The Influence of Window Displays on Patronage Intentions: The Case of French Tourist Bureaux
Résumé
Objective: Tourist bureaux in France are evolving from their conventional role of solely providing information toward a newer commercial role of selling goods and services to tourists. Window displays are an important marketing tool for attracting tourists, and traditionally attract attention and incite individuals into the point-of-sale. The goal of this study is to apply Construal Level Theory to tourist bureau window display content and to examine its influence on patronage intentions.
Design/methodology/approach: The study applies the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) paradigm to examine the influence of window display construal level on patronage intentions. One hundred and forty-four (144) volunteers participated in a laboratory experiment applying abstract (1) and concrete (2) window display images in a quasiexperimental design over a four-week period in November-December 2017.
Results: The results show that window display construal level has a direct positive significant influence on patronage intention. The findings support those of previous studies and extend current research on window displays and exterior atmospherics in the tourism sector.
Originality: This study is the first to explore the influence of window display construal level on patronage intentions in a retail-oriented context of tourist bureaux and contributes to the scant literature on exterior atmospherics.
Domaines
Gestion et managementOrigine | Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte |
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