in the northwest of the country, south of the DMZ, on the Han River. The city is the political, cultural, social and economical
centre of South Korea. It is also an international centre for business, finance, multinational corporations, and global organizations. This, along
withits position as the capital of one of the world's largest economies, has continued to raise its global status. Today, it is one of the most visible
symbols of the Korean economic Miracle of the Han River.
According to UN Population Division figures, Seoul's Urban Area contained 10.3 million people in 2003, making it the 22nd most populous
such area in the world. Its density has allowed it to become one of the most digitally-wired cities in today's globally connected economy. It also
has more than 1 million registered vehicles which cause widespread traffic-jams beyond midnight.
Attractions: Ancient palaces ( Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung), Temples (Dongmyo, National Folk Museum, Seoul’s Skyline, Shopping,
Namhansanseong park.
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
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Negative visitor emic interpretations of Seoul by Natalie (May 21, 2005)
The following passage is an example of a person that is not having a positive travel
experience in Seoul:
My god, I don’t even know where to begin. I ended up just sitting in my hostel last night
drinking 50 cent rum and cokes, which where actually mostly rum, and a tiny bit of coke.
Figure 11.
Mapping Carrie’s visit to
Seoul story: story
elaboration
1. Carrie
3. Attractions
2. Seoul
+
+
+
4. “seoul was great”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
Conclusion Gloss:
“it's probably a good thing
that i don't live there
though…”
6. “i'd live in a box in an alley somewhere.
soooo expensive!”
7. “anyway, while we were there we visited a palace
and a folk village, complete with Buddhist temple,
and of course we checked out the night life”
8. “i posted some of the more picturesque pictures,
enjoy”
+
+
+
+
+
+
Figure 10.
Mapping Helen’s visit to
Seoul story: story
elaboration
1. Helen
3. Natural scenery
2. Seoul
+
+
+
4. “Beautiful spring blossom”
“the city which was amazing”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
9. Conclusion Gloss:
“Seoul is enormous…”
6. “the spring time has been great with pleasant
days and beautiful spring blossoms”
7. “I climbed to the top of a mountain in Seoul
to get a view of the city which was amazing and
looked like a toy town”
8. “Seoul is enormous and is surrounded
by a belt of mountains”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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I found a bug in my room – a BIG BUG – so I kicked it down the stairs and it made a big thud
going down.
I woke up this morning at 5 a.m., a bit hung-over, to catch my 7 a.m. ?ight.
I haven’t really been able to sleep in the past few nights, my room was so hot it was crazy!
Anyway, on my way out I saw the biggest cockroach – bigger and wider than my thumb! –
running across the wall. So obviously, being the big baby that I am, I shrieked and ran
away.
The ?ight wasn’t too bad, a ton of turbulence though. It wasn’t as bad as on one ?ight where I
thought I was going to puke because of all the sudden descents. Yeah that just adds to my
fear of airplanes.
Anyway that’s just the beginning of my day. When I got off the airplane, this lady told me my
bag was lost AGAIN. They left it in Hong Kong. She said it was because I had transferred
planes in a short period of time. Excuse my language but bullshit. I had a 50 minutes layover
and the plane was late in taking off.
But I’ve learned that everything in Asia moves at a much slower pace than Canada, so I’m
beginning to stay calm. I didn’t cry or yell this time
. And they said they’d have it personally
delivered to my hostel my 10 p.m. tonight. Yay for that, because once again I’m stuck with
stinky clothes and no toothbrush.
Oh but the day got even better! No one in Korea speaks any English! And there are barely
any English signs anywhere. Watch me walk into a brothel or something. Anyway, I
?nally managed to get on the bus. It turns out the airport in about 2 hours from
downtown Seoul in rush hour. I didn’t think of this when I got on the bus wanting to pee.
2 hours go by and my bladder is about to burst and the bus get’s into a car accident. The
driver stops the bus, so I asked him and everyone else on the bus how long this would
take. No one seems to speak English. So I had to cab it to my hostel. But the cabbie
couldn’t speak any English either. On the plus side, the taxis here have a free interpreter
you can call. He dropped me off in front of the wrong hostel. But this hostel was great!
There were so many people and the sweetest looking dogs. One even looked a bit like
Buddy. So they took me to my hostel and this one’ lonely. There are no people at all. I
haven’t been up to my room yet, but I have AIR CONDITIONING and my own SHOWER!
I’m excited.
So here’s a list of my goals for this trip, other than the obvious see the world, experience new
things, learn different languages . . .
1. Get over fear of ?ying.
2. Get over fear of cockroaches.
3. Learn to calm down and not yell and cry.
I’m getting a bit sick of the city; I might go ?nd a mountain (Natalie, 2005).
Natalie’s troubles begin prior to reaching her destination. A number of uncontrollable
transportation issues wear on her before reaching her destination. First, her experience
at the airport is unpleasant. The airline company lost her luggage. Natalie’s inability to
understand the Korean language increases her frustration level because she is unable to
communicate with people or to ?nd transportation to town. The long bus ride and the
discomfort of a full bladder increase her anxiety. Finally, reaching the destination
Natalie ?nds sweltering heat and disturbingly large cockroaches waiting for her.
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Apparently, these issues con?rm previous experiences for this sojourner. She remarks
that she “. . . didn’t cry or yell this time.” Natalie appears to have a history of unpleasant
travel experiences. She recognizes that her travel anxieties stemfromethnocentric views
and lack of pre-trip preparation. Although Natalie has a bad experience, it seems likely
that she will continue traveling abroad and learning fromher past negative experiences.
Figure 12 shows Natalie’s negative travel experience.
Singapore
Singapore (Figures 13-15) is a group of islands located at the southernmost tip of the
Malaysian Peninsula. It has a population of 4.5 million people (City Mayors, 2006). The
population includes ethnic Chinese, Malays, and Indians as well as a large number of
expatriates. As a result of this multiracial element, the country has four of?cial
languages: English, Tamil, Chinese, and Malay. The territory is composed on one main
island with total land area of 682 square kilometers, and at least 60 small islets. Despite
its small size, Singapore is one of Asia’s business and ?nancial centers. Also, it is the
busiest shipping port in the world. Visitors to Singapore are impressed by the high
standard of living and the availability of modern conveniences.
In 2005, Singapore welcomed 8.94 visitors (Singapore Tourism Board, 2006). What
do tourists do in Singapore? The city has a wide array of planned attractions and
shopping malls. Popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo and the
numerous ethnic enclaves throughout the city (e.g. Arab Street, Chinatown, and Little
India). For shopping, the Orchard Road district is ?lled with many multi-story
shopping centers. Visitors that want to escape the city can take a trip to Sentosa Island.
Sentosa Island has three beaches and the Dragon Trail Nature Walk which is a
one-mile stroll through a rainforest.
Figure 12.
Mapping Natalie’s visit to
Seoul story: story
elaboration
1. Natalie
3.The cockroach (at hostel)
Airport service
No person speak English
……
2. Seoul
+
_
_
4. “The craziness has begun”
5. Negative
outcome
(Gloss)
15. Conclusion Gloss:
So here's a list of my goals
for this trip:
*Get over fear of flying;
*Get over fear of cockroaches;
*Learn to calm down and
not yell and cry
6. “My god, I don't even
know where to begin”
7. “I saw the biggest cockroach–
bigger and wider than my thumb!
- running across the wall”
8. “Anyway that's just the
beginning of my day”
9. “When I got off the airplane,
this lady told me my bag
was lost AGAIN…”
10. “But I've learned that everything in Asia
moves at a much slower pace than Canada,
so I'm beginning to stay calm…”
11. “No one in Korea speaks any English! And
there are barely any English signs anywhere.
Watch me walk into a brothel or something”
12. “Anyway, I finally managed to get on the bus…
2 hours go by and my bladder is about to burst
and the bus get's into a car accident”
13. “…So I had to cab it to my hostel. But
the cabbie couldn't speak any English either”
14. “He dropped me off in front of the wrong hostel…”
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Rebecca’s positive visitor emic interpretations of Singapore (May 6, 2005)
Recollections of Rebecca’s experience include the following passage:
So much to say about this place, stayed a week and it was amazing. Went to an Island called
Sentosa which was a little too touristy but still beautiful.
Hot humid weather but still caught tan but also got caught in torrential downpours much
to the amusement of the locals . . . skirt went see through and everything but it beat the heat
so I was smiling.
Not as many brits unfortunately (fortunately really cause got to meet the locals who were
amazing and a good laugh)
People kept taking photos, the toilets know when you’ve ?nished, the MRT (underground)
is amazing (even I worked out how to use it), the people are all friendly. It’s great here.
De?nitely come. I have loads of photos which will put on but can’t in this computer place so
may have to wait a while. One thing have to tell you all is went to zoo (which is the nicest one
seen as all animals in big arenas in open air). Anyhow, the keeper of the cats took a shining to
Figure 13.
Basic pro?le of Singapore
• Main Industry: Biomedical Sciences industry, Chemicals industry, Education Services,
Electronics and Precision Engineering industry.
Singapore is the business hub of Southeast Asia.
(Source: http://www.sedb.com/edbcorp/sg/en_uk/index/industry_opp.html)
• Tourism Industry: Singapore has become noted among international travelers as an exciting
travel destination, making tourism one of the largest industries in Singapore.
• Tourism marketing
• Location: 1?17' 0'' N 103?51' 0'' E
• Population: 4,163,700(2002)
Source: http://www.citypopulation.de/Singapore.html
• Racial Groups
The Location of Singapore in Singapore
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Figure 14.
Marketing Singapore
Singapore is an island city located at the southernmost tip of the Malaysian Peninsula in South East
Asia. It is well-known for being one of the richest, most well organised, efficient countries in the
world with a very high standard of living and an excellent skyline by the water. Singapore is an
island with "1000 shopping malls" or so they say. Despite the hot climate, it is a tropical paradise
for most tourists. This great diversity of lifestyles, cultures and religions thrives within the
framework of a regulated society. Singapore's "FINE" city reputation is well-earned, and in fact,
many will admire at once the clean, modern metropolis. Surrounded by artificially 'ordered' parks,
its tall housing projects are populated by more than 80% of the population -whose smiling native
charms often belie underlying tensions of the way the island is progressing after 30 years of
development.
Highlights of Singapore include some of the ethnic parts of town: Arab street, Chinatown, Colonial
District, Orchard road and Little India.
South of Singapore are a few beautiful islands that are well worth visiting. The most visited is Sentosa
island. It is a playground for people of all ages. See the Sentosa island section for more information.
A common misconception is that chewing gum is strictly not allowed into Singapore and that you will be arrested for that ''crime''. However,
THAT IS COMPLETELY WRONG! The law states that chewing gum cannot be sold in Singapore, but it is PERFECTLY OKAY for you to
bring in chewing gum for your own personal consumption. But if you improperly dispose of the gum, just as you would litter any other thing,
you might be fined, BUT the authorities rarely enforce this ruling. The signs are there to act as a deterrent and the authorities do not enforce
the rules strictly at all.
Please note that, like all countries in the region, visitors are not exempt from strict laws pertaining to drug possession and trafficking. The
death penalty will be prescribed if you are caught with more than a specific weight of narcotics.
Source: World66 (2006)
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me and secretly let me into pen with real live cheetahs . . . yes in the same pen, no cage
nothing. I got to stroke it . . . couldn’t get photo there and then as would’ve scared it but took
some when back on the right side of the bars!!! It was sooo cool and was a large 5 year old
male apparently tamed from birth! I was (undoubtedly) a little scared but assurance was on
the sign outside building saying ’zoo will not be held responsible for any injury or death’ . . .
nice!!!! (Watkins, 2005).
Interactions with the local people help create positive images for Rebecca. Even
high humidity and heavy rain do not dampen her spirits. The best part of the trip is a
visit to the zoo. Living conditions for the animals meet or exceed her expectations for
humane treatment. The highlight of the zoo trip is petting the cheetah. While Rebecca
is a bit apprehensive about entering the cheetah’s enclosure, she is overjoyed to
have an opportunity to touch an exotic wild animal. Figure 16 shows Rebecca’s
experience.
Positive visitor emic interpretations of Singapore by Laura Chant (March 27, 2005)
Laura’s positive experience in Singapore is described in the following passage:
We arrived safely in Singapore (amidst the rain . . . again). Singapore has been good from
what we’ve seen so far. The one thing that’s blown me away is how much of a nightlife there
is in Singapore. It’s a bit different when the shops are open until 10 p.m. and not 6 p.m. in
Australia (There are also a high number of shopping centres quite odd for such a small area).
There are fast food joints and food hawker stalls galore here. When I asked someone who had
been here before on what there is to do . . . he just said eat and shop. He was right. There are
so many different varieties of Asian food to get here and its not just low grade food aimed
towards westerners who don’t know any better! One thing I’d have to warn people heading to
Asia is to not underestimate the spice tolerance of Asians. I thought I could handle the two
Figure 15.
Singapore: Kernel
concepts, elaborations,
and consumer behavior
implications
Kernel Concepts
Concept Elaboration
Singapore
The capital of Singapore &
the business hub of Southeast Asia
A highly efficient,
very clean and safe city
A city with
cultural diversity
Its cultural diversity reflects its rich
colonial history and Malay, Chinese,
Arab and Indian ethnicities
Attractions
Colonial Singapore, Sentosa Island, Botanic
Gardens, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari,
Shopping, Food from cultures all over the world
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Singapore is the capital of Singapore. For many years considered to be the business hub of Southeast Asia. Singapore has become noted among
international travelers as an exciting travel destination, making tourism one of the largest industries in Singapore. Its cultural diversity reflects its
rich colonial history and Malay, Chinese, Arab and Indian ethnicities. For many years considered to be the business hub of Southeast Asia,
Singapore has an expansive shopping precinct located in the Orchard Road district. Filled with many multi-storey shopping centres, the area also
has many hotels, and is regarded by many as the tourism centre of Singapore.
Other popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari, which allows people to explore Asian, African and South
American habitats at night, without any visible barriers between guests and the wild animals.
Singapore is a highly efficient, very clean and safe city, with Englis has one of its numerous official languages.
Attractions: Colonial Singapore, Sentosa Island, Botanic Gardens, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, Shopping, Food from cultures all over the
world.
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Singapore's central business district
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chili pepper out of three rating the spicy chicken miso ramen soup had . . . I think my mouth
still burned for a good 15 minutes after I was done eating.
As for what we’ve done here (other than eating) . . . mom and I took the Singapore Airline
explorer bus (cheaper if you have your boarding pass!) and headed for the beautiful Botanical
Gardens. Inside there was the National Orchid Garden which was worth the time. I guess they
create hybrids and then name them after dignitaries when they come to visit Singapore . . .
there are Nelson Mandela, Laura Bush, etc. orchids (Chant, 2005).
Laura is struck by the number of shopping and culinary options open in the evenings.
She is impressed with the variety of delicious foods available. Apparently, Laura is a
bit of a gastronomic risk-taker when she eats spicy chicken soup. The mouth-numbing
experience does not dampen her spirits. In addition, to shopping, Laura enjoys her visit
to the National Orchid Garden. Laura’s experience is shown in Figure 17.
Negative visitor emic interpretations of Singapore by Chun Lee (December 14, 2004)
Chun’s negative experience (Figure 18) in Singapore is described in the following
passage:
This is a land of contrasts that is if you count concrete contrasting with glass.
Everywhere you look there are huge towers that are invariably either a shopping mall or an
apartment block or frequently a mixture of the two. 90 percent of Singapore’s 4 million people
live in a high rise of some kind. At least we are not talking about Hackney style council ?ats,
but clean colour coded concrete jungleness.
Everywhere we have traveled in Asia seems to be under construction and here is no
exception. I read somewhere that all heavyweight buildings here is causing Singapore to sink
Figure 16.
Mapping Rebecca’s visit to
Singapore story: story
elaboration
1. Rebecca
3. The zoo
2. Singapore
+
+
+
4. “which is the nicest one
seen as all animals in big
arenas in open air”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“it was amazing”
6. “So much to say about this place,
stayed a week and it was amazing”
7. “One thing have to tell
you all is went to zoo”
8. “Anyhow, the keeper of the cats
took a shining to me and secretly
let me into pen with real live cheetahs....
yes in the same pen, no cage nothing”
9. “I got to stroke it.... couldn't get photo there and
then as would've scared it but took some when back
on the right side of the bars!!!”
10. “It was sooo cool and was a large
5 yr old male apparently tamed from birth!”
11. “I was (undoubtedly) a little scared but assurance was
on the sign outside building saying 'zoo will not be held
responsible for any injury or death'....... nice!!!!”
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+
+
+ +
+
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Figure 17.
Mapping Laura’s visit to
Singapore story: story
elaboration
1. Laura
3. Attractions
2. Singapore
+
+
+
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“Singapore has
been good”
6. “The one thing that's blown me
away is how much of a nightlife
there is in Singapore”
7. “There are also a high number
of shopping centres quite odd
for such a small area”
8. “There are fast food joints and
food hawker stalls galore here”
9. “There are so many different
varieties of Asian food to get here”
10. “other than eating…I took the Singapore Airline
explorer bus (cheaper if you have your boarding pass!)
and headed for the beautiful Botanical Gardens”
11. “Inside there was the National Orchid Garden
which was worth the time”
4. “How much of a nightlife;
A high number of shopping centres;
So many different varieties of Asian food;
The beautiful Botanical Gardens”
+
+
+
+
+
+
Figure 18.
Mapping Chun’s visit to
Singapore story: story
elaboration
1. Chun
3. The huge towers
2. Singapore
+
-
+
4. “Everywhere”
5. Negative
outcome
(Gloss)
10. Conclusion Gloss:
“all heavyweight buildings here
is causing Singapore to sink
slowly back into the mud”
6. “Everywhere you look there are huge towers that
are invariably either a shopping mall or an
apartment block or frequently a mixture of the two”
7. “90% of Singapore's 4 million people
live in a high rise of some kind”
9. “Everywhere we have traveled in Asia seems
to be under construction and here is no exception”
8. “At least we are not talking about
Hackney style council flats, but clean
colour coded concrete jungleness”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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slowly back into the mud from whence it came. I’m sure at some point the Singaporeans will
think of some technological marvel that will avert the crisis at some point and it will probably
have lots of glowing lights, bits of chrome and a little sign saying don’t touch or be ?ned
$5000 (Lee, 2004).
Chun reacts negatively to the plethora of high rise buildings in Singapore. According
to Chun, these towers are either shopping malls or apartment buildings. Also, he
laments that the construction of these concrete jungles continues. Chun appears to be
concerned that Singapore is becoming a sterile block of concrete and glass.
Tokyo
Tokyo (Figures 19-21) is Japan’s ?rst city. It is the center of government, industry,
?nance, and education for the nation. The greater metropolitan area of Tokyo has the
world’s largest urban population with an estimate 35.5 million people (City Mayors,
2006). Tokyo offers visitors an interesting mix of old world charm and modernity to its
13.7 million foreign visitors (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 2006).
To see artifacts of Japan’s long history, the best place to start is the center of the city
in Chiyoda ward. Visitors can see the Imperial Palace as well as a number of historic
government buildings in Marunouchi. The adjacent Bunkyo ward has a number of old
Japanese streets that have changed little over time. For visitors that enjoy nature,
Bunkyo is the home of the Koishikawa Botanical Garden an Edo Period Gardens.
Minato ward includes the Asakusa area that has a number of interesting Shinto shrines
and museums. Walking through Asakusa, visitors also can learn about traditional
Japanese crafts and how they are produced.
Tokyo is also a modern city with all the amenities that visitors desire. For shopping,
Chou ward is the place to start. Its Ginza district is the home of elegant shopping.
A shopping excursion in Tokyo would not be complete without stopping at Shinjuku
ward. Shinjuku’s Akihabara district is famous for its electronic goods shops. For night
life, the Roppongi district in Minato ward is the place to visit. This section of Tokyo is
very international. But what do ?rst-time visitors report in their blog journals?
Chris Green’s visit to Tokyo
The following passage describes Chris’ positive experience visiting Tokyo:
Figure 19.
Basic pro?le of Tokyo
• Location: 35°41' N 139°46' E
• Population: 12,527,115 (2003)
• Racial Groups
• Main Industry: In accordance with the city's world position, Tokyo's economy has shifted
to put much more emphasis on financial services and banking. It is also an important
wholesale center. Among the diverse industries of Tokyo are the manufacture of electronic
apparatus, transport equipment, automobiles, cameras and optical goods, furniture, textiles,
and a wide variety of consumer items, as well as publishing and printing.
(Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0861581.html)
• Tourism Industry
• Tourism marketing
The Location of Tokyo in Japan
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
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Figure 21.
Tokyo: Kernel concepts,
elaborations, and
consumer behavior
implications
Kernel Concepts
Concept Elaboration
One of the traditional symbols of Tokyo:
Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo
Tokyo
The capital of Japan
the nation's center of politics,
business, finance, education,
mass media, and pop culture
The land of sumo,
sushi and kimono
Tourist attractions
The Imperial Palace, Meiji Shrine,
and SensojiTemple; the festivals;
Ginza, Shinjuku; Tokyo Tower,
Rainbow Bridge; The Tsukijifish
market…
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Tokyo is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshuin Japan. It is counted as one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and
commonly referred to as the capital of Japan with the government of Japan and the Emperor of Japan residing in Chiyoda Ward. With a
population of over 12 million, or about 10 percent of Japan's population, it is by far the country's most populous and most densely
populated prefecture. The center of Tokyo is located at 35?41' North, 139?46' East.
Internationally, Tokyo is regarded as one of the major cities of the world.
Being the nation's center of politics, business, finance, education, mass media, and pop culture, Tokyo has the country's highest
concentration of corporate headquarters, financial institutions, universities and colleges, museums, theaters, and shopping and
entertainment establishments. It boasts a highly developed public transportation system with numerous train and subway lines.
Attractions: Imperial Palace, Ginza, Shinjuku
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Figure 20.
Marketing Tokyo
Tokyo is really, really big, and depending on who you talk to, the largest city
in the world. It actually consists of 23 different wards (ku) -cities that have their
own special attractions. Since it doesn't make too much sense to tell about all of
these different cities as if they were one city, we have subdivided Tokyo in the
following way.
Akihabara has the largest concentration of electronics shops in the world.
There are good deals to be found. Most shops have English speaking staff. Foreign
visitors can get refunds for taxes paid. Remember to bring your passport as proof
of foreign residency. The big shops also have locations in Shinjuku West Exit with
prices being about the same but Akihabara specializes in the foreign market.
Asakusais famous for its temples and pagoda. Across the river you can see the
Asahi Beer building. It's the cube-shaped black building with the gold *thingy* on top.If you don’t know what is supposed
to represent.... don't feel bad. The gold worm like thing is commonly referred to as the 'turd'. Enjoy the view but if you
want to drink down some suds and eat some food the restaurant on the ground floor of that building can accommodate any
hunger or thirst.
Ginza has fabulous shopping opportunities for equally fabulous prices. It is an extremely busy place. Apple's first retail
outlet is located in Ginza. The Mac Store has English speaking staff & 4 floors of that computer cult culture for all to
enjoy. Harajuku Takeshita-dori is a high school girl's dream street.With cheap fashions abounding and sickly sweet crepes
made Japanese style guaranteed to rot your teeth and add buxom to your fashion vocabulary. On the other side of the
spectrum, continue to Omotesando, the fashion avenue, with names like Armani, DKNY, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Chirstian
Dior to name a few, fashion is every where! How much you want to spend is up to you!
Marunouchi is the area around the huge Imperial Palace. The newly renovated Marunouchi Building is filled with
spectacular dining opporunities.
Roppongi is the place to go to for nightlife. Filled at night with energy, people from around the world walk the streets
in search of fun and excitement. This part of Tokyo never sleeps. Adult entertainment, a play ground of sorts is yours for
the enjoyment. Shibuya is north of the center and has shrines and trendy shops. With its neon, traffic, and huge TV
screens, it resembles New York City's Times Square. This is the center of youth fashion for the affluent Japanese teenager.
Styles change weekly with hip designers along side more established names in the big *deppato* Be sure to visit *centa-
gai* the main street just across the scrabble crossing in Shibuya(it world's busiest pedestrian crossing). Great food awaits
visitors who venture into mid-range Izakaya. Traditional Japanese food is very healthy, light and nutritious!
Source: World66 (2006)
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I love Japan. I love Japan. I love Japan. The Japanese are so friendly, courteous and helpful –
probably the opposite of us English!! Tokyo itself was a great place with so much to see and
do, but it’s the memory of the people that will stay with me longest. (And the women are very
hot too!). Some examples:
Arthur left his unwanted US dollar coins next to a ticket machine in the entrance hall of the
metro. We went down to the platform and were waiting for a train when one of the station
staff jogged up to us, bowed and gave us back the money.
I used my phrasebook to ask a young couple in the street where the nearest internet cafe was,
but they didn’t know and they spoke little English. I thanked them and we carried on
walking. About 5 minutes later they caught us up and the girl passed me her mobile phone.
She had called one of her friends who spoke English and her friend gave me directions over
the phone.
I asked an old lady for directions to the beer museum, but rather than just point me in the
right direction she stopped what she was doing and walked me to the door, about half a mile
away (Green, 2005).
Unlike many travel blogs, Chris attributes his positive experience to interactions with
the locals rather than the amenities of the location. He is amazed at the honesty and
kindness of the natives. Chris lists several examples that show local people going out of
their way to help him locate speci?c destinations. For example, the “old lady” that he
met on the street walked a half-mile out of her way to help him ?nd a museum. He
states that the memory of the kind locals will be his fondest of Tokyo. Figure 22 shows
Chris’s ?rst-person description of his visit to Tokyo.
Another visitor’s positive experience is from seeing a live sumo match.
Figure 22.
Mapping Chris’s visit to
Tokyo story: story
elaboration
1. Chris
3. Japanese
2. Tokyo
+
+
+
4. “The Japanese are so friendly,
courteous and helpful”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
10. Conclusion Gloss:
“I love Japan.
I love Japan.
I love Japan”
6. “Tokyo itself was a great place with so much
to see and do, but it's the memory of the people
that will stay with me longest.
(and the women are very hot too!)” Some examples:
• 8. “I used my phrasebook to ask a young couple in the street
where the nearest internet cafe was, but they didn't know
and they spoke little English. I thanked them and we carried
on walking. About five minutes later they caught us up
and the girl passed me her mobile phone. She had called
one of her friends who spoke English and her friend
gave me directions over the phone”
• 9. “I asked an old lady for directions to the beer museum,
but rather than just point me in the right direction
she stopped what she was doing and walked me
to the door, about half a mile away”
• 7. “Arthur left his unwanted US dollar coins next to a ticket machine
in the entrance hall of the metro. We went down to the platform and
were waiting for a train when one of the station staff jogged up to us,
bowed and gave us back the money”
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Larry Karpen describes his visit to Tokyo
After relaxing in the morning, I decided to head out to a Sumo Wrestling match at the
Ryogoku Stadium and see the preliminary matches of the Grand Summer Tournament. Upon
my arrival, I caught some of the Makuuchi division wrestlers (these are the big boys!) as they
made their entrance into the arena.
Inside the octagon shaped arena where the ?oor seats are grouped in four’s and are cushions,
I sat in the cheap seats up top. But thanks to my quick thinking, I made my way down to the
second level by smiling, pointing and bowing to ushers. From these seats, you can feel the
impact when the two combatants crash into each other.
The sport is very appealing to watch. Most of the time of each match is spent conducting
ceremonial acts like bowing, stomping, and chalking up hands (like a gymnast). During this
3-4 minutes, the crowd builds into a frenzy so when the actual match begins, excitement has
almost peaked. Most of the actual wrestling in a match takes somewhere between 3-6 seconds,
with a few going up to as much as 15 seconds (Karpen, 2005).
Larry’s positive experience at the Summer Grand Tournament stems from the
ceremonial aspects of sumo. He is mesmerized by the 3- to 4-minutes pre-match
activities performed by the wrestlers. While Larry does not understand the signi?cance
of the ceremonial aspects of sumo (e.g. wrestlers throw salt to symbolize that they will
?ght fairly), the crowd’s reaction tells him that everyone is entertained. He concludes
that sumo wrestling is “very entertaining to watch.” Figure 23 shows Larry’s story
occurring while visiting Tokyo.
Figure 23.
Mapping Larry’s visit to
Tokyo story: story
elaboration
1. Larry
3. Sumo wrestling match
2. Tokyo
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5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
4. “the crowd builds into a frenzy…
excitement has almost peaked”
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“The sport is very appealing
to watch”
6. “I decided to head out to a Sumo
Wrestling match at the Ryogoku
Stadium and see the preliminary matches
of the Grand Summer Tournament”
7. “Upon my arival, I caught some
of the Makuuchi division wrestlers
(these are the big boys!) as they made
their entrance into the arena”
8. “Inside the octagon shaped arena
where the floor seats are grouped
in four's and are cushions…”
9. “Most of the time of each match is spent conducting
ceremonial acts like bowing, stomping, and
chalking up hands (like a gymnast)”
10. “During this 3-4 minutes, the crowd builds
into a frenzy so when the actual match begins,
excitement has almost peaked”
11. “Most of the actual wrestling in a match
takes somewhere between 3-6 seconds, with
a few going up to as much as 15 seconds”
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Negative visitor emic interpretation of Tokyo, report by Jen and Jeremy
Finally, the following passage describes an unpleasant experience in Tokyo by Jen and
Jeremy:
Last Wednesday morning at 4:45 a.m. we were awakened by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake. It
was extremely disorienting to come out of sleep into a world where it sounded like 4,000
tables were being dragged across a hardwood ?oor. Not to mention all the movement. We lost
a couple of plates to gravity. The earthquake during the day was much more fun. We sent a
memo to the Paci?c plates asking them to con?ne their head butting to daylight hours (Jen
and Jeremy, 2005).
Jen and Jeremy’s negative experience in Tokyo is due to an uncontrollable event. While
Tokyo has a history of tremors, travelers normally do not plan trips to avoid
earthquakes. Apparently, the distress associated with the 5.5 magnitude tremor stems
from its arrival in early morning. The shaking, loud noise, and personal property
damage were a bit much at 4:45 a.m. A second earthquake during daylight was not as
distressing. Figure 24 shows the negative story plot of Jen and Jeremy’s visit to Tokyo.
A revisionist view on how to build a destination brand icon
Holt (2003) recommends the following steps for building an iconic brand. First, national
contradictions need to be targeted. All four destinations share a dichotomy of modern
and tradition to a certain degree. With its ancient rock carvings and Victorian
architecture, Mumbai has a stronger association with tradition; however, Singapore’s
high rise skyline associates it more closely associated with modernity. A common
theme in the positive visitor emic interpretations is that travelers enjoy the historical
Figure 24.
Mapping Jen and Jeremy’s
visit to Tokyo story: story
elaboration
1. Jen & Jeremy
3. Earthquake
2. Tokyo
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4. “we were awakened by a
magnitude 5.5 earthquake”
5. Negative
Outcome
(Gloss)
11. Conclusion Gloss:
“It sounded like 4,000 tables
were being dragged across
a hardwood floor”
6. “We have more news
of the earth shaking”
7. “Last Wednesday morning
at 4:45 AM we were awakened
by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake”
8. “It was extremely disorienting to come out of sleep
into a world where it sounded like 4,000 tables
were being dragged across a hardwood floor”
9. “Not to mention all the movement.
We lost a couple of plates to gravity”
10. “The earthquake during
the day was much more fun”
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artifacts, but they also like modern conveniences. Negative interpretations relate to
unbalanced experiences. A sweltering hotel room teaming with cockroaches may be
too much local ?avor for visitors.
Second, creating myths that lead culture is necessary. For example, a sumo
wrestling match is fraught with cultural clues. A casual observer might conclude that
sumo is merely a couple of underdressed, overweight men pushing each other. As
Larry notes, the 15-seconds of pushing are only part of the show. The 3-to-4-minutes of
pre-?ght activities are orchestrated to build excitement in the arena. These activities
include drinking water out of a bamboo cup and throwing salt into the ring.
Third, speak with a rebel’s voice. Gastronomic treats like mouth-numbing spicy
chicken soup in Singapore, or potentially lethal puffer ?sh in Japan are risks that the
rebel traveler might take. The evidence suggests that positive experiences often come
from doing or seeing something that the average tourist does not. For example,
touching a cheetah at the zoo may be a privilege that only a select few can experience.
It should be noted that even rebels like to pick and choose their battles. Sitting in
congested city traf?c with a full bladder is not a challenge that most people would
willingly accept.
Fourth, a successful brand icon draws on political authority to rebuild myth –
continue to once again champion the id over the ego. Everyone that works at a Disney
theme park knows they are part of the attraction, even the person sweeping trash.
A number of the positive experiences were due to pleasant interactions with the
natives. A private citizen going out of his/her way to direct a tourist to a museum helps
reinforce the mythology that visitors are welcome. Lost luggage, traf?c jams, and a
native population that do not understand foreign languages can be interpreted as
unfriendly or uncooperative.
Finally, brand icons draw on cultural knowledge. Cultural knowledge is critical for
building icons; however, this element is solely lacking in most manager’s arsenals.
Mumbai’s Gateway of India, Singapore’s high rise skyline, Soul’s Gyeongbokgung
Palace, and Tokyo’s Imperial Palace are examples of icons. One should note that icons
are more than tangible structures; they also are woven with intangibles such as the
Singaporean’s reputation of being a clean, safe, and friendly destination.
While useful for frequently purchased consumer goods, the following revisionist
view may be more appropriate for building a destination into a brand icon. First, reach
consensus – make sense – of new visitors most receptive to becoming the protagonist
in the myth that they assign to your destination; thus, understanding the storyline goes
hand-in-hand with understanding the protagonist. For example, the number of
shopping and culinary options in Singapore amazes Laura. She thinks that Singapore
is a shopping paradise.
Second, collect ?rst-person stories of how protagonist report their experiences in
living the myth while visiting the destination. The mountains that surround Seoul
impress Helen. Seoul may be a major cosmopolitan area with ancient roots, but the city
is surrounded by natural beauty.
Third, build authentic brand attachments with core symbols evoked automatically
by new visitors. From Mumbai’s Gateway to India, Lubna takes a short boat ride to the
Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO world heritage site. Inside the Caves, visitors are treated
to ancient treasures.
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Fourth, create myth-brand communities-meetings where brand use/encounters
occur (e.g. sponsor book club meetings where principal Asian cities serve as
background environments). The humane conditions of animal displays at the zoo,
positively in?uences Rebecca’s image of Singapore. If zoos care for animals well
perhaps the destination area cares well for visitors.
Fifth, update stories within the myth to keep the myth alive; bring the myth to life in
new ways. The highlight of Chris’ trip to Tokyo is meeting friendly and honest people.
He reports that he will not forget the old woman that walked a half-mile out of her way
to help him ?nd a museum.
General discussion, limitations, and suggestions for future research
Stories do move people profoundly (McKee, 1997) to destinations as well as in their
search to ful?lling their needs for speci?c terminal values (Woodside, 2005). Stories
provide clues to unconscious as well as conscious thinking (Woodside, 2005; Zaltman,
2003). People store, retrieve, and talk to others instory contexts (Shank, 1990). First-hand
visitor reports of experiencing destinations indicate that tourists tell stories that offer
clues of how they interpret and enact the myths that these destinations enable.
Netnography research of visitor blog-journal stories provide the opportunity to
collect emic interpretive data unobtrusively of the meanings lived by consumers while
in the destination and after their visits – these stories have the potential of in?uencing
substantial numbers of future visitors who go online in search of ?rst-person unbiased,
unrehearsed reports of others’ own destination experiences. The potential also exists
for the researcher to achieve direct contact with the visitor storyteller to ask for
elaborations on the blog reports as well as information on post-blog report behaviors
relevant to speci?c destinations (e.g. comparisons with competing destinations; repeat
visit behavior and meanings of such experiences to the destination described in the
original journal entry).
Kozinets’ (2002) provides a thorough discussion on the limitations of using
netnography. These limitations include the rather limited extent of reporting
experiences lived in a destination as seen, interpreted, and self-edited by the visitor.
Even when a visitor reports experiences covering seven months, the report is unlikely
to include more than 1,000 words. While valuable, the visitors’ blog-journal reports are
likely to be self-edited in ways unknown to these visitors (Russo et al., 1989), given that
most thinking occurs unconsciously; thus, netnography is not a panacea for completely
uncovering the lived experiences as done or interpreted by visitors. Also, the
interpretive data collected are dif?culty to generalize to the population of bloggers who
report their experiences in visiting the destination or to the population of all visitors.
Future research in the study of destinations as brand myths lived and interpreted
by visitors may bene?t from rigorous cataloging and probing of large samples of
blog-journal entries using samples of 300 plus visitors. Similar to Kozinets (2002)
classifying consumers reporting on their coffee use via online communications, several
variations of the compelling myths of a given destination are likely to be uncovered via
such in-depth reporting.
Strategic implications for building effective destination images
Research on naturally-occurring visitor storytelling provides destination tourism
strategists with information about “exciting incidents” (McKee, 2003) representing
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unique associations and emotional highpoints that visitors are likely to retrieve and
report automatically when discussing these destinations. Such storytelling reports
provide creative clues for positioning a destination uniquely and meaningfully in the
minds of potential future visitors. The stories destination visitors tell often include
their own explanations of their own photographs that capture what these informants
?nd especially worthwhile to report to others – such visualizations and emic
interpretations serve to inform the strategist how well a destination’s planned
positioning strategy matches with visitors’ take-away images and word-of-mouth
reports. Making such comparisons offers an early warning system for learning
problems with a destination’s image as well as an early opportunity system for
learning the images that excite visitors to advocate visiting the destination to friends,
family members, and blog readers.
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advertising research”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 35-51.
Corresponding author
Drew Martin can be contacted at: [email protected]
IJCTHR
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doc_422722407.pdf
To demonstrate how brand netnography is useful in showing how visitors interpret the
places, people and situations that they experience when traveling
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Etic interpreting of naïve subjective personal introspections of tourism behavior:
Analyzing visitors' stories about experiencing Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo
Drew Martin Arch G. Woodside Ning Dehuang
Article information:
To cite this document:
Drew Martin Arch G. Woodside Ning Dehuang, (2007),"Etic interpreting of naïve subjective personal
introspections of tourism behavior", International J ournal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol.
1 Iss 1 pp. 14 - 44
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Etic interpreting of na?
¨
ve subjective
personal introspections of tourism
behavior
Analyzing visitors’ stories about experiencing
Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo
Drew Martin
College of Business and Economics, University of Hawaii at Hilo,
Hilo, Hawaii, USA
Arch G. Woodside
Department of Marketing, Carroll School of Management,
Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and
Ning Dehuang
School of Management and Economics,
Kumming University of Science and Technology,
Kumming, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – To demonstrate how brand netnography is useful in showing how visitors interpret the
places, people and situations that they experience when traveling.
Design/methodology/approach – Through analysis of online consumer stories about their travel
experiences, this paper probes how visitors interpret their experiences while visiting cities in Asia.
Deconstructing texts written by consumers via Heider’s balance theory provides the method of
analysis for samples of both positive and negative travel experiences of foreign visitors.
Findings – Mapping consumer experiences shows immediate and downstream positive and negative
associations of concepts, events, and outcomes in visitors’ stories. These maps include descriptions of
how visitors live speci?c destination’s unique promises.
Research limitations/implications – The population of bloggers who report their experiences
may not be representative of the population of all visitors.
Practical implications – Blog-journal stories provides the opportunity to collect emic interpretative
data unobtrusively. These stories have the potential to in?uence substantial numbers of future visitors
who go online in search of ?rst-person unbiased, unrehearsed reports of others’ destination experiences.
First-person (emic) reports enable managers of places (brands) to learn and talk in dialects of customers.
Originality/value – This paper provides a revisionist proposal to Holt’s ?ve-step strategy for
building destinations as iconic brands and suggestions for tourism management. The revisionist view
includes interpreting consumers’ own interpretations of their place experiences.
Keywords Tourism, Travel, Storytelling, South Asia, South East Asia, Far East
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-6182.htm
The authors gratefully acknowledge the data collection assistance of Ning Dehuang, Kunming
University of Science and Technology, PRC.
IJCTHR
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Received April 2006
Revised July 2006
Accepted October 2006
International Journal of Culture,
Tourism and Hospitality Research
Vol. 1 No. 1, 2007
pp. 14-44
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1750-6182
DOI 10.1108/17506180710729592
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Certain cities are able to project unique place identities that transform visitors from
their ordinary lives to extraordinary experiences (Judd, 1995; Pagano and Bowman,
1996). For example, New York often is called the Big Apple. What does this metaphor
imply about New York? “Big” may suggest a major transformation, or largeness.
“Apple” conjures up images of Adam and Eve and forbidden knowledge, or perhaps
rebellion against parental authority, banishment, and achieving adulthood. The point
here is that destination nicknames widely shared are kernel expressions of iconic
myths rooted in medieval allegories (Stern, 1988, 1995) – allegories permitting
“the championing of the id over the ego” (Holt, 2003, p. 49) via a personal
experience-event-happening that leaves an indelible memory (Peters, 2003, p. 113).
Consumers often are unwilling to admit/know (to ourselves or to others) the need to
enact the promise that an iconic brand offers (for a review, see Woodside, 2006) – thus,
the possible scof?ng at the Big Apple allegory. Part of the visitor’s enacting a
brand-destination experience occurs unconsciously and this part is often stored and
retrieved unconsciously (Bargh, 1989, 1994; Bargh et al., 1996; Woodside, 2005;
Zaltman, 2003) – see Zaltman’s (2003) literature review con?rming that most thinking
is done unconsciously.
This paper’s objectives include analyzing naturally occurring communications by
?rst-time visitors to cities in countries beyond their home nations. The paper examines
whether or not Heider’s (1958) balance theory is useful for understanding the
?rst-person reports visitors communicate about themselves and interpretations about
their self-reports of own travel experiences and destinations they visit (e.g. emic
storytelling). Heider’s theory includes the proposition that individuals seek to maintain
psychological balance and to overcome states of imbalance when psychological
imbalance occurs in their lives. For example, a Jewish couple buying a German car has
to overcome an imbalanced state of automatically associating Germany with the
Holocaust (Woodside and Chebat, 2001).
The work of several scholars in consumer research(Arnould and Price, 1993; Arnould
and Wallendorf, 1994; Hirschman, 1986) and relating ?elds of human inquiry (Bruner,
1990; Mitroff and Kilmann, 1976; Orr, 1990; Zukier, 1986) support the proposition
that, “. . . people think narratively rather than argumentatively or paradigmatically”
(Weick, 1995, p. 127). Two additional propositions complement this ?rst one:
P2. A substantial amount of information stored and retrieved from memory is
episodic – stories that include inciting incidents, experiences,
outcomes/evaluations, and summaries/nuances of person-to-person and
person-and-brand relationships (Fournier, 1998; Shank, 1990).
P3. Stories expressing how and why life changes are highly persuasive (McKee,
1997, 2003).
Storytelling research (Arnould and Wallendorf, 1994; Fourier, 1998; Shank, 1990) is
useful because such research helps to clarify and to deepen knowledge of how people
resolve paradoxes triggered in their minds by unbalanced states. Learning stories
enables the researcher to perceive the complexity often associating when initial
balanced states become unbalanced and the steps taken to achieve old or new balanced
states (Heider, 1958; Woodside and Chebat, 2001). Storytelling research enables holistic
views on how initial balanced states become unbalanced and the steps taken to achieve
the old or a new balanced state.
Na? ¨ve subjective
personal
introspections
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First-person stories (i.e. a story that the protagonist in the story reports to herself
and possibly to others, that is, an emic interpretation of how, why, who, when, and
where events unfold with what immediate and long-term consequences) are what
people bring back from travels and destination visits. Ethnographic researcher (i.e. etic)
reports of city visitors’ behaviors and meanings visitors have of their experiences often
fail to include emic interpretations (Moore, 1985) – the reader of such reports might
well ask, do the visitors actually report to themselves and others very similar
interpretations as the ethnographer reports?
Visitors’ storytelling about their own experiences often describes myth
enactments/climaxes uniquely relevant to speci?c destinations. The internet has
become an important medium for sharing these experiences. Travelers satisfy both
hedonic and social needs in telling their stories online (Wang and Fesenmaier, 2004). Such
storytelling frequently closes with advocating future visitors by oneself and others, or the
avoidance of such visits – the present paper examines this fundamental proposition.
Myths and consumer brand experiences
According to Holt (2003), people always have needed myths. These simple stories with
compelling characters and resonant plots, myths help to make sense of the world.
Encapsulated within myths are icons. Icons are powerful because they deliver myths to
us in a tangible form, thereby making them more accessible. Although icons can be
brands, often they are people (e.g. Ronald Regan, Marylyn Monroe, and Martin Luther
King). When a brand creates a myth, often through advertisements, consumers come to
perceive the myth as embodied in the product. Buying the product serves to consume
the myth and to forge a relationship with the brand. Anthropologists call this event
“ritual action.” For example, Nike’s core customers laced up their Air Jordan’s in the
early 1990s to tap into Nike’s myth of individual achievement through perseverance.
Iconic brands embody myths that attempt to resolve acute tension people feel between
their own lives and society’s prevailing ideology (Holt, 2003).
Holt (2003) urges marketers to consider moving away from conventional marketing
of attempting to position a brand as offering unique attributes and bene?ts; he outlines
a brand strategy for competing to provide the most compelling myth. Brand winners in
myth markets become icons; they are the greatest performers of the greatest myths,
and they bask in glory and cultural leadership. More often than not, in America at
least, those who win in myth markets are performing a myth of rebelling: the most
successful icons rely on an intimate and credible relationship with a rebel world: Nike
with the African-American ghetto, Harley with outlaw bikers, Volkswagen with
bohemian artists, Apple with cyberpunks, Mountain Dew with slackers – protagonists
who would rather pursue quixotic activities than “grow up” and get serious abut
careers (Holt, 2003).
While Holt approaches iconic brand analysis from the perspective of marketers,
the need exists to learn how consumers implicitly and explicitly enact brand myths.
For example, from one marketer’s perspective at Harley: “What we sell is the ability for
a 43-year-old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns, and have
people be afraid of him” (Peters, 2003, p. 116). Does the 43-year-old accountant’s
lived-myth plot match with the marketer’s plot? Responding to this issue, a substantial
number of studies focus on how consumers enact myths via experiences with iconic
brands (Brown et al., 2003; Stern, 1988).
IJCTHR
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Relating to the primary focus on destinations providing visitors the opportunity to
enact iconic myths, Borgerson and Schroeder (2003) detail such a myth for the holiday
vacation destination frequently found to rank ?rst among Americans: Hawaii.
Through furniture, books, dishes, and record albums from the 1950s, Borgerson and
Schroeder (2003) describe how marketing, tourism, music, and stereotypes combine to
“package paradise”: metaphorically, connections to the primitive, pagan, and virginal
inspire visions of exotic young females, sensual, sexually available, and ready to frolic.
What better escape than the postcoital sigh, the fall into slumber, and a tasty luau meal
upon awakening (Borgerson and Schroeder, 2003, p. 223). However, the issues remains
for further study of if and how visitors enact this myth as Borgerson and Schroeder
interpret from the artifacts they examine; such additional research complements and
extends “insightfulness” only research approaches (Holt, 1991, p. 61; Holt, 2003). Hunt
(1993) informs this observation and suggests using multiple methods for exploring the
issue of objectivity (Woodside, 2006); Hunt tellingly describes accuracy limitations of
insight-only etic interpreting.
This paper reports an exploration of the stories visitors tell themselves and others
about their visits to four Asian cities (Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo) and
brie?y reviews the iconic myths implied by ?rst-thoughts (e.g. nicknames, kernel
concepts) these four cities imply. Section 2 following this introduction presents the
method. Section 3 covers the ?ndings. Section 4 provides a revisionist paradigm to
Holt’s recommendations on how to build a brand icon. Section 5 provides a general
discussion, limitations, and suggestions for further research.
Method
An individual-level netnography using a purposive sampling of visitors’ journal
stories provides the interpretive data for this report. Kozinets (2002) provides details of
conducting ethnographic studies in cyberspace – what he labels to be netnography.
The attempt was made to ?nd diverse (both positive and negative) visitor journal
postings of their on-going experiences and ?rst impressions while visiting Mumbai,
Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo (with separate informants for each area). Similar to the
method that Brown et al. (2003) outline, the method include acquiring diverse stories.
The sampling strategy used does not offer representativeness or transferability
(Hwang and Fensenmaier, 2004); but focuses on building theory through analytic depth
and insights into lasting iconic impressions.
For this study, purposive sampling includes implementing the following plan.
Search for informant reports focusing on ?nding mainly overseas visitors writing blog
reports on their ?rst-visits to Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. The search
includes ?nding two positive communications and at least one negative communication
per city. Google searches using the city name, “blog” and “good” was conducted as well
as the city name, “blog,” and “bad,” plus additional variations on these broad themes. In
addition, Google searches included visiting the tourism marketing sites and major
attractions and locations frequently identi?ed with each. This paper includes lengthy
excerpts from two positive and one negative story for each city.
The method includes mapping each of the 12 stories according to relationships fromone
concept to the next that appear in the stories. The concepts include persons, places, acts,
outcomes, beliefs, and the linkages re?ect positive/negative sentiments or states of unit
versus not unit relationships (e.g. Mumbai is a city in India expresses a unit relationship).
Na? ¨ve subjective
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Following Heider’s (1958) balance theory, the resulting maps were examined to
consider the balance and imbalance relationships among the concepts implied by the
story:
By a balanced state is meant a situation in which the relations among the entities ?t together
harmoniously; there is no stress toward change. A basic assumption is that sentiment
relations and unit relations tend toward a balanced state. This means that sentiments are not
entirely independent of the perceptions of unit connections between entities and that the
latter, in turn, are not entirely independent of sentiments. Sentiments and unit relations are
mutually interdependent. It also means that if a balanced state does not exist, then forces
toward this state will arise. If a change is not possible, the state of imbalance will produce
tension (Heider, 1958, p. 201).
While unit and sentiment relations are non-orthogonal, they represent independent
theoretical and empirical constructs grounded in cognition (i.e. units) and affection
(i.e. sentiments). When tension caused by imbalance arises in the mind of the
individual, then the individual is likely to exercise some mental and physical effort to
eliminate the tension:
Unbalanced situations stimulate us to further thinking; they have the character of interesting
puzzles, problems which make us suspect a depth of interesting background . . . Stories in
which the stress is laid on unbalanced situations are felt to have a deep psychological
meaning. Dostoevsky, for instance, describes again and again feelings full of con?ict
resulting from just such situations (Heider, 1958, pp. 180-1).
Woodside and Chebat (2001) provide further details of mapping balanced and
imbalanced states found in consumer stories with the resulting maps analyzed
following Heider’s (1958) balance theory. Two of the authors worked independently in
developing the maps; the resulting maps where shared in additional meetings among
all three authors; the maps were revised until agreement through discussion was
reached among all three authors as to direct and indirect linkages and the sentiments
and unit relationships that the story concepts express.
Findings
The ?ndings include a summary of the iconic myth each city presents over several
decades and centuries as found in popular literature and tourism marketing web sites.
Following a summary exhibit for each city, additional exhibits offer abstracts or
complete blog-journal stories – two positive and one negative stories per city.
A balance/imbalance map deconstruction exhibit follows each story.
Mumbai (formerly Bombay)
Mumbai (Figures 1-3), is the capital of Maharashtra, is located on the west coast of
India. Its townscape includes Victorian buildings that are evidence of England’s
colonial period. Arguably, Mumbai is India’s most cosmopolitan city. It is the center of
India’s commerce, industrial, and ?nancial sectors. Mumbai has India’s largest urban
area population with an estimated 18.84 million people (City Mayors, 2006). In 2004,
this region received 1.2 million foreign and 13.4 million visitors (Government of India,
2006, p. 50).
Mumbai’s principal landmark is the Gateway of India. Gateway’s design appears
to be in?uenced by France’s Arch of Triumph and Sixteenth Century Muslim styles
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of architecture. The Gateway monument was built following the visit of King George V
in 1911. Of?cially, the Gateway to India was opened in 1924. Today, the monument is a
popular location for people to congregate. The surrounding area has many bazaars that
sell an array of tourist trinkets. From the Gateway to India, one can catch a boat to
Elephanta Island. Elephanta Island is a UNESCO world heritage site that includes
stone carvings that date back to the sixth century.
Mumbai also is the home of Bollywood. Bollywood is the center of India’s ?lm
industry. This destination has the highest annual production of movies in the world.
A number of India’s actors live on Malabar Hills, India’s equivalent of Beverly Hills.
Figure 2.
Marketing Mumbai
(Bombay)
Mumbai (Bombay), the cosmopolitan capital of Maharashtra, is located in the west of India.
Not in the least because of its location and the mark the British left on the city, it changed
from a fairly isolated town into a major commercial city with over a million inhabitants.
Recently, the government changed the city's former, Anglicised name Bombay, into
Mumbai. But what's in a name? Mumbai still is a must for travelers and is, to a certain
extent, a match for cities such as Paris and London.
Although not everyone is pleased with its nickname, Bollywood, the film industry in Mumbai
produces over 300 films a year and is therefore, in this respect, second after Hollywood. The
actors enjoy their god-like statuses and dwell in exclusive mansions on Malabar Hill, the area
that holds its own with Beverly Hills. Although not may people are permitted to actually see
the ins and outs of the film shooting process, there are some tours to the film studies and if
that doesn't work, there is always a place where you can bathe in the typical mélange of Indian
dance, songs, optional violence and melodrama.
Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by the big city character because there are plenty of nice things to see and do. There are museums, such
as the Gandhi Museum (in one of the Mahatma's former residences- it's light on history and heavy on memorabilia), art galleries, bazaars
(check out Jhavari Bazaar, where bargaining is done comfortably on piles of pillows), parks (the hanging gardens are a must) and temples.
Especially in the Hutatma Chawk area, you'll find a large concentration of impressive and important historical buildings, such as the fabulous
Town Hall in neo-classical style. Marine Drive nearby the seaside, which is also called the Queen's Necklace because of its sparkling
nightlights, is a nicearea to stroll and relax in the evening hours.
However, you haven't actually been to Bombay if you haven't seen the Gateway to India. This monument was built to commemorate the
visit of king George the V and Queen Mary in 1911. At the same time, it's the place where you can catch a boat to the Elephanta Island, a
UNESCO world heritage site where you can see rock-cut temples and caves dating back to the 6th century. Daytrips from Bombay include
visits to the Kanheri Caves at Borivli (more rock carvings), Bassein (to see its Portuguese fort) and Cheul (ruins of Muslim and Portuguese
forts). From Bombay visit Ellora and Ajanta.
Source: World66 (2006)
Figure 1.
Basic pro?le of Mumbai
(Bombay)
• Location:18. 96°N 72. 82°E
• Population:12,691,836 (2001)
• Racial Groups
• Main Industry: Mumbai has a vast array of different industries. However, textiles
are still Mumbai's largest industry. Some of the other industries that Mumbai has
include: Pharmaceuticals, construction, engineering, metals, silks, glassware, printing,
plastics, bikes and film. It also has a large petroleum industry. Nearly all of India's
petroleum is marketed in Mumbai. Mumbai has one of the world's best natural
harbors,which is located on the Arabian Sea.
(Source: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/espencer/industry.html)
• Tourism Industry: Tourism in Mumbai does not need any boosters. Being the
capital of Maharashtra and hub of film stars, Mumbai as such attracts tourist from
all over the world.
(Source: http://www.indiatravelog.com/mumbai/mumbai-tourism.html)
• Tourism marketing
The Location of Mumbai in India
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
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As a result, Malabar Hills is a popular destination for tourists wishing to catch a glimpse
of India’s famous movies stars. Malabar Hills also is the location of Jain temple, the
Hanging Gardens and Kamala Nehru Park which offer outstanding views over Mumbai.
Lubna Kably’s interpretation of a visit to Mumbai (August 12, 2002)
The following statement is Lubna Kably’s (2002) interpretation of Mumbai:
Everyone who visits Mumbai hears of and invariably visits the Gateway of India. This
26 meter-high stone gateway was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen
Mary to India in 1911.
Tourists throng to visit it now, and right opposite stands the 5-star luxury hotel of the
Old Taj, equally impressive. I learned that there was an attempt to drive away the many
pigeons that roost here, through methods not really humane. Fortunately, the pigeons are still
here. My visit here was for a different purpose. Steep stone steps lead into the sea, and one can
ride on the small motor boats or ships and see Mumbai’s coastline or, better still, satisfy one’s
curiosity of the island looming in the distance. I opted for the latter. In just under 40 minutes,
we reached the island of the Elephanta Caves. Jumping off the jetty, I walked up to the caves.
A long walk, one also has to trudge up steep stone steps, but I did not think it worthwhile to
wait for the little toy tram (if there really is one as I did not see it) to take me up there. The
island seems to have got its name after a huge elephant idol, which was discovered by the
Portuguese who ?rst landed here. A few guides mention that this elephant statue is found in
one of the local museums, yet others swore that it is in the Victoria Gardens, the local zoo.
On my next trip to Mumbai, I shall try and trace it out. It seems to me that the name of the
island should be changed to “Monkey Island”. No offence meant, but the throngs of monkeys
were a real nuisance, as were the guides. I ?nally joined a group of other Asian tourists; most
of them were from Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Heavy pillars carved from rocks held up
the main cave. There are three entrances to the temple caves, from the north, east and west
sides. We stepped gingerly into the opening in the volcanic cave. The guide informed us that
these caves date back to 6th century AD and were built during the reign of Raja Krishnaraja
Figure 3.
Mumbai (Bombay): Kernel
concepts, elaborations,
and consumer behavior
implications)
Kernel Concepts
Concept Elaboration
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city. Mumbai is
located on an island off the west coast of India. With an estimated metropolitan population in 2005 of 17 million, it is the sixth largest
metropolitan area in the world, and clustered along with its outlying satellite townships forms one of the world's most populous conurbations.
The city, which has a deep natural harbor, is also the largest port in western India, handling over half of India's passenger traffic.
Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, and houses important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock
Exchange, and the corporate headquarters of many Indian companies. Within Mumbai is located Bollywood, the epicentre of the country's
Hindi film and television industry, producing the world's highest number of films annually. Mumbai is also one of the rare cities to
accommodate a National Park within its municipal limits.
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
The city's most recognizable landmark:
The Gateway of India, Mumbai
Mumbai
The commercial
capital of India
It contributes 10% of factory employment,
33% of income tax collections, 60% of
customs duty collections, 20% of central
excise tax collections, 40% of India's
foreign trade and rupees 40,000 crore
(US $9 billion) in corporate taxes
The home
to Bollywood
the epicenter of the country's Hindi film
and television industry, producing the
world's highest number of films annually
One of the rare cities to
accommodate a National Park
within its municipal limits
The Borivali National Park,
also known as Sanjay Gandhi
National Park
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and are dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, who has three avatars (persona): the creator, the
preserver, the destroyer. The tiny guide booklet, which I held ?rmly in hand, has another
story to tell. It stated that the caves date back to the 9th century, when the Silhara Empire
reigned. Irrespective of these contradictions, it is certain that the temple caves are dedicated
to Lord Shiva. The most famous carving is that of Maheshmurthi – a huge (20 ft-high
according to the guide) three-headed bust of Shiva, depicting these three avatars; it is in fact a
carving found in the inner recesses of the cave.
The main cave has many other carvings: a dancing Shiva; Shiva with his wife Parvati
during their wedding ceremony (the ceremony is presided by another god, Brahma, and is
attended by scores of other gods and goddess); Shiva in meditation with snakes coiled around
him; Shiva gently releasing the goddess Ganga (the holy river of India to ensure that she does
not ?ood the world); and Shiva depicted as Ardhanareshwar (I hope I have got this spelling
right!). It seems that Shiva split his body, creating two forms, the male and female, and thus
birth was possible. A few other carvings are found on the walls of this main cave. Added to
this, however, is the graf?ti by the local Romeos – sickening. At another end is the Linga.
The Linga (a conical shape) depicts Shiva as the Lord of Fertility and Reproduction. Bright
red and yellow ?owers were being offered at this place. There are other smaller caves (rooms),
most of which are in much need of repair. In fact, restoration is on going in some places, as the
Elephanta Caves are now labeled as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the of?cials
mentioned that the rock formation is of basalt and limestone, thus the carvings are easily
susceptible to wear and tear. Most of us stood mesmerized by the Maheshmurthi. Once our
eyes had gotten used to the dim light inside, we noticed that the middle head, gazing straight
ahead, depicted an unbelievable calm and serenity. Our guide informed us that it is not
always so. During the day, he has witnessed Shiva having several different expressions.
We knew that this was largely because of the interplay of light; light enters the cave from
different angles. But we preferred to believe him as we made our way back to the jetty.
Mumbai’s Arabian Sea did offer quite a few pleasant surprises (Kably, 2002).
Figure 4 shows the story using Woodside and Chebat’s (2001) mapping application of
Heider’s balance theory. Visiting the Elephanta Caves is an example of an incident that
meets McKee’s (1997, p. 191) dictum: the protagonist must react to the inciting incident.
Overall, Lubna’s reaction is favorable. It takes only 40 minutes to reach a cave ?lled
with ancient treasures. The artifacts inside the cave data back to the sixth century AD.
They include a famous carving of Maheshmurthi and many carvings of a dancing
Shiva. The storyline Lubna provides from her Elephanta Caves experience re?ects
satiating sensuality for the eyes – in story writing terms (McKee, 1997). This thought
pattern represents the controlling idea of her visit report to the Elephanta Caves in
Mumbai implying both the story’s central idea and its function:
A CONTROLLING IDEA may be expressed in a single sentence describing how and why life
undergoes change from one condition of existence at the beginning to another one at the end
(McKee, 1997, p. 115).
Positive visitor emic interpretations of Mumbai by Rob Wallis (June 28, 2005)
Rob Wallis provides another example of a positive travel experience in Mumbai:
Mumbai is a very interesting place, we visited the gateway to India, built by the British at the
turn of the 20th century, a very well built monument, it was the place where the British
ceremoniously left India after the second world war ?nished. A lot of local people congregate
here at night and we were continuously trying to be sold ridiculous 6 foot long balloons the
shape of skittles, why??? I have no idea . . .
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There are plenty of bazaar’s selling useless stuff, but some have interesting cloths and
trinkets, etc. not worth buying though. There are many restaurants offering very good
traditional Indian cuisine, I have decided not to eat any meat (health reasons and so forth),
however, the vegetarian choice is excellent and there are many pure veg eateries to choose
from anyway.
On the second day we tried to get a boat to Elephenta Island, really worth visiting
apparently, however, due to the monsoon the sea was too rough. Instead we decided to hire a
guide for half a day. After ?ghting off some ludicrously priced hustlers barely managing to
say hello in English promising to show us the city we made our way to the tourist of?ce and
arranged a government approved guide by the name of Mr Veer, this method proved to be a
fraction of the price of the touts. We also hired a taxi for 4 hours and set off. To start we
visited the ?rst English church built here after our occupation started. In a stark contrast to
the rest of the many unpleasant smells of Mumbai, the church smelt musky and damp like
one of our churches, it was built in a very similar 19th century style with all the materials
imported from the UK. Cruising the city, heading north we made various stops along the way
to view interesting buildings and architecture, notably close replicas of Notre Dame and Big
Ben. The main train station (CST) is very similar to St Pancras station in London. Our next
destination was Malabar Hill to visit a Hindu temple called Jain temple. It was a fascinating
building with exceptionally ornately painted ceilings and amazing panoramic views over
Chowpatty beach and the rest of the city. Just along the road are Mumbai’s Hanging Gardens,
again brilliant views and home to many giant snails. The guide was very good and spoke
very sound English. On our return journey to Colaba we brie?y stopped to see the site where
all the dirty washing in Mumbai is washed, it was a huge, many people were hard at work, a
bit like Widow Twankies! The main thing I took from the tour was that so much architecture
Figure 4.
Mapping Lubna’s visit to
Mumbai story: story
elaboration
1. Lubna
3. the Elephanta Caves
2. Mumbai
+
+
+
4. “The Cave Filled with Treasures”
“a UNESCO World Heritage Site”
5. Position
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“Mumbai's Arabian Sea did
offer quite a few pleasant
Surprises”
6. “In just under 40 minutes,
we reached the island
of the Elephanta Caves”
7. “The guide informed us
that these caves date
back to 6th century AD”
8. “The most famous carving is that of Maheshmurthi
– a huge (20 ft-high according to the guide) three-headed
bust of Shiva, depicting these three avatars”
9. “The main cave has many other carvings:
a dancing Shiva…”
10. “At another end is the Linga. The Linga
(a conical shape) depicts Shiva as the Lord
of Fertility and Reproduction”
11. “Most of us stood mesmerized
by the Maheshmurthi…”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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has been built with our in?uence, the majority of buildings are pre WWII and as such the city
bares a great resemblance to many parts of central London (Wallis, 2005).
Rob’s story focuses on the city’s buildings and architecture. Rob takes great interest in
the English in?uence on the architecture in Mumbai. Figure 5 shows a map of his story.
The conclusion, “Mumbai is a very interesting place.”
Negative visitor emic interpretation of Mumbai, report by Shakirah and Erik
Shakirah and Erik record a less positive visitor experience in a 2005 visit to Mumbai:
. . . or Bombay nightmares, as this was not our most enjoyable stop.
First, we endured a 15 hours overnight bus ride from Goa – not nice:- (Then just as we
thought we’d found a nice place to stay (Apollo guest house), our room was located next to the
side of a rubbish dump in an alleyway, so a funky smell came seeping through the AC!!! And
all kinds of bugs were crawling through the sink . . . nuff said! After we both started to get a
bit sick, physically and mentally, we spent some extra bucks on another room.
We had a some good and bad experiences during our 5 day stop in Bombay . . .
Bad ?rst – The pollution was extreme and there was no way of taking one deep breathe, it
was just ?lthy . . . There were rats the size of small pigs crawling the side streets, and worst of
all, the poverty really hit home.
Good – We hit a few good bars and clubs in the suburbs including a club called “Seijo and the
Soul dish” which was a mixture of Japanese, western and live drumbeats and the interior
Figure 5.
Mapping Rob’s visit to
Mumbai story: story
elaboration
1. Rob
3. Buildings &
architecture
2. Mumbai
+
+
+
4. “interesting buildings and architecture”
“It was a fascinating building with…”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“Mumbai is a very
interesting place”
6. “we visited the gateway
to India,…a very well
built monument”
7. “On the second day we tried to
get a boat to Elephenta Island,
really worth visiting apparently”
8. “To start we visited the first English church
built here…it was built in a very similar 19th century
style with all the materials imported from the UK”
9. “Cruising the city…we made various stops along the
way to view interesting buildings and architecture,
notably close replicas of Notre Dame and Big Ben.
The main train station (CST) is very similar to St. Pancras
station in London”
10. “Our next destination was Malabar Hill
to visit a Hindu temple called Jain temple.
It was a fascinating building with…”
11. “Just along the road are Mumbai’s
Hanging Gardens, again brilliant views”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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walls were painted with large sized manga characters. We also celebrated HOLI, a Hindu
festival which involved spreading the lurrve through paint . . . see pics. We partied in the
street with some local Indians and ended up being bigger attractions than the Gateway of
India (Shakirah and Erik, 2005).
Figure 6 shows the Shakirah and Erik’s bad experience in Mumbai. When a trip starts
out bad, it is dif?cult to recover. In this case, the travelers have an unpleasant, 15-hours
bus ride. Upon arrival, Shakirah and Erik ?nd negative visual and olfactory stimuli to
compound their misery. The ongoing exposure to pollution, poverty, and vermin
resulted in the conclusion that Mumbai is not an enjoyable stop.
Seoul
Seoul (Figures 7-9) is South Korea’s capital as well as the country’s center for business
and industry. Its metropolitan area population is estimated at 9.52 million people (City
Mayors, 2006). South Korea’s ?rst city is located in the northwest region of the country
on the Han River. Seoul is old city that has been a capital city since the fourteenth
century.
Although Seoul is a modern city, visitors interested in historical sites and museums
have a number of options. Seoul’s South Gate (Nam-Dae-Mun) is a good place to start. It
used to be the main entrance to the city. Today, it is surrounded by modern architecture
showing an interesting contrast of traditional and modern architecture. In Jongno ward
of Seoul, there are a number of historical sites. For example, Gyeongbokgung Palace
is worth a visit. It was the main palace during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).
Figure 6.
Mapping Shakirah and
Erik’s visit to Mumbai
story: story elaboration
1. Shakirahand Erik
3. Rubbish & dirt
2. Mumbai
+
–
+
4. “Bombay nightmares”
5. Negative
outcome
(Gloss)
13. Conclusion Gloss:
“this was not our most
enjoyable stop”
6. “First we endured a 15 hour
overnight bus ride from Goa”
7. “Then just as we thought
we'd found a nice place to stay
(Apollo guest house)”
8. “our room was located next to the side of
a rubbish dump in an alleyway, so a funky
smell came seeping through the AC!!!”
9. “And all kinds of bugs were crawling
through the sink.... nuff said!”
10. “After we both started to get a bit sick,
physically and mentally, we spent some
extra bucks on another room”
11. “Bad first -The pollution was extreme
and there was no way of taking one deep
breathe, it was just filthy...”
12. “There were rats the size of small pigs
crawling the side streets, and worst of all,
the poverty really hit home”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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Near Gyeongbokgung Palace is Insa-dong. At Insa-dong, visitors can visit numerous
galleries and see traditional crafts and goods.
South of Jongno is the Jung ward and Namsangol Hanok Village. This Village is
comprised of ?ve traditional Korean houses that have been restored. Also, Jongno is
the location of Myeong-dong, a shopper’s paradise. Myeong-dong hosts a number of
brand name shops and department stores that sell high quality merchandise.
Helen Percival’s positive visitor emic interpretations of Seoul (June 27, 2005)
Helen provides the following information about her visit to Seoul:
After a day of teaching children I re?ect upon my 4 months here in South Korea. I have just
recovered from a day of white water rafting where the water was ankle deep. The most
unusual whitewater rafting trip I have experience, a lot of walking and lifting the raft. But we
got too see beautiful river side rock formations, but not a lot of wildlife.
The monsoon has arrived, but the spring time has been great with pleasant days and
beautiful spring blossoms, I climbed to the top of a mountain in Seoul to get a view of the city
which was amazing and looked like a toy town. Seoul is enormous and is surrounded by a belt
of mountains. Everyone over the age of 45 climbs mountains even in sweltering 30 degree
Figure 7.
Basic pro?le of Seoul
• Location: Seoul is located at 37°35' N 127°0' E
• Population: 10,276,968 (the end of 2003)
• Racial Groups: The number of foreign residents in Seoul as of the end of 2003 is
102,882 or about 1 % of Seoul's total population. They include 52,572 Chinese,
11,484 Americans, and 6,139 Japanese.
(Source: http://english.seoul.go.kr/today/about/about_01quick.htm)
• Main Industry: Seoul functions as an "industrial incubator", nurturing information
technology & financial service industries, and is also the center of banking, securities
and insurance for Korea.
(Source: http://english.seoul.go.kr/business/environ/envi_01info_01.html)
• Tourism Industry
• Tourism marketing
The Location of Seoul in South Korea
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Figure 8.
Marketing Seoul
The capital of South Korea is a modern city with a long history. This ancient city has been
the capital of Korea since the 14th century.Some of the old city gates can still be seen -most
notably the South Gate (or Nam-Dae-Mun), which used to be the main entrance to the city.
There is no better picture of Seoul than The South Gate, which stands as an architectural feat
and a reminder of Korea's heritage and history. But much like Paris' Champs-Elysees, it is
situated right in the middle of a modern and bustling city, serving as a constant symbol of
Korea's proud past intersecting with its bright future.
While there are many modern sites to visit, perhaps the typical tourist would like to visit the
old city first.
In the old city there are many sights to see. Toksu Palace is set in a park and is a nice place.
The Kyongbok Palace (built in 1395) houses the folklore museum and has beautiful pavilions.
Other sights include the Tonggunung tombs Chonsugongbang, Changkyong Palace, Pomun-sa
Temple and the Toksugung Palace. For a quiet afternoon head to one of the numerous gardens
and parks. The Secret Garden in the Changdok Palace complex is probably the nicest of them all.
Source: World66 (2006)
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heat you can ?nd groups of woman and men kitted in the most up-to-date winter walking
gear. You can imagine the looks of surprise when I walked with my ?ip ?ops.
My most recent school trip was to a race course with the children a surprise location but it
proved to be very peaceful and a pleasant day out of the classroom (Previcil, 2005).
Helen is enamored with the natural beauty of Seoul. From her vantage point on the top
of a mountain, Helen is amazed by the enormity of the city and the belt of mountains
surrounding it. Her whitewater rafting experience also provides an opportunity to view
beautiful rock formations. Finally, she remarks at the beauty of spring ?owers in
bloom in the area. Figure 10 shows Helen’s positive experience in Seoul.
Positive visitor emic interpretations of Seoul by Carrie Neilands (October 23, 2004)
Carrie Neilands provides the following positive travel experience:
Seoul was great. it’s probably a good thing that I don’t live there though . . . I’d dress great!
But I’d live in a box in an alley somewhere. Soooo [sic] expensive! Anyway, while we were there
we visited a palace and a folk village, complete with Buddhist temple, and of course, we
checked out the night life. I [sic] posted some of the more picturesque pictures, enjoy . . .
(Neilands, 2004).
Carrie’s travel experience combines Seoul’s traditional and modern attributes. She
enjoys visiting a palace and folk village. From her pictures, it appears that Carrie is
most impressed with the Buddhist temple. The modernity of Seoul also impresses this
visitor. She makes favorable comments about the shopping and nightlife. Also, her
picture of Seoul tower suggests some appreciation for the modern skyline of this
destination. Carrie suggests that Seoul is a nice place to visit, but she could not afford
to live there. Figure 11 shows Carrie’s travel experience in Seoul:
Figure 9.
Seoul: Kernel concepts,
elaborations, and
consumer behavior
implications
Kernel Concepts
Seoul Ancient South Gate
Seoul
The capital of South Korea
the political, cultural, social and
economical centre of South Korea
The capital of one of the
world's largest economies
An international centre for business,
finance, multinational corporations,
and global organizations
Attractions
Concept Elaboration
Ancient palaces (Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung),
Temples (Dongmyo, National Folk Museum,
Seoul’s Skyline, Shopping
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Seoul is the capital of South Korea. It is a designated special city. On the establishment of South Korea (the Republic of Korea) in1948 it
became the capital of the country, except for a short time during the Korean War. Seoul is located at 37?35' N 127?0' E.
Seoul is located in the northwest of the country, south of the DMZ, on the Han River. The city is the political, cultural, social and economical
centre of South Korea. It is also an international centre for business, finance, multinational corporations, and global organizations. This, along
withits position as the capital of one of the world's largest economies, has continued to raise its global status. Today, it is one of the most visible
symbols of the Korean economic Miracle of the Han River.
According to UN Population Division figures, Seoul's Urban Area contained 10.3 million people in 2003, making it the 22nd most populous
such area in the world. Its density has allowed it to become one of the most digitally-wired cities in today's globally connected economy. It also
has more than 1 million registered vehicles which cause widespread traffic-jams beyond midnight.
Attractions: Ancient palaces ( Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung), Temples (Dongmyo, National Folk Museum, Seoul’s Skyline, Shopping,
Namhansanseong park.
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
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Negative visitor emic interpretations of Seoul by Natalie (May 21, 2005)
The following passage is an example of a person that is not having a positive travel
experience in Seoul:
My god, I don’t even know where to begin. I ended up just sitting in my hostel last night
drinking 50 cent rum and cokes, which where actually mostly rum, and a tiny bit of coke.
Figure 11.
Mapping Carrie’s visit to
Seoul story: story
elaboration
1. Carrie
3. Attractions
2. Seoul
+
+
+
4. “seoul was great”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
Conclusion Gloss:
“it's probably a good thing
that i don't live there
though…”
6. “i'd live in a box in an alley somewhere.
soooo expensive!”
7. “anyway, while we were there we visited a palace
and a folk village, complete with Buddhist temple,
and of course we checked out the night life”
8. “i posted some of the more picturesque pictures,
enjoy”
+
+
+
+
+
+
Figure 10.
Mapping Helen’s visit to
Seoul story: story
elaboration
1. Helen
3. Natural scenery
2. Seoul
+
+
+
4. “Beautiful spring blossom”
“the city which was amazing”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
9. Conclusion Gloss:
“Seoul is enormous…”
6. “the spring time has been great with pleasant
days and beautiful spring blossoms”
7. “I climbed to the top of a mountain in Seoul
to get a view of the city which was amazing and
looked like a toy town”
8. “Seoul is enormous and is surrounded
by a belt of mountains”
+
+
+
+
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I found a bug in my room – a BIG BUG – so I kicked it down the stairs and it made a big thud
going down.
I woke up this morning at 5 a.m., a bit hung-over, to catch my 7 a.m. ?ight.
I haven’t really been able to sleep in the past few nights, my room was so hot it was crazy!
Anyway, on my way out I saw the biggest cockroach – bigger and wider than my thumb! –
running across the wall. So obviously, being the big baby that I am, I shrieked and ran
away.
The ?ight wasn’t too bad, a ton of turbulence though. It wasn’t as bad as on one ?ight where I
thought I was going to puke because of all the sudden descents. Yeah that just adds to my
fear of airplanes.
Anyway that’s just the beginning of my day. When I got off the airplane, this lady told me my
bag was lost AGAIN. They left it in Hong Kong. She said it was because I had transferred
planes in a short period of time. Excuse my language but bullshit. I had a 50 minutes layover
and the plane was late in taking off.
But I’ve learned that everything in Asia moves at a much slower pace than Canada, so I’m
beginning to stay calm. I didn’t cry or yell this time
. And they said they’d have it personallydelivered to my hostel my 10 p.m. tonight. Yay for that, because once again I’m stuck with
stinky clothes and no toothbrush.
Oh but the day got even better! No one in Korea speaks any English! And there are barely
any English signs anywhere. Watch me walk into a brothel or something. Anyway, I
?nally managed to get on the bus. It turns out the airport in about 2 hours from
downtown Seoul in rush hour. I didn’t think of this when I got on the bus wanting to pee.
2 hours go by and my bladder is about to burst and the bus get’s into a car accident. The
driver stops the bus, so I asked him and everyone else on the bus how long this would
take. No one seems to speak English. So I had to cab it to my hostel. But the cabbie
couldn’t speak any English either. On the plus side, the taxis here have a free interpreter
you can call. He dropped me off in front of the wrong hostel. But this hostel was great!
There were so many people and the sweetest looking dogs. One even looked a bit like
Buddy. So they took me to my hostel and this one’ lonely. There are no people at all. I
haven’t been up to my room yet, but I have AIR CONDITIONING and my own SHOWER!
I’m excited.
So here’s a list of my goals for this trip, other than the obvious see the world, experience new
things, learn different languages . . .
1. Get over fear of ?ying.
2. Get over fear of cockroaches.
3. Learn to calm down and not yell and cry.
I’m getting a bit sick of the city; I might go ?nd a mountain (Natalie, 2005).
Natalie’s troubles begin prior to reaching her destination. A number of uncontrollable
transportation issues wear on her before reaching her destination. First, her experience
at the airport is unpleasant. The airline company lost her luggage. Natalie’s inability to
understand the Korean language increases her frustration level because she is unable to
communicate with people or to ?nd transportation to town. The long bus ride and the
discomfort of a full bladder increase her anxiety. Finally, reaching the destination
Natalie ?nds sweltering heat and disturbingly large cockroaches waiting for her.
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Apparently, these issues con?rm previous experiences for this sojourner. She remarks
that she “. . . didn’t cry or yell this time.” Natalie appears to have a history of unpleasant
travel experiences. She recognizes that her travel anxieties stemfromethnocentric views
and lack of pre-trip preparation. Although Natalie has a bad experience, it seems likely
that she will continue traveling abroad and learning fromher past negative experiences.
Figure 12 shows Natalie’s negative travel experience.
Singapore
Singapore (Figures 13-15) is a group of islands located at the southernmost tip of the
Malaysian Peninsula. It has a population of 4.5 million people (City Mayors, 2006). The
population includes ethnic Chinese, Malays, and Indians as well as a large number of
expatriates. As a result of this multiracial element, the country has four of?cial
languages: English, Tamil, Chinese, and Malay. The territory is composed on one main
island with total land area of 682 square kilometers, and at least 60 small islets. Despite
its small size, Singapore is one of Asia’s business and ?nancial centers. Also, it is the
busiest shipping port in the world. Visitors to Singapore are impressed by the high
standard of living and the availability of modern conveniences.
In 2005, Singapore welcomed 8.94 visitors (Singapore Tourism Board, 2006). What
do tourists do in Singapore? The city has a wide array of planned attractions and
shopping malls. Popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo and the
numerous ethnic enclaves throughout the city (e.g. Arab Street, Chinatown, and Little
India). For shopping, the Orchard Road district is ?lled with many multi-story
shopping centers. Visitors that want to escape the city can take a trip to Sentosa Island.
Sentosa Island has three beaches and the Dragon Trail Nature Walk which is a
one-mile stroll through a rainforest.
Figure 12.
Mapping Natalie’s visit to
Seoul story: story
elaboration
1. Natalie
3.The cockroach (at hostel)
Airport service
No person speak English
……
2. Seoul
+
_
_
4. “The craziness has begun”
5. Negative
outcome
(Gloss)
15. Conclusion Gloss:
So here's a list of my goals
for this trip:
*Get over fear of flying;
*Get over fear of cockroaches;
*Learn to calm down and
not yell and cry
6. “My god, I don't even
know where to begin”
7. “I saw the biggest cockroach–
bigger and wider than my thumb!
- running across the wall”
8. “Anyway that's just the
beginning of my day”
9. “When I got off the airplane,
this lady told me my bag
was lost AGAIN…”
10. “But I've learned that everything in Asia
moves at a much slower pace than Canada,
so I'm beginning to stay calm…”
11. “No one in Korea speaks any English! And
there are barely any English signs anywhere.
Watch me walk into a brothel or something”
12. “Anyway, I finally managed to get on the bus…
2 hours go by and my bladder is about to burst
and the bus get's into a car accident”
13. “…So I had to cab it to my hostel. But
the cabbie couldn't speak any English either”
14. “He dropped me off in front of the wrong hostel…”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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Rebecca’s positive visitor emic interpretations of Singapore (May 6, 2005)
Recollections of Rebecca’s experience include the following passage:
So much to say about this place, stayed a week and it was amazing. Went to an Island called
Sentosa which was a little too touristy but still beautiful.
Hot humid weather but still caught tan but also got caught in torrential downpours much
to the amusement of the locals . . . skirt went see through and everything but it beat the heat
so I was smiling.
Not as many brits unfortunately (fortunately really cause got to meet the locals who were
amazing and a good laugh)
People kept taking photos, the toilets know when you’ve ?nished, the MRT (underground)
is amazing (even I worked out how to use it), the people are all friendly. It’s great here.
De?nitely come. I have loads of photos which will put on but can’t in this computer place so
may have to wait a while. One thing have to tell you all is went to zoo (which is the nicest one
seen as all animals in big arenas in open air). Anyhow, the keeper of the cats took a shining to
Figure 13.
Basic pro?le of Singapore
• Main Industry: Biomedical Sciences industry, Chemicals industry, Education Services,
Electronics and Precision Engineering industry.
Singapore is the business hub of Southeast Asia.
(Source: http://www.sedb.com/edbcorp/sg/en_uk/index/industry_opp.html)
• Tourism Industry: Singapore has become noted among international travelers as an exciting
travel destination, making tourism one of the largest industries in Singapore.
• Tourism marketing
• Location: 1?17' 0'' N 103?51' 0'' E
• Population: 4,163,700(2002)
Source: http://www.citypopulation.de/Singapore.html
• Racial Groups
The Location of Singapore in Singapore
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Figure 14.
Marketing Singapore
Singapore is an island city located at the southernmost tip of the Malaysian Peninsula in South East
Asia. It is well-known for being one of the richest, most well organised, efficient countries in the
world with a very high standard of living and an excellent skyline by the water. Singapore is an
island with "1000 shopping malls" or so they say. Despite the hot climate, it is a tropical paradise
for most tourists. This great diversity of lifestyles, cultures and religions thrives within the
framework of a regulated society. Singapore's "FINE" city reputation is well-earned, and in fact,
many will admire at once the clean, modern metropolis. Surrounded by artificially 'ordered' parks,
its tall housing projects are populated by more than 80% of the population -whose smiling native
charms often belie underlying tensions of the way the island is progressing after 30 years of
development.
Highlights of Singapore include some of the ethnic parts of town: Arab street, Chinatown, Colonial
District, Orchard road and Little India.
South of Singapore are a few beautiful islands that are well worth visiting. The most visited is Sentosa
island. It is a playground for people of all ages. See the Sentosa island section for more information.
A common misconception is that chewing gum is strictly not allowed into Singapore and that you will be arrested for that ''crime''. However,
THAT IS COMPLETELY WRONG! The law states that chewing gum cannot be sold in Singapore, but it is PERFECTLY OKAY for you to
bring in chewing gum for your own personal consumption. But if you improperly dispose of the gum, just as you would litter any other thing,
you might be fined, BUT the authorities rarely enforce this ruling. The signs are there to act as a deterrent and the authorities do not enforce
the rules strictly at all.
Please note that, like all countries in the region, visitors are not exempt from strict laws pertaining to drug possession and trafficking. The
death penalty will be prescribed if you are caught with more than a specific weight of narcotics.
Source: World66 (2006)
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me and secretly let me into pen with real live cheetahs . . . yes in the same pen, no cage
nothing. I got to stroke it . . . couldn’t get photo there and then as would’ve scared it but took
some when back on the right side of the bars!!! It was sooo cool and was a large 5 year old
male apparently tamed from birth! I was (undoubtedly) a little scared but assurance was on
the sign outside building saying ’zoo will not be held responsible for any injury or death’ . . .
nice!!!! (Watkins, 2005).
Interactions with the local people help create positive images for Rebecca. Even
high humidity and heavy rain do not dampen her spirits. The best part of the trip is a
visit to the zoo. Living conditions for the animals meet or exceed her expectations for
humane treatment. The highlight of the zoo trip is petting the cheetah. While Rebecca
is a bit apprehensive about entering the cheetah’s enclosure, she is overjoyed to
have an opportunity to touch an exotic wild animal. Figure 16 shows Rebecca’s
experience.
Positive visitor emic interpretations of Singapore by Laura Chant (March 27, 2005)
Laura’s positive experience in Singapore is described in the following passage:
We arrived safely in Singapore (amidst the rain . . . again). Singapore has been good from
what we’ve seen so far. The one thing that’s blown me away is how much of a nightlife there
is in Singapore. It’s a bit different when the shops are open until 10 p.m. and not 6 p.m. in
Australia (There are also a high number of shopping centres quite odd for such a small area).
There are fast food joints and food hawker stalls galore here. When I asked someone who had
been here before on what there is to do . . . he just said eat and shop. He was right. There are
so many different varieties of Asian food to get here and its not just low grade food aimed
towards westerners who don’t know any better! One thing I’d have to warn people heading to
Asia is to not underestimate the spice tolerance of Asians. I thought I could handle the two
Figure 15.
Singapore: Kernel
concepts, elaborations,
and consumer behavior
implications
Kernel Concepts
Concept Elaboration
Singapore
The capital of Singapore &
the business hub of Southeast Asia
A highly efficient,
very clean and safe city
A city with
cultural diversity
Its cultural diversity reflects its rich
colonial history and Malay, Chinese,
Arab and Indian ethnicities
Attractions
Colonial Singapore, Sentosa Island, Botanic
Gardens, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari,
Shopping, Food from cultures all over the world
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Singapore is the capital of Singapore. For many years considered to be the business hub of Southeast Asia. Singapore has become noted among
international travelers as an exciting travel destination, making tourism one of the largest industries in Singapore. Its cultural diversity reflects its
rich colonial history and Malay, Chinese, Arab and Indian ethnicities. For many years considered to be the business hub of Southeast Asia,
Singapore has an expansive shopping precinct located in the Orchard Road district. Filled with many multi-storey shopping centres, the area also
has many hotels, and is regarded by many as the tourism centre of Singapore.
Other popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari, which allows people to explore Asian, African and South
American habitats at night, without any visible barriers between guests and the wild animals.
Singapore is a highly efficient, very clean and safe city, with Englis has one of its numerous official languages.
Attractions: Colonial Singapore, Sentosa Island, Botanic Gardens, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, Shopping, Food from cultures all over the
world.
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Singapore's central business district
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chili pepper out of three rating the spicy chicken miso ramen soup had . . . I think my mouth
still burned for a good 15 minutes after I was done eating.
As for what we’ve done here (other than eating) . . . mom and I took the Singapore Airline
explorer bus (cheaper if you have your boarding pass!) and headed for the beautiful Botanical
Gardens. Inside there was the National Orchid Garden which was worth the time. I guess they
create hybrids and then name them after dignitaries when they come to visit Singapore . . .
there are Nelson Mandela, Laura Bush, etc. orchids (Chant, 2005).
Laura is struck by the number of shopping and culinary options open in the evenings.
She is impressed with the variety of delicious foods available. Apparently, Laura is a
bit of a gastronomic risk-taker when she eats spicy chicken soup. The mouth-numbing
experience does not dampen her spirits. In addition, to shopping, Laura enjoys her visit
to the National Orchid Garden. Laura’s experience is shown in Figure 17.
Negative visitor emic interpretations of Singapore by Chun Lee (December 14, 2004)
Chun’s negative experience (Figure 18) in Singapore is described in the following
passage:
This is a land of contrasts that is if you count concrete contrasting with glass.
Everywhere you look there are huge towers that are invariably either a shopping mall or an
apartment block or frequently a mixture of the two. 90 percent of Singapore’s 4 million people
live in a high rise of some kind. At least we are not talking about Hackney style council ?ats,
but clean colour coded concrete jungleness.
Everywhere we have traveled in Asia seems to be under construction and here is no
exception. I read somewhere that all heavyweight buildings here is causing Singapore to sink
Figure 16.
Mapping Rebecca’s visit to
Singapore story: story
elaboration
1. Rebecca
3. The zoo
2. Singapore
+
+
+
4. “which is the nicest one
seen as all animals in big
arenas in open air”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“it was amazing”
6. “So much to say about this place,
stayed a week and it was amazing”
7. “One thing have to tell
you all is went to zoo”
8. “Anyhow, the keeper of the cats
took a shining to me and secretly
let me into pen with real live cheetahs....
yes in the same pen, no cage nothing”
9. “I got to stroke it.... couldn't get photo there and
then as would've scared it but took some when back
on the right side of the bars!!!”
10. “It was sooo cool and was a large
5 yr old male apparently tamed from birth!”
11. “I was (undoubtedly) a little scared but assurance was
on the sign outside building saying 'zoo will not be held
responsible for any injury or death'....... nice!!!!”
+
+
+
+ +
+
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Figure 17.
Mapping Laura’s visit to
Singapore story: story
elaboration
1. Laura
3. Attractions
2. Singapore
+
+
+
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“Singapore has
been good”
6. “The one thing that's blown me
away is how much of a nightlife
there is in Singapore”
7. “There are also a high number
of shopping centres quite odd
for such a small area”
8. “There are fast food joints and
food hawker stalls galore here”
9. “There are so many different
varieties of Asian food to get here”
10. “other than eating…I took the Singapore Airline
explorer bus (cheaper if you have your boarding pass!)
and headed for the beautiful Botanical Gardens”
11. “Inside there was the National Orchid Garden
which was worth the time”
4. “How much of a nightlife;
A high number of shopping centres;
So many different varieties of Asian food;
The beautiful Botanical Gardens”
+
+
+
+
+
+
Figure 18.
Mapping Chun’s visit to
Singapore story: story
elaboration
1. Chun
3. The huge towers
2. Singapore
+
-
+
4. “Everywhere”
5. Negative
outcome
(Gloss)
10. Conclusion Gloss:
“all heavyweight buildings here
is causing Singapore to sink
slowly back into the mud”
6. “Everywhere you look there are huge towers that
are invariably either a shopping mall or an
apartment block or frequently a mixture of the two”
7. “90% of Singapore's 4 million people
live in a high rise of some kind”
9. “Everywhere we have traveled in Asia seems
to be under construction and here is no exception”
8. “At least we are not talking about
Hackney style council flats, but clean
colour coded concrete jungleness”
+
+
+
+
+
+
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slowly back into the mud from whence it came. I’m sure at some point the Singaporeans will
think of some technological marvel that will avert the crisis at some point and it will probably
have lots of glowing lights, bits of chrome and a little sign saying don’t touch or be ?ned
$5000 (Lee, 2004).
Chun reacts negatively to the plethora of high rise buildings in Singapore. According
to Chun, these towers are either shopping malls or apartment buildings. Also, he
laments that the construction of these concrete jungles continues. Chun appears to be
concerned that Singapore is becoming a sterile block of concrete and glass.
Tokyo
Tokyo (Figures 19-21) is Japan’s ?rst city. It is the center of government, industry,
?nance, and education for the nation. The greater metropolitan area of Tokyo has the
world’s largest urban population with an estimate 35.5 million people (City Mayors,
2006). Tokyo offers visitors an interesting mix of old world charm and modernity to its
13.7 million foreign visitors (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 2006).
To see artifacts of Japan’s long history, the best place to start is the center of the city
in Chiyoda ward. Visitors can see the Imperial Palace as well as a number of historic
government buildings in Marunouchi. The adjacent Bunkyo ward has a number of old
Japanese streets that have changed little over time. For visitors that enjoy nature,
Bunkyo is the home of the Koishikawa Botanical Garden an Edo Period Gardens.
Minato ward includes the Asakusa area that has a number of interesting Shinto shrines
and museums. Walking through Asakusa, visitors also can learn about traditional
Japanese crafts and how they are produced.
Tokyo is also a modern city with all the amenities that visitors desire. For shopping,
Chou ward is the place to start. Its Ginza district is the home of elegant shopping.
A shopping excursion in Tokyo would not be complete without stopping at Shinjuku
ward. Shinjuku’s Akihabara district is famous for its electronic goods shops. For night
life, the Roppongi district in Minato ward is the place to visit. This section of Tokyo is
very international. But what do ?rst-time visitors report in their blog journals?
Chris Green’s visit to Tokyo
The following passage describes Chris’ positive experience visiting Tokyo:
Figure 19.
Basic pro?le of Tokyo
• Location: 35°41' N 139°46' E
• Population: 12,527,115 (2003)
• Racial Groups
• Main Industry: In accordance with the city's world position, Tokyo's economy has shifted
to put much more emphasis on financial services and banking. It is also an important
wholesale center. Among the diverse industries of Tokyo are the manufacture of electronic
apparatus, transport equipment, automobiles, cameras and optical goods, furniture, textiles,
and a wide variety of consumer items, as well as publishing and printing.
(Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0861581.html)
• Tourism Industry
• Tourism marketing
The Location of Tokyo in Japan
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
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Figure 21.
Tokyo: Kernel concepts,
elaborations, and
consumer behavior
implications
Kernel Concepts
Concept Elaboration
One of the traditional symbols of Tokyo:
Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo
Tokyo
The capital of Japan
the nation's center of politics,
business, finance, education,
mass media, and pop culture
The land of sumo,
sushi and kimono
Tourist attractions
The Imperial Palace, Meiji Shrine,
and SensojiTemple; the festivals;
Ginza, Shinjuku; Tokyo Tower,
Rainbow Bridge; The Tsukijifish
market…
Early and/or later Elaborations:
Tokyo is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshuin Japan. It is counted as one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and
commonly referred to as the capital of Japan with the government of Japan and the Emperor of Japan residing in Chiyoda Ward. With a
population of over 12 million, or about 10 percent of Japan's population, it is by far the country's most populous and most densely
populated prefecture. The center of Tokyo is located at 35?41' North, 139?46' East.
Internationally, Tokyo is regarded as one of the major cities of the world.
Being the nation's center of politics, business, finance, education, mass media, and pop culture, Tokyo has the country's highest
concentration of corporate headquarters, financial institutions, universities and colleges, museums, theaters, and shopping and
entertainment establishments. It boasts a highly developed public transportation system with numerous train and subway lines.
Attractions: Imperial Palace, Ginza, Shinjuku
Source: Wikipedia (2006)
Figure 20.
Marketing Tokyo
Tokyo is really, really big, and depending on who you talk to, the largest city
in the world. It actually consists of 23 different wards (ku) -cities that have their
own special attractions. Since it doesn't make too much sense to tell about all of
these different cities as if they were one city, we have subdivided Tokyo in the
following way.
Akihabara has the largest concentration of electronics shops in the world.
There are good deals to be found. Most shops have English speaking staff. Foreign
visitors can get refunds for taxes paid. Remember to bring your passport as proof
of foreign residency. The big shops also have locations in Shinjuku West Exit with
prices being about the same but Akihabara specializes in the foreign market.
Asakusais famous for its temples and pagoda. Across the river you can see the
Asahi Beer building. It's the cube-shaped black building with the gold *thingy* on top.If you don’t know what is supposed
to represent.... don't feel bad. The gold worm like thing is commonly referred to as the 'turd'. Enjoy the view but if you
want to drink down some suds and eat some food the restaurant on the ground floor of that building can accommodate any
hunger or thirst.
Ginza has fabulous shopping opportunities for equally fabulous prices. It is an extremely busy place. Apple's first retail
outlet is located in Ginza. The Mac Store has English speaking staff & 4 floors of that computer cult culture for all to
enjoy. Harajuku Takeshita-dori is a high school girl's dream street.With cheap fashions abounding and sickly sweet crepes
made Japanese style guaranteed to rot your teeth and add buxom to your fashion vocabulary. On the other side of the
spectrum, continue to Omotesando, the fashion avenue, with names like Armani, DKNY, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Chirstian
Dior to name a few, fashion is every where! How much you want to spend is up to you!
Marunouchi is the area around the huge Imperial Palace. The newly renovated Marunouchi Building is filled with
spectacular dining opporunities.
Roppongi is the place to go to for nightlife. Filled at night with energy, people from around the world walk the streets
in search of fun and excitement. This part of Tokyo never sleeps. Adult entertainment, a play ground of sorts is yours for
the enjoyment. Shibuya is north of the center and has shrines and trendy shops. With its neon, traffic, and huge TV
screens, it resembles New York City's Times Square. This is the center of youth fashion for the affluent Japanese teenager.
Styles change weekly with hip designers along side more established names in the big *deppato* Be sure to visit *centa-
gai* the main street just across the scrabble crossing in Shibuya(it world's busiest pedestrian crossing). Great food awaits
visitors who venture into mid-range Izakaya. Traditional Japanese food is very healthy, light and nutritious!
Source: World66 (2006)
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I love Japan. I love Japan. I love Japan. The Japanese are so friendly, courteous and helpful –
probably the opposite of us English!! Tokyo itself was a great place with so much to see and
do, but it’s the memory of the people that will stay with me longest. (And the women are very
hot too!). Some examples:
Arthur left his unwanted US dollar coins next to a ticket machine in the entrance hall of the
metro. We went down to the platform and were waiting for a train when one of the station
staff jogged up to us, bowed and gave us back the money.
I used my phrasebook to ask a young couple in the street where the nearest internet cafe was,
but they didn’t know and they spoke little English. I thanked them and we carried on
walking. About 5 minutes later they caught us up and the girl passed me her mobile phone.
She had called one of her friends who spoke English and her friend gave me directions over
the phone.
I asked an old lady for directions to the beer museum, but rather than just point me in the
right direction she stopped what she was doing and walked me to the door, about half a mile
away (Green, 2005).
Unlike many travel blogs, Chris attributes his positive experience to interactions with
the locals rather than the amenities of the location. He is amazed at the honesty and
kindness of the natives. Chris lists several examples that show local people going out of
their way to help him locate speci?c destinations. For example, the “old lady” that he
met on the street walked a half-mile out of her way to help him ?nd a museum. He
states that the memory of the kind locals will be his fondest of Tokyo. Figure 22 shows
Chris’s ?rst-person description of his visit to Tokyo.
Another visitor’s positive experience is from seeing a live sumo match.
Figure 22.
Mapping Chris’s visit to
Tokyo story: story
elaboration
1. Chris
3. Japanese
2. Tokyo
+
+
+
4. “The Japanese are so friendly,
courteous and helpful”
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
10. Conclusion Gloss:
“I love Japan.
I love Japan.
I love Japan”
6. “Tokyo itself was a great place with so much
to see and do, but it's the memory of the people
that will stay with me longest.
(and the women are very hot too!)” Some examples:
• 8. “I used my phrasebook to ask a young couple in the street
where the nearest internet cafe was, but they didn't know
and they spoke little English. I thanked them and we carried
on walking. About five minutes later they caught us up
and the girl passed me her mobile phone. She had called
one of her friends who spoke English and her friend
gave me directions over the phone”
• 9. “I asked an old lady for directions to the beer museum,
but rather than just point me in the right direction
she stopped what she was doing and walked me
to the door, about half a mile away”
• 7. “Arthur left his unwanted US dollar coins next to a ticket machine
in the entrance hall of the metro. We went down to the platform and
were waiting for a train when one of the station staff jogged up to us,
bowed and gave us back the money”
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Larry Karpen describes his visit to Tokyo
After relaxing in the morning, I decided to head out to a Sumo Wrestling match at the
Ryogoku Stadium and see the preliminary matches of the Grand Summer Tournament. Upon
my arrival, I caught some of the Makuuchi division wrestlers (these are the big boys!) as they
made their entrance into the arena.
Inside the octagon shaped arena where the ?oor seats are grouped in four’s and are cushions,
I sat in the cheap seats up top. But thanks to my quick thinking, I made my way down to the
second level by smiling, pointing and bowing to ushers. From these seats, you can feel the
impact when the two combatants crash into each other.
The sport is very appealing to watch. Most of the time of each match is spent conducting
ceremonial acts like bowing, stomping, and chalking up hands (like a gymnast). During this
3-4 minutes, the crowd builds into a frenzy so when the actual match begins, excitement has
almost peaked. Most of the actual wrestling in a match takes somewhere between 3-6 seconds,
with a few going up to as much as 15 seconds (Karpen, 2005).
Larry’s positive experience at the Summer Grand Tournament stems from the
ceremonial aspects of sumo. He is mesmerized by the 3- to 4-minutes pre-match
activities performed by the wrestlers. While Larry does not understand the signi?cance
of the ceremonial aspects of sumo (e.g. wrestlers throw salt to symbolize that they will
?ght fairly), the crowd’s reaction tells him that everyone is entertained. He concludes
that sumo wrestling is “very entertaining to watch.” Figure 23 shows Larry’s story
occurring while visiting Tokyo.
Figure 23.
Mapping Larry’s visit to
Tokyo story: story
elaboration
1. Larry
3. Sumo wrestling match
2. Tokyo
+
+
+
5. Positive
outcome
(Gloss)
4. “the crowd builds into a frenzy…
excitement has almost peaked”
12. Conclusion Gloss:
“The sport is very appealing
to watch”
6. “I decided to head out to a Sumo
Wrestling match at the Ryogoku
Stadium and see the preliminary matches
of the Grand Summer Tournament”
7. “Upon my arival, I caught some
of the Makuuchi division wrestlers
(these are the big boys!) as they made
their entrance into the arena”
8. “Inside the octagon shaped arena
where the floor seats are grouped
in four's and are cushions…”
9. “Most of the time of each match is spent conducting
ceremonial acts like bowing, stomping, and
chalking up hands (like a gymnast)”
10. “During this 3-4 minutes, the crowd builds
into a frenzy so when the actual match begins,
excitement has almost peaked”
11. “Most of the actual wrestling in a match
takes somewhere between 3-6 seconds, with
a few going up to as much as 15 seconds”
+
+
+
+
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Negative visitor emic interpretation of Tokyo, report by Jen and Jeremy
Finally, the following passage describes an unpleasant experience in Tokyo by Jen and
Jeremy:
Last Wednesday morning at 4:45 a.m. we were awakened by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake. It
was extremely disorienting to come out of sleep into a world where it sounded like 4,000
tables were being dragged across a hardwood ?oor. Not to mention all the movement. We lost
a couple of plates to gravity. The earthquake during the day was much more fun. We sent a
memo to the Paci?c plates asking them to con?ne their head butting to daylight hours (Jen
and Jeremy, 2005).
Jen and Jeremy’s negative experience in Tokyo is due to an uncontrollable event. While
Tokyo has a history of tremors, travelers normally do not plan trips to avoid
earthquakes. Apparently, the distress associated with the 5.5 magnitude tremor stems
from its arrival in early morning. The shaking, loud noise, and personal property
damage were a bit much at 4:45 a.m. A second earthquake during daylight was not as
distressing. Figure 24 shows the negative story plot of Jen and Jeremy’s visit to Tokyo.
A revisionist view on how to build a destination brand icon
Holt (2003) recommends the following steps for building an iconic brand. First, national
contradictions need to be targeted. All four destinations share a dichotomy of modern
and tradition to a certain degree. With its ancient rock carvings and Victorian
architecture, Mumbai has a stronger association with tradition; however, Singapore’s
high rise skyline associates it more closely associated with modernity. A common
theme in the positive visitor emic interpretations is that travelers enjoy the historical
Figure 24.
Mapping Jen and Jeremy’s
visit to Tokyo story: story
elaboration
1. Jen & Jeremy
3. Earthquake
2. Tokyo
+
–
+
4. “we were awakened by a
magnitude 5.5 earthquake”
5. Negative
Outcome
(Gloss)
11. Conclusion Gloss:
“It sounded like 4,000 tables
were being dragged across
a hardwood floor”
6. “We have more news
of the earth shaking”
7. “Last Wednesday morning
at 4:45 AM we were awakened
by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake”
8. “It was extremely disorienting to come out of sleep
into a world where it sounded like 4,000 tables
were being dragged across a hardwood floor”
9. “Not to mention all the movement.
We lost a couple of plates to gravity”
10. “The earthquake during
the day was much more fun”
+
+
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artifacts, but they also like modern conveniences. Negative interpretations relate to
unbalanced experiences. A sweltering hotel room teaming with cockroaches may be
too much local ?avor for visitors.
Second, creating myths that lead culture is necessary. For example, a sumo
wrestling match is fraught with cultural clues. A casual observer might conclude that
sumo is merely a couple of underdressed, overweight men pushing each other. As
Larry notes, the 15-seconds of pushing are only part of the show. The 3-to-4-minutes of
pre-?ght activities are orchestrated to build excitement in the arena. These activities
include drinking water out of a bamboo cup and throwing salt into the ring.
Third, speak with a rebel’s voice. Gastronomic treats like mouth-numbing spicy
chicken soup in Singapore, or potentially lethal puffer ?sh in Japan are risks that the
rebel traveler might take. The evidence suggests that positive experiences often come
from doing or seeing something that the average tourist does not. For example,
touching a cheetah at the zoo may be a privilege that only a select few can experience.
It should be noted that even rebels like to pick and choose their battles. Sitting in
congested city traf?c with a full bladder is not a challenge that most people would
willingly accept.
Fourth, a successful brand icon draws on political authority to rebuild myth –
continue to once again champion the id over the ego. Everyone that works at a Disney
theme park knows they are part of the attraction, even the person sweeping trash.
A number of the positive experiences were due to pleasant interactions with the
natives. A private citizen going out of his/her way to direct a tourist to a museum helps
reinforce the mythology that visitors are welcome. Lost luggage, traf?c jams, and a
native population that do not understand foreign languages can be interpreted as
unfriendly or uncooperative.
Finally, brand icons draw on cultural knowledge. Cultural knowledge is critical for
building icons; however, this element is solely lacking in most manager’s arsenals.
Mumbai’s Gateway of India, Singapore’s high rise skyline, Soul’s Gyeongbokgung
Palace, and Tokyo’s Imperial Palace are examples of icons. One should note that icons
are more than tangible structures; they also are woven with intangibles such as the
Singaporean’s reputation of being a clean, safe, and friendly destination.
While useful for frequently purchased consumer goods, the following revisionist
view may be more appropriate for building a destination into a brand icon. First, reach
consensus – make sense – of new visitors most receptive to becoming the protagonist
in the myth that they assign to your destination; thus, understanding the storyline goes
hand-in-hand with understanding the protagonist. For example, the number of
shopping and culinary options in Singapore amazes Laura. She thinks that Singapore
is a shopping paradise.
Second, collect ?rst-person stories of how protagonist report their experiences in
living the myth while visiting the destination. The mountains that surround Seoul
impress Helen. Seoul may be a major cosmopolitan area with ancient roots, but the city
is surrounded by natural beauty.
Third, build authentic brand attachments with core symbols evoked automatically
by new visitors. From Mumbai’s Gateway to India, Lubna takes a short boat ride to the
Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO world heritage site. Inside the Caves, visitors are treated
to ancient treasures.
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Fourth, create myth-brand communities-meetings where brand use/encounters
occur (e.g. sponsor book club meetings where principal Asian cities serve as
background environments). The humane conditions of animal displays at the zoo,
positively in?uences Rebecca’s image of Singapore. If zoos care for animals well
perhaps the destination area cares well for visitors.
Fifth, update stories within the myth to keep the myth alive; bring the myth to life in
new ways. The highlight of Chris’ trip to Tokyo is meeting friendly and honest people.
He reports that he will not forget the old woman that walked a half-mile out of her way
to help him ?nd a museum.
General discussion, limitations, and suggestions for future research
Stories do move people profoundly (McKee, 1997) to destinations as well as in their
search to ful?lling their needs for speci?c terminal values (Woodside, 2005). Stories
provide clues to unconscious as well as conscious thinking (Woodside, 2005; Zaltman,
2003). People store, retrieve, and talk to others instory contexts (Shank, 1990). First-hand
visitor reports of experiencing destinations indicate that tourists tell stories that offer
clues of how they interpret and enact the myths that these destinations enable.
Netnography research of visitor blog-journal stories provide the opportunity to
collect emic interpretive data unobtrusively of the meanings lived by consumers while
in the destination and after their visits – these stories have the potential of in?uencing
substantial numbers of future visitors who go online in search of ?rst-person unbiased,
unrehearsed reports of others’ own destination experiences. The potential also exists
for the researcher to achieve direct contact with the visitor storyteller to ask for
elaborations on the blog reports as well as information on post-blog report behaviors
relevant to speci?c destinations (e.g. comparisons with competing destinations; repeat
visit behavior and meanings of such experiences to the destination described in the
original journal entry).
Kozinets’ (2002) provides a thorough discussion on the limitations of using
netnography. These limitations include the rather limited extent of reporting
experiences lived in a destination as seen, interpreted, and self-edited by the visitor.
Even when a visitor reports experiences covering seven months, the report is unlikely
to include more than 1,000 words. While valuable, the visitors’ blog-journal reports are
likely to be self-edited in ways unknown to these visitors (Russo et al., 1989), given that
most thinking occurs unconsciously; thus, netnography is not a panacea for completely
uncovering the lived experiences as done or interpreted by visitors. Also, the
interpretive data collected are dif?culty to generalize to the population of bloggers who
report their experiences in visiting the destination or to the population of all visitors.
Future research in the study of destinations as brand myths lived and interpreted
by visitors may bene?t from rigorous cataloging and probing of large samples of
blog-journal entries using samples of 300 plus visitors. Similar to Kozinets (2002)
classifying consumers reporting on their coffee use via online communications, several
variations of the compelling myths of a given destination are likely to be uncovered via
such in-depth reporting.
Strategic implications for building effective destination images
Research on naturally-occurring visitor storytelling provides destination tourism
strategists with information about “exciting incidents” (McKee, 2003) representing
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unique associations and emotional highpoints that visitors are likely to retrieve and
report automatically when discussing these destinations. Such storytelling reports
provide creative clues for positioning a destination uniquely and meaningfully in the
minds of potential future visitors. The stories destination visitors tell often include
their own explanations of their own photographs that capture what these informants
?nd especially worthwhile to report to others – such visualizations and emic
interpretations serve to inform the strategist how well a destination’s planned
positioning strategy matches with visitors’ take-away images and word-of-mouth
reports. Making such comparisons offers an early warning system for learning
problems with a destination’s image as well as an early opportunity system for
learning the images that excite visitors to advocate visiting the destination to friends,
family members, and blog readers.
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Corresponding author
Drew Martin can be contacted at: [email protected]
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