Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
11005094 Tourism Management Perspectives 2018 10 Pages PDF
Abstract
For micro-tourism firms, customers are a readily-accessible and highly important knowledge source that often remains unutilised. This study explores firm-customer encounters along the customer journey as learning opportunities. Based on data collected through participant observations, interviews and a review of user-generated content, this case study provides an in-depth look into the customer journey, with a Swedish micro-tourism firm. The findings suggest that the possibility to generate knowledge about experiential purposes is conditioned by the firm's ability to bestow encounters with an experience-like quality and promote the customers' transformation into participants. This is facilitated by involving customers, adopting an experiential discourse and utilising in-situ supporting moments to socialise. Firms can also learn about customers' subjective perception of value from user-generated content. The study concludes that in the context of learning from customers, small size provides micro-tourism firms with an opportunity to engage in personal relationships with their customers.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities Business, Management and Accounting Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
Authors
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