| Much of the travel and tourism industry relies on brochures to market its products and destinations. Research studies on improving the effectiveness, the design and the use of brochures are, thus, badly needed. A review of the existing literature reveals that effectiveness of brochures has not received enough research attention and the instruments employed in these studies do not adequately address the unique features of brochures and measure their full benefits. Accordingly, the primary objectives of this study included: (1) to define a set of criteria for adequately measuring the effectiveness of brochures, (2) to apply these criteria in a case study involving Frankenmuth, Michigan to examine how effective brochures are and to identify what factors influence their effectiveness when used in marketing tourism destinations, (3) to identify how lapsed time influences reported trip expenditures, and (4) to examine whether enclosing the previously requested brochure in a brochure study has any effect on respondents' reported impressions and effectiveness of the brochure.; Findings reveal that nearly all respondents read the brochure they received. Consultation of the brochure on site was found to be correlated with reported better trip experiences. About 70% of the respondents had not made their final decisions to visit Frankenmuth at the time of requesting information. It was also found that the brochure had different influences on first time and repeat visitors. Findings suggest that respondents' recall of their trip expenditures may not be as sensitive to lapsed time as commonly assumed. The memory cue, an enclosed brochure previously requested, however, resulted in respondents' higher ratings of the impressions and effectiveness of the brochure. This study suggests that brochures serve a multitude of purposes in fulfilling different information needs of inquirers and therefore their impacts should be assessed in ways that go beyond simply deriving a conversion rate so that their full benefits to consumers can be truly revealed. |
