Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

Since my last post, I did more research about my area of interests in order to complete the draft research proposal. Here is what I came up with:

Proposed Project Title/Broad Question:

There seems to be two recurring questions in the research on creative tourism which are: what are the characteristics of creative tourists and why don’t tourists understand the term “creative tourism”? I intend to research the characteristics and motivations of creative tourists in England and compare the results to the current marketing strategies of creative holiday providers. I am interested to see if current marketing strategies are targeting the right segments and if not, how market research can be used to create more effective marketing campaigns and raise awareness for creative tourism in general.

Title: Creative Tourism Marketing: Does it Target the Appropriate Segments?

Broad Question: What are the characteristics of creative tourists and is current creative tourism marketing targeting the right segment groups?

I think I spent most of my time trying to come up with a creative title! I tried out many different versions but nothing sounded right. What I ended up with sounds really boring to me. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make my title more interesting and appealing to potential readers, please let me know!

My research objectives and questions were as followed:

Research Objectives / Questions:

My first objective is to identify the main characteristics and motivations of creative tourists.

My question is whether creative tourism providers are targeting the right segments (as defined by the initial market research proponent of the dissertation) through their marketing strategies. If they are not targeting the right segments, how can market research improve marketing strategies and create greater awareness of creative tourism?

Other questions that I hope to answer during my research include:

-Why don’t tourists recognize or understand the term “creative tourism”?

-How do creative tourists find creative holiday providers? (Which marketing channels are most successful? i.e., radio, television, magazine adverts, Internet, etc.?)

-How can marketing be used to make creative tourism more appealing to a wider audience? In other words, why is creative tourism a “niche” segment and will it always remain one?

In terms of the methodology, I think I am going to be using a mixed methods approach. I will distribute surveys (quantitative research) to collect information about the characteristics and motivations of creative tourists. I will also conduct interviews (qualitative research) with the marketing managers of a few creative tourism providers in order to compare the market research to the current targeted markets and see if they match up.

I was happy with my chosen methodology until our lecture with Sven. He said that it is very difficult to do mixed methods as a Master's student and that I should stick to either quantitative or qualitative. I was a bit disappointed but then Peter said it was fine to do both. However, after our coding exercise, I thought maybe I should stick to just quantitative! I found coding the interviews to be extremely difficult! I started thinking immediately about how I should just distribute surveys to the marketing managers of creative tourism providers instead! However, I realized that it would be more interesting for me to interview the marketing managers and it might even give me more answers to the questions I have about the creative tourism industry. Therefore, it looks like I'm just going to have to learn how to code interviews!

This week, I will be meeting with my dissertation supervisor: James. I am looking forward to working with him because he has expressed an interest in creative tourism and I believe he has some contacts in the industry that I could get in touch with. I hope that our first meeting will make me feel more confident about the direction I'm heading in and that I can ask some questions about my chosen methodology.

Jessica