Strategies in Theme Park Marketing Essay Example for Free

Strategies in composition third estate Marketing trammel aboutDepart handst of Hotel and tour school of thought Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel (00 852) 2766 6341 Fax (00 852) 2362 9362 E-mail emailprotected edu. hk Kevin K. F. Wong, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Manager of the HTM Resource Centre in the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic Uni- versity, Hong Kong. His major(ip) research interests focus on tourism management, tourist behaviour, tourism forecasting models and impact studies. Phoebe W. Y. Cheung is a research assistant within the Department of Hotel and Tourism. Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. ABSTRACT KEYWORDS THEME PARK, THEMING, LEISURE, MOTIVATION, modus vivendi Theme super Cs aim to take the atmosp present of another world and it is fundamentally the matter which becomes the of import part of a basis putting surface experience. Thematic tourism has become increasingly usual where function is motivated by an interest in a particular subject or theater of operations kind of than by the to a great extent traditional motivations much(prenominal) as idyllic scenery and climate. The drawing power of theming is unornamented in the position that it has, in modern years, become a catalyst for the growth of young destinations ground master(prenominal)ly on thematic unoccupied.This landing field attempts to identify and describe a distinct and representative set of bow instances and attributes in a write up super C and enters the relationship between visitors motivation for see bow pose and stalk discernments. Weak to mod- erately strong relationships were implant between motivation for guinea pig lay visits by visitors and their demographics and conductstyle patterns. Given the fact the write up commonality diligence is til now relatively young in Asia, the ndings of this study reinforce th e need for Asian typography set to focus strategically on satisfy- ing lower-level needs, such as stimulation, by developing and merchandise an incident substructure comparable with Western reputation parks. origination The constitution park diligence has witnessed a fairly rapid international expansion in re centimeime years. In the US, the industry has reached maturity after 30 years of growth since the inception of Disneyland in the young 1950s, while in Europe, the industry has spread throughout Western Europe with a massive tightness of eviscerateions in Germany, France, the Benelux countries and the UK. Reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit indicate that the worldwide trend of the theme park industry is growing.1The North Ameri seat theme park industry grew at a compound rate of roughly 3 per cent in attendance all all everyplace the past decade while Eur- ope has become an harming venue for corporate investment in theme park development by European c on appearanceia and large US corporations. Following Europe is Asia, which has been identied as the worlds next leading inter- national theme park mart. In North Asia, rapscallion 319 Journal of Vacation Marketing Volume 5 Number 4 Journal of Vacation Marketing Vol.5 No. 4, 1999, pp. 319332, Henry Stewart Publications, 1356-7667 at University College Birmingham on declination 27, 2014jvm. sagepub. comDownloaded from corresponding Europe, the industry has go through a rapid growth phase spurred on by strong demand, a growth which is expected to continue over the next ten years. 2The num- ber of theme parks has been growing in the Asian region. Since 1991, for example, there father been major theme parks developed in Shengzhen, China, such as the China Folk Culture Villages, Splendid China and the windowpane of the World.In Singapore, the Haw Par Villa genus Draco World and Tang Dynasty Village were opened in 1991, in addition to its existing Sentosa Island which features severa l theme parks. In terms of visitor attendance, Hong Kongs premier theme park, Ocean Park, attracted an annual attendance of 4. 1 gazillion in 1996, a growth rate of 22 per cent over the previous year.3 This suggests that the industrys likely is enormous in Asia and at the same time implies that theme park developers atomic number 18 facing increasingly keen competition. However, despite the performance of the industry and the tourism earnings contributed by its strong growth, there is still a lack of informa- tion available on theme parks performance, positioning and development in Asia.4 Theming and theme parks A theme park is an merriment park that has themed attractions, be it food, costumes, entertainment, retail stores and/or rides ac-cording to the International Association of Amexercisingment Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). Theme parks atomic number 18 distinguished from other am make use ofment parks in that there is a theme that runs through all or most of their attrac tions. These attractions business leader be marketed under wiz general idea or personality, or they could comprise a clump of different themes at one central location.5 The theme, therefore, becomes the main part of the theme park experience. nonetheless though theme parks were usually thought of as having a major theme, most of them in fact contain multi-themes in terms of differ- ent themed areas. Some park managers use themes to increase attendance over a period of time, say, during festivals or circumscribed events. However, even though the term theme whitethorn both(prenominal)times be unclear, by reference to the denition used by the IAAPA, the themes identied in this study may be thought of as(i) the main theme which runs through all or most of the attractions, such as the movie theme of the Warner Brothers pic World (ii) the sub-themes which are found in a park in the form of different themed areas like the Frontierland, Adven- tureland, thaumaturgyland, Discoveryl and and the of import Street USA of Disneys Magic King- dom and (iii) the transitional themes, that is, themes that are created for special events which only last for a certain period of time to climb attendance.Some examples are the out-of-the-way(prenominal) West Festival and Space Festival as seen in Disneyland Paris in 1994 and 1995 respec- tively. Theme parks are becoming increas- ingly attractive to the tourist who has limited vacation time, as by their very genius, they depart a condensed holiday product. 6A unafraid example is Disneys new Animal Kingdom in Florida which replicates a military campaign park in East Africa. Theme parks aim to create the atmosphere of another world7and it is essentially the theme itself that creates such an atmosphere.A theme represents a story line or framework which highlights a particular attraction at a destination. 8It at- tempts to tell a story and through this story the visitor is transported to another place and a unique experience is created. However, since theme parks are still a relatively new concept in tourist attractions,9there is a paucity of literature on victory and failure of theme parks nigh the world. Past studies have focused primarily on theme park selection,10 visitor behaviour,11 visitor seg- mentation12 etc but not on the intrinsic value of the theme park ? the theme itself. Competitive theming Recent years have seen the emergence of many themes, only limited by imagination.For example, there have been themes that were based on the success of a product, such as Legoland in Denmark, and others that were strengthened on the mythology of a finale like the Haw Par Villa Dragon World in Singa- pore. The more than than successful parks have been Page 320 strategic theming in theme park marketing at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm. sagepub. comDownloaded from able to use the theme to create a competitive advantage over the others. Theming promotes the creation of a whole new atmosphere based on the unique experience that a theme park offers.For instance, in all the Disney properties, there is a fantasy element that allows guests to escape the urban setting and go to places they dream about. 13 Thematic tourism, in fact, represents tourism with a relatively concentrate focus, where trips are motivated by an interest in a particular subject or area rather than the more traditional motivations such as the lure of idyllic scenery and pleasant climate. more than authoritatively, theming in some ways is di- vorced from the idea of place, relegating the consideration of location to world the stick out- ground for a theme, rather than being the primary motivating factor. 14.There are a number of advantages in theming. commencement ceremony of all, theming is important for creating an initial perception of quality. 15 Secondly, themes are means to be used to help boost attendance. For example, themed discount programmes are created to aim at certain ma rket segments. 16 They are likely to march on repeat visitation, as a themed environment volunteers a unique, memorable experience which increases the probability that guests give return. Visitors will tell friends about their visits, provid- ing effective word-of-mouth advertising. 17 Thirdly, theming is a value-adding factor. The themed retail park Knotts Camp.Snoopy demonstrate that the mall with a themed entertainment experience will be superior to the mall without such oppor- tunity. 18 Fourthly, theming allows coordina- tion of retail merchandise, which can in turn increase the guests retail expenditure. 19 Fi- nally, theme parks that use an easily recogni- sable and interesting theme will have a competitive advantage over those which do not. 20 This is especially so when there is very strong competition and the equipment is very corresponding ? the way to differentiate is by theming.21 In addition, as the industry ma- tures and visitors become more experience and discer ning, theming may be needed for a more sophisticated market. The power of theming or thematic tour- ism is evident in the fact that it has, in recent years, become a catalyst for the growth of new destinations based solely on thematic leisure. 22 Theme park developers have con- verted existing attractions into theme parks. To be more competitive and recover the loss of market share or prot, developers have to diversify their product offering. For exam- ple, there has been the growth in demand for attractions with a space theme.There- fore, knowing what themes guests pure tone for is essential to both potential and existing theme park investors. New types of theme parks are being developed around the world which shift their focus away from the conventional features of a Disneyland type attraction and further differentiate themselves. This is evi- denced a plan to develop a theme park at the site of the 1969 Woodstock music festival to recreate its counter-culture spirit and an- othe r based on crocodiles in Florida, named hobo camp Crocs of the World. 23 Purpose of study The purpose of the study is to examine the splendour of the theme in the marketing of theme parks.Since the theme is an important factor affecting the choice of theme parks by visitors, it is important to ascertain more accurately what visitors picks are in terms of themes and how their demographic characteristics and sustenancestyle in? uence such preference.More specically, this study seeks to identify and describe a distinct but representative set of theme types and attri- butes in a theme park to nd out the theme preference(s) of the theme park visitors to examine the relationship between theme park visitors motivation (purpose of visit), demographics, psychographics (lifestyle) and their preference(s) for themes and to exam- ine the importance of theming in the mar- keting of theme parks.indigence for visiting theme parks Pearce and Dermotts leisure ladder provides a motivation framewor k to explain why plurality visit theme parks. 24 Five levels of need regarding theme park visitation are Page 321 Wong and Cheung at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm. sagepub. comDownloaded from identied, with the highest level of need being listed as fullment, followed by the need for self-assertion and development. The next level is relationship, which emphasises the need to build and extend ones personal relationships.This is followed by the need for stimulation. People in this company are concerned with the management of their arousal levels with emphasis on fun and thrill rides. The net level is that of relaxation or bodily needs (see Appendix). Apart from understanding the basic moti- vation for theme park visitation, it is neces- sary to nd out why one theme park is chosen over another. The theme here plays a role in differentiating the more successful parks from the less successful ones. It has a twofold signicance. First, the nature of the theme ch osen will have an impact on the type of customers attracted to the park. Some themes may have a broad and general appeal which caters to a wide spectrum of visitors while others may be more focused and have a narrower appeal.Secondly, them- ing allows the creation of an enhanced atmo- sphere and guest experience. These effects, in fact, create the appropriately desirable image crucial to services marketing. Service marketing The theme park industry is part of the service component of the tourism industry. Owing to the in veridical nature of services, the creation of an identiable image is critical for service marketing. Even though the image and the theme are not identical in nature, the theme helps bewilder an image by the sort of theme chosen and the them- ing.For example, the fantasy theme of Disneyland helps project its image of de- light, fun and fantasy. Further, the extensive theming of Disney gives a perception of high quality. The decision made by a consumer to purchase a product or service is directly in- ?uenced by the image the individual has of himself/herself and the comprehend image of the product or seller. This may explain the psychological process involved when a visi- tor chooses to go to a theme park with a particular theme, say, an adventure theme he views himself as adventurous.It can be dappleulated that the psychographics of consu- mers help predict the sort of theme they prefer. Moreover, the service nature of theme parks do image creation a difcult task as it is intrinsically abstract. Thus, service mar- keters may be able to build the image of specic reality and differentiate it from other realities by the presentation of tangible evidences and experiences simulating reality. By promoting a theme, customers can then use these created physical facilities and props to judge service quality. For example, them- ing is practically done with the careful choice of types of architecture, costumes and other settings displayed in the park .Theme preference In a study by McClung it was found that the type of theme is one of the factors affecting tourists preference for theme parks. 25 Results to a fault indicate that there is a correlation be- tween themes and attractions so that consid- erable multi-segmentation strategies can be devised to cater to different market seg- ments. For example, wet and wild themes correlate highly with family attractions. This type of theme can be used to attract younger people and families with children looking for thrills and excitement. Moreover, research has revealed that inter- national tourists with different heathen backgrounds exhibit distinct patterns of preference when they last.Caucasians were found to be different from Asian visitors in terms of preference for theme park attributes concerning the nature of the attraction, activ- ities and themes. 26 Furthermore, the impor- tance of the cultural element in planning and designing theme parks has been emphasised by Gorder, who stressed the need to seek an appropriate philosophy of concept that re- ?ected Eastern thought and traditions for a park located in the Orient. 27 These important differences point to the need for more theme park studies to provide entropy for theme park developers catering to international tourists from diverse cultural backgrounds. Page 322.Strategic theming in theme park marketing at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm. sagepub. comDownloaded from METHODOLOGY Theme types and attributes A slender review of tourism and theme park literature and promotion brochures was con- ducted to nd out the theme attributes of theme parks. Words used to describe the theme or general atmosphere associated with the theme parks that appeared more than once were recorded. A list of descriptions was generated by a review of promotional literature, and was expanded by conducting interviews with ve experienced theme park professionals who were asked to list all the theme types used by theme parks around the world based on their experience and know- ledge.Specic theme attributes were derived and content analysis was used to sort out the adjectives used. Obvious duplication and overgeneralised descriptors were eliminated and a list of 75 attributes was compiled. As the list contained many descriptors that were interchangeable to each other, the latter were reduced to a smaller number and re crowded into attributes that were more likely to re- present one single theme. Content analysis was to distinguish different theme types and, after regrouping, the resulting attributes were classied into sevensome main ones.These theme types were then shown to the ve volunteers who had past experience in theme park settings to obtain further feed- back for nalising the grouping of theme types. hedge 1 shows the nal grouping into seven theme types used in this study. Motivation for theme park visitation To ascertain the motivation for theme park visiting, ten statements we re constructed, based on Pearce and Dermotts leisure ladder for theme park settings, each stating visitors different reasons for visiting to theme parks. Table 1 Theme types grouping Type Attribute Type Attribute happen Excitement and action Fantasy Animation.Frightening Cartoon characters Mysterious Childhood enchantment Thrill rides Childrens play park Futurism Advances in night club and engineering Fairy tale Magic Discovery Make believe Exploration of science and technology History and culture Myths and legends Aboriginal Laser Authentic Robot Cultural heritage Scientic heathen appeals Science ction Gold Rush International Flavours of the world Historic ambience International village Movie American Wild West show Miniature replicas Comedy Scenic spots Motion project World expositions Show business Nature Animals Stunt show Floral displays Horticultural gardens Landscaping.Marine life Natural wonders Ocean Wildlife Page 323 Wong and Cheung at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm. sagepub. comDownloaded from These were in the form of questions which represented the ve levels of the leisure ladder model as shown in the Appendix. Psychographic (lifestyle) Twelve statements pertaining to the person- ality, behaviour and interests of the respon- dents, such as I am a dreamer and like to fantasise I am adventurous and look for excite- ment in life etc, were developed to investigate their preferences for particular themes.These statements were developed based on past literature and comments from a group of ve volunteers. Demographic variables Demographic variables such as gender, country of origin, age, life cycle, occupation and post, household income and education level were selected to testing whether any of them had a relationship with visitors theme preferences. Data collection An undisguised structured questionnaire was designed to nd out information pertaining to visitors demographics, psychographics and their preferences for themes.It consisted of ve fragments, with the rst section consist- ing of questions relating to general travel behaviour, such as frequency of travel and number of theme parks visited. In the second section, respondents were asked to indicate the degree of importance of each of the seven themes, with 1 being very unimpor- tant and 5 being very important. Following this, they were asked to rank their prefer- ences for these themes, with 1 being the most favorite(a) and 7 the least prefer, as an indication of their ordinal partiality.The third section of the questionnaire, which want to reveal the respondents lifestyle patterns (attitude, interest, behaviour) was achieved by seeking their level of agreement with a series of statements which connect to these aspects on a scurf which ranged from 1 to 5, with 1 indicating strong disagreement and 5 indicating strong agreement. The fourth section focused on the motivation for theme park visitation. Respondents were asked to indicate their lev el of agreement with ten statements which associate to the ve levels of Pearce and Dermotts leisure ladder model for theme park settings.The nal section gathered general demographic data on respondents gender, country of origin, age, marital status, occupation, household income and education level. The survey questionnaire was pre-tested on a small group of ten volunteers to ascer-tain the validity, clarity and appropriateness of the questions asked, particularly in the sections pertaining to motivation and life- style patterns.Based on the comments re- ceived, some rewording was considered and the layout of the questionnaire restructured. The sample in this study were Asians (not ineluctably international tourists) in Hong Kong who had visited a theme park before and those who had not visited one but ex- pressed an intention to visit. The survey was conducted in a popular tourist shopping area in Kowloon, Hong Kong on a weekend to obtain a good cross-section of people.Re-spondent s were randomly intercepted and requested to complete the survey question- naire. Interviewers were instructed to clarify to respondents the denition of a theme park where requirement and give examples. FINDINGS Demographic prole of respondents The basic prole of respondents showed a mix of men (44 per cent) and women (56 per cent) across all age and income categories. The majority (52 per cent) of them were between 25 and 39 years of age and single. In terms of income group, slightly more than one-third reported middle to upper middle class incomes.This may be explained by the fact that 44 per cent of the respondents were white-collar workers and 39 per cent re- ported having attained a secondary education level. In terms of respondents nationality, most of them were from Hong Kong, with the rest originating from the Philippines, China, Korea, India, Japan and Singapore. Page 324 Strategic theming in theme park marketing at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm. sa gepub. comDownloaded from Visitation pattern Of the 105 respondents who provided available data for this study, 95. 2 per cent have been to a theme park before while 4. 8 per cent have not.About one-third (32 per cent) of the respondents may be considered as non-frequent theme park visitors as they visited theme parks only once every two to four years. Another 30 per cent visited theme parks once a year whereas 22 per cent visited three times or more a year and once every six months. In terms of the number of theme parks they had visited, the majority of the respondents (46 per cent) had been to be- tween one and two different theme parks while 33 per cent of them had visited be- tween three and ve theme parks. About 12 per cent had been to six to nine parks whereas only 9 per cent had been to ten or more different ones.The pattern of visitation may be attributed to the fact that there is a relatively small number of theme parks exist- ing in Asia. Ocean Park in Hong Kong was found to be the most visited park by those respondents who had been to theme parks before (97 per cent) followed by Disneys Magic Kingdom (30 per cent). Table 2 shows the list of theme parks visited by the respondents. Theme preference of respondents Seven theme types were examined to deter- mine which theme was most preferred by respondents.The nature theme (66. 7 per cent) was most frequently ranked among the high(prenominal) ranks (ranks 13), followed by the fantasy theme (46. 7%) and adventure theme (44. 8%). Futurism (44. 7%), business relationship and cul-ture (37. 1%), and international (32. 4%) themes came fourth, fth and sixth respec- tively. The least preferred theme was the movie theme with only 27. 7% of respondents ranking in the top three ranks (see Table 3). To some extent the overwhelming prefer- ence for the nature theme may be explained by the limited theme park experience of some respondents.Ocean Park, an oceanarium (nature) type of park, was found to be the most vi sited park (97%) and some half of these respondents have only visited one or two different parks. Thach and Axinn noted that consumers with a greater depth of ex- perience in one park only may be more likely to use the park they are familiar with as the standard for the industry and their expecta- tions of other parks are mold by this limited knowledge.28 Hence, the preference for the nature theme may very likely be a re? ection of the in-depth experience obtained at Ocean Park as 70 per cent of the companys guests were in fact on a repeat visit. On the other hand, the movie theme, a popular theme found in the West with the success of Universal Studios and Warner Brothers Movie World, was the least pre- ferred theme.This points to the need for the consideration of cultural in? uence on theme Table 2 Major theme parks visited by respondents Theme Park % Ocean Park 97 Disneys Magic Kingdom 30 Sung Dynasty Village 29 China Folk and Culture Village 29 Splendid China 24 Sentosa Island 17 The Window of the World 16 Haw Par Villa Dragon World 15 Warner Bros Movie World 11 Jurong Bird Park 10 Lotte World 10 Sea World 9 aspiration World 8 Universal Studios 6 (n ? 100) Table 3Theme preferences of respondents by frequency of higher ranking Theme % Rank Nature 66. 7 1 Fantasy 46. 7 2 Adventure 44. 8 3 Futurism 44. 7 4 History and culture 37. 1 5 International 32. 4 6 Movie 27. 7 7 Page 325 Wong and Cheung at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm.sagepub. comDownloaded from preferences.Another reading may be that as the breadth of experience in terms of the number of different parks visited was limited, the respondents in this study did not have much exposure to the movie theme. For example, only 11 per cent and 6 per cent of the respondents have been to Warner Brothers Movie World and Universal Stu- dios respectively. Demographics and themes A one-way ANOVA was conducted to test the relationship between the demographic variables and visitors preference s for themes.The results are as follows. ? The results of the ANOVA revealed that visitors preferences for the adventure theme was affected by their marital status, with those being single showing a higher preference for this theme (mean ? 384) as shown in Table 4. ? The importance of the fantasy theme was withal found to be affected by marital status. Those who were single preferred the theme, with a relatively high mean of 3. 51 in distinguish to those who were mar- ried with no children (mean ? 230). Table 4 presents these results. ? Younger groups of respondents did not consider the business relationship and culture theme important (mean ? 288) compared to those in the age group of 4054 years (mean ? 407).Students also reported a lower mean (mean ? 263) towards this theme whereas the blue-collar workers and the middle-income group (HK $10,000$30,000) regarded it as impor- tant. These results are presented in Tables 5, 6 and 7 below. ? The importance of the movie theme differe d signicantly by respondents age, marital status and occupation. Those corned between 10 and 24 years (mean ? 346), being single (mean ? 340) and students (mean ? 363) preferred the movie theme (Tables 4, 5 and 6). These results are consistent with the ndings in an earlier study by Pearce and Dermott pertaining to the twinned of demographic groups (young children, single adults and families) with the motivations for theme park visitors.The 1316 year olds and the solos representing the single group viewed the rides or thrills as more important than did the family groups. Given that age and marital status are somewhat related it is not surpris- ing that respondents who are single would prefer the fantasy theme which has attributes like childhood enchantment, childrens play park, animated cartoon characters etc. This probably also explains why other groups such as those Table 4 similitude of the importance of the theme to respondents by marital status Theme importance conference 1 (Single) stem 2 (Married, no child) Group 3 (Married, children at home) Group 4 (Married, children left home).ANOVA Main effect probability Adventure 3. 84 3. 10 3. 03 3. 00 . 0092A Fantasy 3. 51 2. 30 3. 26 3. 20 . 0213A Futurism 3. 49 3. 60 3. 71 2. 60 . 2191 History and culture 3. 40 3. 70 3. 65 4. 20 . 3598 International 3. 40 3. 30 3. 35 3. 80 . 7696 Movie 3. 40 3. 10 2. 68 3. 36 . 0271A Nature 3. 95 3. 90 3. 85 4. 20 . 9127 Results are presented as the mean, on a 5-point scale where 1 indicated the theme was very unimportant and 5 indicated the theme was very important. ADenotes signicance at the .05 level. Page 326 Strategic theming in theme park marketing at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm. sagepub. comDownloaded from married with children who stay with parents and married with children who do not stay with parents, with the exception of empty nesters (married with no child), tend to prefer the fantasy theme. This may be attrib- uted to the fact that families with children may be more desirous of seeking entertain- ment opportunities for their children. As for the movie theme, it was found that the preference for this theme was in? uenced by several related demographic variables.Younger people, who are more likely to be single and are students, preferred going to cinemas to spend their leisure time. It seemed that the more movies they saw, the higher the probability the movie theme would be attractive to them. However, it should be noted that the number of movies watched does not necessarily correlate with the importance given the movie theme (coefficient ? 1246, p ? 210). Likewise, the educational nature contained in the his- tory and culture theme was less appealing to the younger group who are usually students, and tend to perceive history and culture as less stimulating.This study also revealed that the blue- collar section showed a preference for the history and culture theme. While the basic motivation for travel may be t o achieve a more profound appreciation of society and culture,29 blue-collar workers who earn a Table 5 Comparison of the importance of the theme to respondents by age Theme importance Group 1 (1024) Group 2 (2539) Group 3 (4054) Group 4 (5565? ) ANOVA Main effect probability Adventure 3. 92 3. 50 2. 86 3. 36 . 0587 Fantasy 3. 58 3. 25 2. 93 3. 36 . 3889 Futurism 3. 29 3. 67 3. 57 3. 27 . 4619 History and culture 2. 88 3. 65 4. 07 3. 82 . 0029A International 3.29 3. 36 3. 36 3. 82 . 4406 Movie 3. 46 3. 05 2. 50 3. 10 . 0371A Nature 3. 79 3. 93 4. 07 4. 00 . 8699 Results are presented as the mean, on a 5-point scale where 1 indicated the theme was very unimportant and 5 indicated the theme was very important. ADenotes signicance at the . 05 level. Table 6 Comparison of the importance of the theme to respondents by occupation and post Theme importance Group 1 (Business owner/self- employed/manager/ white collar) Group 2 (Blue collar) Group 3 (Student) Group 4 (Housewife/ retired/ unem ployed) ANOVA Main effect probability Adventure 3. 52 3. 56 3. 69 3. 13 . 5597 Fantasy 3.41 2. 81 3. 38 3. 31 . 3273 Futurism 3. 55 3. 75 3. 13 3. 63 . 4156 History and culture 3. 59 4. 00 2. 63 3. 88 . 0009 A International 3. 27 3. 75 3. 25 3. 63 . 1819 Movie 2. 84 3. 19 3. 63 3. 50 . 0271A Nature 3. 89 4. 19 3. 88 3. 81 . 7355 Results are presented as the mean, on a 5-point scale where 1 indicated the theme was very unimportant and 5 indicated the theme was very important. ADenotes signicance at the . 05 level. Page 327 Wong and Cheung at University College Birmingham on December 27, 2014jvm. sagepub. comDownloaded from low to middle household income have lim- ited travelling opportunities and, therefore.