Mauro Cavallone, Andrea Pozzi, Philipp Wassler and Rocco Palumbo
The purpose of the paper is to analyze the supply and demand of marketing and communication consulting services and evaluate actual and perceived gaps.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to analyze the supply and demand of marketing and communication consulting services and evaluate actual and perceived gaps.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses two different datasets to assess the gap. The supply database comes from desk research carried out in the province of Bergamo (n. 159 consulting agencies). The demand dates are the results of 100 structured interviews with local companies that requested marketing and communication consulting services both inside and outside the province.
Findings
Findings show that there is no significant shortage in local service supply. Nonetheless, a limited gap exists between the provision of specific services and their overall quality. Conversely, the perceived gap is wider, leading to an impression of scarce availability – a notion disproven by the analysis of the actual supply.
Practical implications
The study suggests that local agencies may overcome their “myopic” attitude and need to increase their visibility, competencies and expertise by investing in these areas and improving networking.
Originality/value
There are no previous studies that compare the supply and demand for marketing and communication consulting services. The paper also provides insights into actual and perceived gaps in a hypercompetitive environment.
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Keywords
Ksenia Kirillova and Philipp Wassler
Tourism research has been largely unconcerned with the aesthetic dimension, although few attempts have recently begun to surface. In this chapter, the authors highlight a…
Abstract
Tourism research has been largely unconcerned with the aesthetic dimension, although few attempts have recently begun to surface. In this chapter, the authors highlight a multifaceted process of incorporating aesthetics in tourist experience design, based on a three-level framework for theming. The first level is based on aesthetic features of destinations as atmospherics. The second level deals with multisensory atmospherics, transcending the mere visual focus of the tourist gaze. Key experiences of the beautiful, sublime and picturesque are deeply embedded in visual, somatic, olfactory, auditory and gustatory decoding of aesthetic markers. The third level deals with the human factor in atmospherics, particularly focussing on the role of residents. Through a discursive lens, local people are simultaneously identified as sources, co-creators and beneficiaries of aesthetic environments. Thus, the chapter hopes to open possibilities for exploring experiences of atmospherics (including aesthetics) through a dialectic approach.
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Michael Volgger and Dieter Pfister
This introduction to the volume Atmospheric Turn in Culture and Tourism: Place, Design and Process Impacts on Customer Behaviour, Marketing and Branding (Emerald) positions the…
Abstract
This introduction to the volume Atmospheric Turn in Culture and Tourism: Place, Design and Process Impacts on Customer Behaviour, Marketing and Branding (Emerald) positions the atmospheric turn in the context of recent paradigmatic turns such as the linguistic turn, iconic turn, cultural turn, spatial turn, mobility turn and design turn. The specific contribution of the atmospheric turn is its profoundly holistic interest in overarching connections which are perceived with all senses and include both matter and idea. With its 22 chapters, this volume sets out to sharpen the atmospheric gaze and perception in research and beyond.