Influence of Advertisements on the Tourists’ Preferences of Resorts in Batangas

MEMBERS

Andal, Daniela Mariz R.

Banaag, Diossa May M.

Caringal, Regin Neil A.

Lumanglas, Nelle Micaella A.

Mangalinao, Mark Ervin A.

Opriasa, Angelica Ysabel L.

 Introduction

Rationale

Advertising is a type of marketing communication which is vital in promoting a

product or service. It is used to encourage and influence the purchase intention of an

individual.

Resort is one of the establishments that use advertisements in order to persuade

a tourist to visit. To get the message though to potential customers, resort owners use

different strategies such as using advertisements in every possible media. However,

some resorts tend to focus more on boosting their profit, not on providing excellent

customer service. In fact, according to a research study by Rhodes et al., (2018), there is

widespread evidence that some firms in the industry use false advertisements to

overstate the value of their products and services.

Evidences show that some resorts in Batangas failed to reach the tourists’

satisfaction in terms of service promotion for they are being shown images that

overshadow the actual traits of their service.

Setting of the Problem

Batangas is a province near Manila which is known for its numerous beaches and

famous for excellent diving spots. This characteristic of Batangas has made many

entrepreneurs to build resorts along the beaches or in places where these resorts are

most accessible for tourists.

 The researchers decided to conduct a study in Batangas in regards to the service

promotion of different resorts. Golden Grande Resort, located at Libjo Tangisan

Batangas, is a swimming pool resort which promotes their resort by encouraging and

convincing tourists to enjoy and relax at the resort during their visit.

In addition, a few reviews on a Facebook page of a resort in Batangas, the resort's

advertisement that says tourists will 'enjoy and have fun' appear to be different from their

real experience.

Literature Foundation

As cited by Iranmanesh et al., among the management dimensions of industry-

leading service companies, service quality appears to be the most sustainable basis for

distinction (Zeithaml & Binter, 1996); meanwhile, balancing customer satisfaction and

value (Parasuraman, 1997), pushing market share and profitability and developing

appropriate strategies (Gronroos, 2000) have become crucially important.

Resorts provide what a tourist needs and wants and many of them promote their

service through the use of advertisements. The current paper contributes to the literature

in different aspects. First, it analyzes the influence of the advertising strategies used by

resorts on tourists’ decision-making. Second, with regard to physical variables, majority

of the previous studies determined the service management practices based on the

resorts’ performance. This paper uses a kind of approach that seeks to develop the

previous studies in order to determine the resorts’ management adeptness. Third, it

investigates the psychological variables, such as motivation, attitude, perception, and

satisfaction based on the quality of service provided to tourists.

Seriousness of the Problem

The measurements of this approach vary between different studies. Generally

speaking, two aspects emerged from the evaluations of advertising effectiveness:

behavioral aspects and cognitive aspects.

Behavioral aspects were naturally adopted first. Represented in conversion

studies, behavioral aspects evaluate tourism advertising effects via the “cause of

visits and sales,” with a particular focus on visitation number and travel expenditure, etc.

(e.g., Burke & Gitelson, 1990; Woodside & Reid, 1974). The method of conversion studies

was widely examined in academia and practice. At the same time, suggestions for

improving the accuracy of this method came along, and thus, cognitive aspects emerged.

Cognitive aspects, referring to awareness of the destination, influences of further

information inquiries, attitudes, etc., were added to the dependent variables evaluating

tourism advertising effects (e.g., McWilliams & Crompton, 1997; Kim, Hwang, &

Fesenmaier, 2005; Byun & Jang, 2015).

The resorts commitment to create exceptional guest experiences remains

unchanged, but in terms of their advertising strategies and service management, they fail

to satisfy the guest and one of the main factors is the broken website that they offer the

tourist. These websites are not accessible for everyone and will not create a promotional

option for the tourists. As a result, advertising effect models that reflect these three stages

were proposed and examined in advertising research, represented by the AIDA

(Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) model, DAGMAR (Awareness, Comprehension,

Conviction, Action) model, and so on. The concept of advertising effects in tourism

research has been defined and tested by different variables that were selected arbitrarily
without consistent and sound reasoning (e.g., Byun & Jang, 2015; Li, Huang, &

Christanian, 2016). Due to the remarkably rapid development of information technology,

the advertising world today has also grown rapidly, thus generating many emerging

advertising formats (Guttentag, 2010). A considerable amount of existing studies has still

been examining the advertising effects of traditional formats, such as print, audio, video,

etc.

General Objectives

This study aims to investigate and evaluate the influence of advertisements on the

tourists' preferences and purchase intention in regards to the service promotion of resorts

in Batangas.

Overall Purpose

False or deceptive sales, advertising, and marketing promotional strategies are

growing as the industry continue to progress.

The consumers are oblivious to the ethics of advertising because majority of the

Filipino consumers cannot differentiate ethical from unethical advertisement. This

research paper elucidates the unethical advertising and the status of the consumers

against such advertisements.

This research aims to explore marketing practices in the tourism and hospitality

industry in terms of providing service, pricing, and promotion along with the relationship

of customers’ satisfaction.