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A Further Examination of the Vermont Visitor:

The 1999 Phase Three National Reports

Report #1
“Advertising Influence on Vermont Visitors”

by

William E. Baker
Associate Professor of Marketing
University of Vermont

November 2000
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction and Methodology 3


Executive Summary 4

Report I: Advertising Influence on Vermont Vacations


Table 1: Advertising Influence on Vermont Vacations 6
Table 2: Media Impact 8
Table 3: Information Source Importance 10
Table 4: Unexpected Vermont Observations 12

Appendix A: Questionnaire 13

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Introduction and Methodology

• This project is one of several scheduled projects in 1999-2000 funded through the Vermont
Department of Tourism and Marketing and conducted through the Vermont Tourism Data
Center at the University of Vermont.

• This is the first of a series of three follow-up reports to the January 2000 report, “A
National Survey of the Vermont Visitor 1999.” It presents an analysis of the influence of
advertising on the Vermont visitor. Henceforth this report will be referred to as the 1999
National Study.

• The NPD Group, a full-service national marketing research firm, administered this
research. The sample was drawn from the pool of 2,437 respondents in the 1999 National
Study. In that survey respondents were asked to report if advertising influenced their trip
to Vermont. They responded on a five point scale with “5” meaning “definitely influenced
desire to visit Vermont” and “1” meaning “definitely did not influence my desire to visit
Vermont.” Individuals qualified to participate in this study if they rated the influence of
advertising to be a “3” or higher. There were 457 such respondents.

• These 457 respondents were part of a larger sample of 1,433 people that qualified to
participate in at least one of three follow-up studies to the 1999 National Study.
Questionnaires were mailed to the full study of 1433 households. Nine hundred and thirty
one usable questionnaires were returned, a response rate of 65.0%

• Five hundred and twenty eight respondents, 56.7% of the total sample, reported hearing,
seeing or reading advertising about Vermont prior to their trip to Vermont. Of these, 138
respondents, 26.1% of those exposed to advertising, reported that advertising influenced
their decision to visit Vermont. This report is based on this sample of 138.

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Executive Summary

• The effect of advertising that was seen, heard or read prior to visiting Vermont
was a function of the type of decision being made. Advertising’s strongest
influence was on the overall “decision to visit Vermont.” Effects were weaker on
more specific decisions such as “activities pursued,” “in-state destination” and
“lodging.”

• The strongest single effect of advertising was on the decision to visit Vermont in
the fall. This makes sense given the impulse nature of these trips. The strongest
overall effect of advertising on activities to pursue was in the summer. This
makes sense because there are such a wide array of potential activities to pursue
relative to other seasons.

• Print media, particularly magazines, were reported to be much more influential


than broadcast media. This reflects the high relative weight of print to broadcast
media employed by advertisers. Also, vacations tend to be “high involvement”
decisions. People are likely to systematically seek out information about multiple
vacation alternatives and print media affords them this opportunity. Broadcast is
more likely to influence people living close to our borders who are making
impulse decisions (e.g., fall foliage viewing).

• Once people arrived in Vermont, they were most influenced by friends and
relatives. This is not surprising since more than 40% of visitors saw friends or
relatives while here.

• The effectiveness of other in-state information appears to be a function of accessibility


and convenience. Magazines and brochures, which are often available in hotel/motel
lobbies and rooms, were most influential. Vermont information centers and Chambers
of Commerce, which are both less accessible and less convenient, were far less
influential.

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• Fewer than 15% of visitors reported that their Vermont visit changed their perceptions
of Vermont. Most that did change, changed positively. This suggests that advertising
did not create false expectations about the state. It is an important positive finding
because advertising that creates false expectations can depress satisfaction and return
visit intentions.

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ADVERTISING INFLUENCE ON VERMONT VACATIONS

The Relative Influence of Advertising on Various Vacation


Decisions

Visitors were asked if advertising influenced their Vermont vacation.

Those that reported being influenced were asked to report whether advertising influenced
their decision to visit Vermont, the specific activities pursued while in Vermont, their
choice(s) of destination in Vermont and/or their choice(s) of lodging in Vermont.

TABLE 1

Advertising Influence on Vermont Vacations


(n=138) (n=79) (n=95) (n=34) (n=31)
Overall
Type of Influence Average Summer Fall Winter Spring

Decision to Visit 59.3% 52.2% 61.1% 48.4% 50.0%

Activities Pursued 40.7% 52.2% 35.8% 41.9% 44.1%

Destination 37.8% 36.2% 32.6% 29.0% 26.5%

Lodging 33.0% 31.4% 30.3% 25.0% 26.9%

Note: Sample sizes for individual seasons, particularly winter and spring, are relatively small. As a
result, the reader should view seasonal differences as probable tendencies, not as hard facts.

KEY: Among the Vermont visitors that were influenced by advertising, 59.3% reported
that it impacted their “decision to visit” Vermont. Advertising tended to be more
influential in influencing the decision to visit in the Fall (61.1%).

• First, it is important to point out that this question refers to advertising that was seen,
heard or read prior to visiting Vermont.

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• The effect of out-of-state advertising seems to be a function of the scope of the
decision being made. That is, as the scope of the decision declined, the effect of out-
of-state-advertising declined. The largest effect was on the “decision to visit”
followed by “activities pursued” followed by “specific destination” followed by
“choice of lodging.”

As Table 1 shows, advertising’s effect on the “decision to visit” Vermont was much
stronger than any other effect of advertising. Why? Possible explanations include:

• Individuals may often have an activity in mind prior to a trip, but are looking for a
place to perform it. The activities that people pursue in Vermont are seasonally
driven. Once the decision is made to visit Vermont, the activities that one
pursues are often a given. For example, in the fall, foliage viewing is the
dominant primary purpose for visiting; in the winter, skiing is the dominant
primary purpose.

• According to the 1999 National Survey, about 19% of the visitors that stayed with
friends and relatives were influenced by advertising. The presence of friends and
relatives defacto drives destination and lodging decisions. This would limit
advertising’s potential effect destination and lodging decisions.

• Also according to the 1999 National Survey, 10.0% of all visitors came for the
primary purpose of an auto-tour. An auto tour implies no concrete destination
decision.

• Finally, since about 18% of the visitors influenced by advertising did not stay
overnight in Vermont, they did not make a lodging decision.

• The strongest seasonal effect of advertising on the “decision to visit” appears to have
been in the fall. This may reflect the impulse nature of the decision to engage in a fall
foliage trip. It may also reflect the current weight that the tourism industry puts on
fall advertising.

• When all categories of advertising influence are considered, the strongest overall
seasonal effect of advertising appears to be in the summer. The decision process in
the summer is likely to involve the consideration of a wider array of destination
options than other seasons, which would increase the propensity of people to search
for information including advertising. The stronger effect of advertising on
“activities pursued” logically reflects the wider array of activity options available to
people in the summer.

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The Relative Impact of Various Advertising Media

Visitors were asked to report the influence of five different types of advertising media,
magazines, newspaper, television, Internet and radio on their Vermont visit.

The influence of each form of advertising was reported by season.

TABLE 2

Media Impact
(n=60) (n=78) (n=28) (n=28)

Summer Fall Winter Spring

Magazine 58.3% 73.1% 46.4% 53.6%

Newspaper 28.3% 24.4% 28.6% 28.6%

Television 18.3% 17.9% 17.9% 14.3%

Internet 8.3% 10.3% 7.1% 7.1%

Radio 5.0% 7.7% 14.3% 7.1%

Note: Sample sizes for individual seasons, particularly winter and spring, are
relatively small. As a result, the reader should view seasonal differences as
probable tendencies, not as hard facts.

KEY: Among the Vermont visitors that were influenced by advertising, magazine was
far and away the most influential media. Most notably, in the fall 73.1% of the people
influenced by advertising reported being influenced by magazines.

• Print media was consistently more influential than broadcast media. This must at
least partially reflect the heavy weight of print relative to broadcast media employed
by advertisers.

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• Vacation decisions tend to be “high involvement” decisions. This means that people
deliberately search and consider information about multiple vacation alternatives.
These people are likely to seek print media because it gives more complete
information than broadcast and it affords them an opportunity to look into multiple
destination alternatives.

• Broadcast media is more likely to have an effect on people that live within a few
hours of Vermont. In these cases, impulse decisions are more likely, particularly for
day trips and weekend get-aways.

• Within the print category, magazines were about twice as influential as newspapers.
This may reflect the greater geographic reach of magazines, their ability to better
target likely Vermont visitors, and/or the greater persuasiveness of the medium.
Magazines may also represent a higher percentage of out-of-state advertising
spending than newspapers.

• Given the plan to increase the importance of the Internet as a promotional tool, it will
be important to monitor the growth of its influence over the next few years. There is,
of course, a tremendous opportunity for all Vermont print and broadcast advertising
to direct people to the Vermont website as well as the proprietary websites related to
tourism.

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Information Source Importance in Selecting Activities Pursued
While in Vermont

Respondents were asked to select the three most important sources of information they
used to learn about the activities they pursued while in Vermont.

They placed a ‘1’ next to their top choice, a ‘2’ next to their second choice and a ‘3’ next
to their third choice.

TABLE 3

Information Source Importance

One of the
Rank Top Three
Information Source Score* Sources
Friend or Relative .62 36.5%
Newspaper or Magazine Content .30 24.3%
Brochure .29 24.6%
Guidebook .24 19.0%
Advertising .20 12.4%
Road Signage .16 14.0%
Vermont Information Center/Kiosk .08 7.3%
A Vermont Chamber of Commerce .05 4.3%
Internet .04 3.5%
1-800-Vermont .02 1.6%
* An information source received three points for being ranked ‘1,’ two points
for being ranked ‘2,’ one point for being ranked ‘3.’ A source’s rank
score was calculated by dividing a source’s total points by the number of
respondents.

KEY: Friends and relatives were the top source of information visitors used to help them
select activities to pursue while in Vermont. Not only was it used by more visitors than
any other source, 36.5%, its rank score of .62 suggests that it may be twice as influential
as any other source.

• Based on the 1999 National Survey, about 41% of visitors visited friends and/or
relatives while in Vermont. It is therefore, not surprising, that 36.5% of Vermont
visitors depended to some degree on their advice.

• The use of information sources other than friends and relatives seems to be a function
of accessibility and convenience. Newspapers, magazines and brochures are readily

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available at most lodging establishments. Visitors that are staying at motels or
resorts walk right by them and can consume them at their leisure. Road signage,
information centers and Chambers of Commerce are less accessible and they require
people to act at the time of encounter (which they might not be in the state of mind to
do). Road signage has the advantage of not requiring people to get out of their cars.
The Internet is not accessible to the vast majority of visitors once they are here. Most
visitors are probably unaware of the 1-800-VERMONT number. If they are aware,
the act of calling may be perceived to be an unnecessary hassle if other information
sources are readily available.

• Maximizing the accessibility and convenience of all information sources should be a


major priority. Effort should be made to get the information to the visitor rather the
than visitor to the information. Important phone numbers and Internet addresses
should also be put in front of the visitor whenever possible.

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Vermont Experience Perceptions

Visitors were asked if their visit to Vermont changed any prior perceptions they may
have had of the state.

If the visit did change any prior perceptions of Vermont, the respondents were asked to
describe the change.

Just 12.9% of respondents reported that their visit influenced their perceptions of the
state. Table 4 below summarizes their comments. Only observations made by at least
5% of those that responded are reported.

TABLE 4

Unexpected Vermont Observations


Percent
Perception Observing
Vermont’s Beauty 34.8%
More to do, enjoyed more than expected 11.9%
Quaint shops and towns 8.1%
Rural setting and farms 6.7%
Friendly and laid back people 5.9%
Mountains 5.9%
* Open-ended question

KEY: By a wide margin, Vermont’s scenic beauty is the most mentioned unexpected
feature of the state. This is highly consistent with other recent research.

• The fact that only 12.9% of respondents were not surprised by anything they
encountered while in Vermont suggests that advertising does not create any
unreasonable expectations among visitors. This is good since expectations drive
satisfaction.

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