Social Media and Sustainable Tourism Marketing …
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results to key stakeholder audiences’ (Pomering et al. 2011, p. 958). Marketing
plans and communication should add value and include sustainable goals, and
the ‘marketing mix must aim to satisfy consumers, ensure the long-term financial
success of the organisation and protect the physical and sociocultural environments’
(Pomering et al. 2011, p. 960). In this sense, the marketing mix can prompt the organisation to consider sustainability measures and decisions related to the resource’s use,
especially irreplaceable ones. For some, the sustainable marketing orientation should
change their objectives from offering satisfaction and getting profits to more ‘sustainable living systems’, and the tourism market should not be ‘a leisure product but (…)
[an] experience that enhances quality of life, not just for the individual participants,
but for living systems at large; the human and non-human, the guest and the hosts’
(Jamrozy 2007, p. 126). And there is no doubt that ‘Social media provides an outlet
to showcase the firm’s sustainability achievements’ (Reilly and Hynan 2014, p. 755).
3 Methodology
Empirical data were gathered from a survey through the use of a semi-structured
interview administered to seven owners of leisure-related enterprises operating within
Viana do Castelo Littoral Geopark (VCLG). Businesses were selected based on the
following criteria: being recognized as nature-based tourism, being registered on the
National Tourism Database; being promoted on the Viana do Castelo Municipality
website, and operating at VCLG. Respondents were selected through a purposive and
convenience sampling method. All the interviewees were the business owner and/or
manager, provide nature-based activities/experiences within VCLG, and are engaged
in SM. Interviews were conducted between February and mid-April of 2020, and they
lasted between 45 and 60 min. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed
and then analysed manually. The total number of interviewees was determined and
considered adequate for this study when researchers deemed that no new insights
were emerging from interviews (Roller and Lavrakas 2015).
Interviewer bias was controlled by the use of the same list of open-ended questions with all interviewees. Questions about the purposes of this study were formulated based on the literature review (e.g. Gilmore and Simmons 2007; Sharpley and
Pearce 2007; Hawkins and Middleton 2009; Gretzel 2010; Wood et al. 2013; Reilly
and Hynan 2014; De Vermain et al. 2017). However, any additional and relevant
information from the interviewees was accepted and integrated into the analysis.
The analysis was conducted systematically and objectively, based on a matrix.
This form of content analysis was based on Krippendorff’s (2004) framework, as
the interview questions were used to answer the research questions that have already
been used in other studies (e.g. Melo et al. 2019). Based on the businesses owners’
perceptions, the matrix used in this research encompassed the following dimensions:
the importance of and the current use of SM for the promotion of tourism businesses
and activities (in general); the current and future use of SM to promote activities
307
results to key stakeholder audiences’ (Pomering et al. 2011, p. 958). Marketing
plans and communication should add value and include sustainable goals, and
the ‘marketing mix must aim to satisfy consumers, ensure the long-term financial
success of the organisation and protect the physical and sociocultural environments’
(Pomering et al. 2011, p. 960). In this sense, the marketing mix can prompt the organisation to consider sustainability measures and decisions related to the resource’s use,
especially irreplaceable ones. For some, the sustainable marketing orientation should
change their objectives from offering satisfaction and getting profits to more ‘sustainable living systems’, and the tourism market should not be ‘a leisure product but (…)
[an] experience that enhances quality of life, not just for the individual participants,
but for living systems at large; the human and non-human, the guest and the hosts’
(Jamrozy 2007, p. 126). And there is no doubt that ‘Social media provides an outlet
to showcase the firm’s sustainability achievements’ (Reilly and Hynan 2014, p. 755).
3 Methodology
Empirical data were gathered from a survey through the use of a semi-structured
interview administered to seven owners of leisure-related enterprises operating within
Viana do Castelo Littoral Geopark (VCLG). Businesses were selected based on the
following criteria: being recognized as nature-based tourism, being registered on the
National Tourism Database; being promoted on the Viana do Castelo Municipality
website, and operating at VCLG. Respondents were selected through a purposive and
convenience sampling method. All the interviewees were the business owner and/or
manager, provide nature-based activities/experiences within VCLG, and are engaged
in SM. Interviews were conducted between February and mid-April of 2020, and they
lasted between 45 and 60 min. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed
and then analysed manually. The total number of interviewees was determined and
considered adequate for this study when researchers deemed that no new insights
were emerging from interviews (Roller and Lavrakas 2015).
Interviewer bias was controlled by the use of the same list of open-ended questions with all interviewees. Questions about the purposes of this study were formulated based on the literature review (e.g. Gilmore and Simmons 2007; Sharpley and
Pearce 2007; Hawkins and Middleton 2009; Gretzel 2010; Wood et al. 2013; Reilly
and Hynan 2014; De Vermain et al. 2017). However, any additional and relevant
information from the interviewees was accepted and integrated into the analysis.
The analysis was conducted systematically and objectively, based on a matrix.
This form of content analysis was based on Krippendorff’s (2004) framework, as
the interview questions were used to answer the research questions that have already
been used in other studies (e.g. Melo et al. 2019). Based on the businesses owners’
perceptions, the matrix used in this research encompassed the following dimensions:
the importance of and the current use of SM for the promotion of tourism businesses
and activities (in general); the current and future use of SM to promote activities