PSICOLINGUISTICA I NEUROLINGUISTICA

Given the importance of the official website as the union nexus of more extensive campaigns and the place where the core message of the destination and its image is summarized, many studies have focused on developing methodologies and patterns of analysis that allow DMOs to assess their website communication practices. Investing resources in the improvement of different elements of the official websites is not a one-time effort; instead, DMOs should evaluate their website constantly to keep it updated (Morrison, 2013). In Standing's et al.

(2014, p.108) words, “tourism professionals cannot rely on website developers to design an effective website; they need to be aware of design features that sell their product or service”.

Therefore, it is interesting in this thesis to take into consideration the specific characteristics of official destination websites that different researchers have pointed as key contributors to these sites’ success.

To more precisely identify the relevant website features, four different studies are compared.

Figure 2.7 summarizes the various elements highlighted by different researchers as characteristics that official destination websites must take into account. However, in comparing these different studies, the present author considered the influence and possible bias derived from the different approaches proposed. As Law et al. (2010) highlight, five different methodological approaches have been proposed for the overall assessment of a website’s features: counting, automated, numerical, computation, user judgment, and combined methods. However, each concludes with different outcomes, making a direct comparison impossible. Instead, the purpose of Figure 2.7 is to highlight the areas of agreement between the different studies’ results.

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Figure 2.7. Characteristics of official destination website assessment⁵

Source: Author

Even though each study highlights different features/dimensions of the website, the first interesting thing to notice is that a four-dimensional model underlies all studies: informative, technical, persuasive, and relational dimensions. As seen in Figure 2.7, the studies all highlight one or more items related to these four dimensions. The only exception is Morrison's work (2013), which does not include relational aspects.

Certainly, Morrison's (2013) and Li and Wang's (2010) studies present less detailed models than those of Fernández-Cavia et al. (2014) and Park and Gretzel (2007), which highlight 12

5 The framework proposed by Morrison (2013) is based on the DMO WebEVAL system, the assessment methodology proposed by the Belle Tourism International Consulting Group (2012).

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and 9 different areas of assessment of the official destination websites, respectively.

Moreover, similar to the dimensions in Figure 2.7, Fernández-Cavia et al. (2014) also group the 12 parameters into four broader categories, corresponding to communicative, technical, persuasive, and relational dimensions.

It is not surprising that all studies highlight the importance of information quality, even though Fernández-Cavia et al. (2014) split this category into four minor concepts, as well as the importance of technical matters. They all agree on the importance of usability and accessibility (also labeled as customer perspective and ease of use) and website architectural matters.

Beyond these, Fernández-Cavia et al. (2014) also highlight the importance of positioning as a technical parameter. Search engines such as Google are the primary route that users use to reach the official website; thus, it is crucial to strengthen the site with specific domain names and particular keywords according to users’ search words (Pike, 2012). Furthermore, Park and Gretzel (2007) also include an additional technical item, namely security, which is related to privacy and information protection during transactions and contact through the website.

However, this parameter depends more on users’ experience and evaluation than on an item that DMOs can assess directly from the website.

This last item, security, is partially related to the marketing and transaction parameters that involve commercialization possibilities highlighted by Fernández-Cavia et al. (2014) and Li and Wang (2010). However, given that commercializing is the last stage of a persuasive act, it has been grouped together with other marketing strategies such as brand strengthening, trust (related to brand consistency and credibility), and visual appearance. All in all, as the present author expected, all the studies note the relevance of the website as a persuasive tool and a portrayal of the overall brand image.

An interesting contribution made by Park and Gretzel (2007) is the personalization characteristic. With this characteristic, the authors highlight the importance of customizing the website contents to different target groups. The idea of developing specific sites to serve different target groups has also been highlighted as a key advantage for destination websites (Pike, 2012). Moreover, this same idea is considered by Fernández-Cavia et al. (2014) as well;

the latter include several child indicators within the discourse analysis parameter regarding possible worlds adjusted to different tourist profiles.

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Finally, the last important group of characteristics is related to the possibilities that websites offer to establish relationships between themselves and users. In this regard, the different authors point to the importance of interactivity at different levels. In a first tier, Li and Wang (2010) identify, under the relationship label, the importance of contact possibilities and the attractiveness of offering virtual tours; this is besides personalization of the site, which is more related to the previous group of characteristics. Park and Gretzel (2007) go beyond the previous definition and indicate the importance of not only contact information, but also especially the availability of help functions for complex tasks. Similarly, the authors also highlight the relevance of virtual tours as well as the importance of other interactive options, such as guest books or chats. And even more exhaustive is Fernández-Cavia et al.'s (2014) approach that, besides the previous features, also points to the increasing relevance of social media and the importance of enhancing interactivity not only between the user and the website but also between the user and the OMD, and between the users themselves. In his book, Morrison (2013) also highlights the importance of social media and the interactivity with the user, but does not link this activity to the official websites.

All in all, there is general agreement on the importance of the constant maintenance and improvement of the website features, not only at the technical level or in terms of giving basic information, but also considering the persuasive possibilities of the site communication and conceiving it as a window to encourage users and potential tourists to participate. Finally, the consensus about the branding possibilities for official websites is another idea highlighted and reinforced in the literature, and it is a crucial point in framing this thesis. As several authors state, the official website summarizes the destination voice; thus, it should be the communication tool where the desired brand image is most accurately projected.

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