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106 content analysis
in relation to sellers. It can result in consumers
seeking redress, restitution and remedy for dissatisfaction
with products and services bought.
While inevitable and enduring, consumerism is an
antithetical outcome of the marketing process.
Despite efforts by many companies to assure
consumer satisfaction �the guiding tenet for tourism
marketers) it continues to remain elusive. In the
media, for example, one reads or hears about
consumers who are incensed by exorbitant
transportation costs, questionable marketing
practices and inadequate safety and security
precautions.
In a similar vein, with tourism activity being
pursued in communities in which people live,
dissatisfaction with tourists can be voiced by
concerned citizens. Research reveals that a community's
constituents can become incensed at the
hedonistic, utilitarian behaviour of both buyers and
sellers. Satisfaction with the tourism process,
therefore, can be bedevilled by both consumerism
and communitarianism.
Consumer-citizen demands about the performance
of tourism products and services stem from
a growing concern about quality of life and the
environment; the complexities and hazards
accompanying technological sophistication of products
and services; distrust of marketing promises
that can not be fulfilled; attempts at rational
purchase behaviour stymied by lack of information;
high-pressure sales techniques; the uncaring delivery
of service; and mass consumption products that
are incapable of meeting the personal needs of
individuals. As a consequence, consumerism has
gradually affected the tourism industry, firms, and
governments. Individual companies and trades
have enacted codes of behaviour and ethical
practice �see code of ethics). Better legislation
is being established for the protection of tourists.
Safety standards, truth in advertising and other
legislative efforts such as consumer protection and
awareness bills are becoming more evident. Some
companies, and also some destinations, have
created ombudsmen to listen to and resolve
concerns of disgruntled tourists. By opening up
the channels of communication, companies have
been able to identify and change corporate
practices that were perceived as deceptive, and to
educate employees to the need for improved
relations with customers and citizen groups.
Consumerism has broadened the understanding
and application of the concept of satisfaction. A
host of factors determine continuous consumercitizen
satisfaction with market offerings: service,
warranties, accurate advertising, pricing, packaging,
design, safety and security. As a result of the
consumer movement, many organisations are
becoming more responsive to tourist needs, and
governments are accelerating their regulatory
intervention. Marketers are beginning to provide
more guidance about their products and to insist
on new and higher levels of integrity.
content analysis
MICHAEL HAYWOOD, CANADA
Content analysis is a form of observational
inventorying of the properties of texts. Its central
idea is that any text �verbal or non-verbal) can be
subjected to scientific analysis by first isolating
particular categories of content �themes, images,
subjects and so on) and then quantifying their
absolute and relative occurrence within single or
multiple communications, in order to test hypotheses
about the text's properties and, in some
instances, the material and psychological state of
its authors and/or its intended effects on its
audiences. It has been formally defined as 'a
research technique for the objective, systematic,
and quantitative description of the manifest content
of communication' �Berelson 1952: 26).
Content analysis was developed by social
scientists in America in the 1940s and 1950s and
was particularly associated with the names of
Kaplan, Lasswell, Leites, Nathan, de Sola Pool
and Bernard Berelson. It was first used during the
war as a tool for studying German propaganda
through identifying its main themes and subjects,
and quantifying their synchronic distribution
within single messages and also their diachronic
distribution in multiple communications over given
periods of time. From these analyses, scientists were
able to make inferences about the material
conditions and psychological morale of the Germans
and their intentions, including how these