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the producer±consumer relationship. The communications
mix comprises an assortment of various
sub-instruments such as media advertising,
public relations or sales promotion. Salesforce
management and personal selling contain
a communications aspect �the message conveyed in
a sales talk) and a distribution facet �the establishing
of provider/customer contact). Pricing is the
fourth instrumental area where the cost restraints
of the service provider have to be brought into
alignment with the customers' reservation prices
�their willingness to pay up to a certain amount).
The tourism industry has to observe specific
restrictions when implementing a marketing programme.
Its products �such as package tours)
consist of a number of product and service modules
offered by a variety of service providers. None of
them fully controls the final appearance of the
product. Some of its ingredients �natural resources)
may be completely predetermined and largely
inaccessible to managerial action. The range of
options for product planning and quality assurance
is limited. In a resort, cooperation and
harmonised action on a voluntary basis is required
to compose and market a consistent bundle of
products and services. As the services tend to lack
autonomy and distinctiveness in their respective
markets, a branding policy cannot be easily
established and maintained. The company name
or the name of a business conglomerate usually
fulfils the brand function rather than the individual
products or service packages. Non-profit organisations
�particularly in European tourist receiving
countries) are heavily engaged in the marketing of
industry. They take full or partial responsibility for
marketing support with typical regard to commissioning
market research studies, to national,
regional and local advertising, and to distribution
�see reservation).
The measurement of results concludes the
marketing planning cycle. The simple recording
of aggregate figures �number of trips or guests,
dollar sales, occupancy rates, foreign exchange
earnings) must be complemented by thorough
causal research �see causal model) to learn about
market response. Regular guest surveys, for example,
are routine sources to provide the necessary
feedback information for marketing managers �see
statistics; survey, guest). If the results are far off
target, with no apparent explanation, management
will need to have recourse to more specialised
information collection. Using non-reactive methods
of market research, such as observation or
hiring phantom customers to report on deficiencies
in the distribution system, or failures during the
service encounter �mystery shopping) may reveal
unexpected causes. According to the principles of
quality management, the monitoring of customer
satisfaction is a continuous process rather than a
sporadic event �see satisfaction, customer).
Quantitative methods and advanced model
building characterise the scientific approach to
marketing. Consumer �tourist) behaviour research
offers explanations ranging from conventional
econometric and stochastic process modelling to
computer simulations and neural networks �see
neurocomputing). Many optimisation models
are available for each marketing instrument, but
fewer are capable of tackling double-instrument
optimisation �such as price and advertising), and
very few models consider the entire marketing mix.
A comprehensive theory to encompass strategic
�positioning plus segmentation) issues, together
with the instrumental decisions of the marketing
mix, is still out of sight.
See also: benchmarking; electronic promotion
source; event marketing; relationship marketing
Further reading
marketing 377
Bagozzi, R.P. �1986) Principles of Marketing Management,
Chicago, IL: Science Research Associates.
�Gives proper credit to marketing research and
methodology.)
Culture, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders J. and Wong
V. �1996) Principles of Marketing:The European
Edition, London: Prentice Hall Europe. �A new
version of a marketing classic.)
Eliashberg, J. and Lilien, G.L. �eds) �1993) Marketing:Handbooks
in Operations Research and Management
Science, vol. 5, Amsterdam: North-Holland.
�Reflects the state of the art in marketing
science.)
McDonald, M. �1995) Marketing Plans, 3rd edn,
Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. �A textbook
recommended for beginners.)
Teare, R., Mazanec J.A., Crawford-Welch, S. and