A Study Into the Conditions Necessary for a Destination to Be Fashionable
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016 University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2014 A study into the conditions necessary for a destination to be fashionable Clifford Lawrence Lewis University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. 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For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] A STUDY INTO THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR A DESTINATION TO BE FASHIONABLE CLIFFORD LAWRENCE LEWIS THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONS, AND MARKETING FACULTY OF BUSINESS 2014 Declaration I, Clifford Lawrence Lewis, declare this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Clifford Lawrence Lewis Note: Publications stemming from the research generated for this thesis are: Lewis, C, Kerr, G & Burgess, L 2013, 'A Critical Assessment of the Role of Fashion in Influencing the Travel Decision and Destination Choice', International Journal of Tourism Policy, vol.5, no.1, pp.4-18. Lewis, C, Kerr, G & Burgess, L 2013, 'The Application of Fashion to Destinations', in 23rd International Research Conference of the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE), Lincoln, New Zealand, 11/02/2013 to 14/02/2013. Kerr, G, Lewis, C & Burgess, L 2012, 'Bragging Rights and Destination Marketing: A tourism bragging rights model', Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, vol.19, no.e15. Lewis, C, Kerr, G & Burgess, L 2012, ' Fashionable Places', in 36th Annual Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Regional Science Association International, Wollongong, Australia, 05/12/2012 to 07/12/2012. Kerr, G, Lewis, C & Burgess, L 2012, 'The Importance of ‘Bragging Rights’ to Tourism Marketing', in 22nd International Research Conference of the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE), Melbourne, 06/02/2012 to 10/02/2012. Lewis, C, Kerr, G & Burgess, L 2011, 'The Role of Fashion in Influencing the Travel Decision and Destination Choice', in First International Conference on Emerging Research Paradigms in Business and Social Sciences, Dubai, UAE, 21/11/2011 to 23/11/2011. i Dedication ii Acknowledgements During the process of this thesis, I have benefited from the guidance and encouragement of a number of people. My warmest thanks go to my supervisors Dr. Lois Burgess (UOW) and Associate Professor Greg Kerr (UOW in Dubai) for their mentorship, patience, enthusiasm, and support; and Dr. Celeste Rossetto who helped improve my writing style. I am grateful to my colleagues in the ‘Room of Requirements’ for their unfailing friendship and the motivation they provided. I appreciate the help given by the tourism experts and destination marketing representatives from Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, and Lord Howe Island who gave up their time and were willing participants in this research. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Faculty of Business and the University of Wollongong for the support given as part of my scholarship and the opportunity to further my education. iii Abstract Despite recognition of the relevance of fashion to tourism – including the United Nations World Travel Organisation’s prediction that destinations will function as fashion accessories, academic research has not empirically studied this phenomenon. Noting this gap, Caldwell and Freire in 2004 called for research to identify factors which contribute to the construction of a fashionable destination. Given the unique nature of tourism and the consequent limitation of applying the findings of research from other fields, this study inductively develops theory to understand the conditions necessary for a destination to be fashionable. Because of the influence industry has on fashion and the knowledge and experience of suppliers, a supply-side perspective was adopted. This research commenced by developing a definition of fashion owing to the limitations of current definitions in not considering the importance of meaning. To address Caldwell and Freire’s call, a two phase research design was implemented. Phase One explored practice employing in-depth interviews with eighteen tourism experts to establish if fashion was relevant to tourism and if so, to identify destinations perceived to be fashionable and the conditions which made them fashionable. The findings indicated fashion contributed to destination success and uncovered twelve conditions tourism experts considered necessary for a destination to be fashionable. These conditions were formulated into necessary condition propositions. Phase Two was confirmatory and tested the propositions developed in Phase One using a case study methodology. Four fashionable destinations, from the list of those nominated by tourism iv experts were used as cases to identify if the conditions existed, as predicted, at those destinations. Evidence was found to confirm all twelve propositions. Literature was consulted to guide the theorisation of the findings. This culminated in the development of the Destination Fashion Conditioning Framework. The framework positions the necessary conditions as sources of communication and identifies actions destination marketers need to perform to develop those sources of communication. Together, the sources of communication and the actions required have a conditioning influence on constructing a fashionable destination meaning. This thesis makes important contributions. The framework along with the definition of fashion developed represents the theoretical contributions of this work. Additionally, the study contributes to knowledge on methods by testing the reliability of data collected through exploration of practice and by applying the case study methodology to test necessary condition propositions in tourism. The framework contributes to destination marketing by providing a ‘how to’ guide for destinations aiming to be positioned as fashionable. The framework also may be adapted to the broader practice of marketing and used to make other objects and behaviours fashionable. v Table of Contents Declaration ......................................................................................................................... i Dedication ......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xi List of Tables.................................................................................................................. xiii List of Appendices ......................................................................................................... xiv Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2. The concept of fashion ....................................................................................... 2 1.3. Objective of this research ................................................................................... 5 1.4. Need for research ...............................................................................................