An Evaluation of Internet Advertising as the Marketing Communications Tool of Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB)

Research Questions

1. What are the types of internet advertisement used by HKTB?
2. What are the features, advantages and disadvantages of internet advertising?
3. How do HKTB utilize internet advertising in order to create superior value in the tourism industry?
4. What is/are the role(s) of internet advertising in promoting the objectives of HKTB and its effects in the whole tourism industry of Hong Kong?
5. How effective is internet advertising to HKTB as marketing strategy and tool in implementing its primary objectives?

Literature Review

The role of marketing communications as marketing strategy is proven to be effective in various industries worldwide. Due to its various means of applications as well as its available technologies, marketing communications is becoming one of the most critical aspects of an organization. Today, there are different types of marketing communications tools which organizations apply in their areas of operations. Among these are advertising, public relations, direct selling, and others.

In this case, internet advertising is chosen as the marketing communication tool. This research study aims to explore the theories and concepts of internet advertising as a marketing communications tool used by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). As the key subject of exploration, the given marketing communications tool used by HKTB will be evaluated in relation to it effectiveness particularly in the achievement of the organizational objectives and as marketing strategy.

The utilization of an effective marketing communications strategy is perceived to be contributory to company’s satisfactory performance. The general concept of marketing communication pertains to any messages and related media used to communicate a product, service, brand, organization or company.

Thus, the following are the suggested literatures to be used all throughout the research period:

- Daymon, C & Holloway, I 2002, Qualitative Research Methods in Public Relations and Marketing Communications, Routledge, London.

- De Pelsmacker, P & Kitchen, PJ 2004, Integrated Marketing Communications: A Primer, Routledge, New York.

- Hartley, B & Pickton, D 1999, ‘Integrated Marketing Communications Requires a New Way of Thinking’, Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 97-106.

- Kotler, P 2003, Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

- Kotler, P & Armstrong, G 2001, Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall, London.

- Luk, TK 1996, ‘Success in Hong Kong: Factors Self-Reported by Successful Small Business Owners’, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 68+.

- Schultz, DE & Kitchen, PJ 2000, Communicating Globally: An Integrated Marketing Approach, Basingtoke, Palgrave.

- Shih, M 2001, The Future of interactive advertising on the World Wide Web. Available at http://www.ciadvertising.org/student_account/spring_01/adv391k/myshih/ia/home1.htm

- Steinbock, D 2000, The Birth of Internet Marketing Communications, Quorum Books, Westport, CT.

- Yeshin, T 1999, Integrated Marketing Communications: The Holistic Approach, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

The identified list of literatures contains information about internet or online advertising. They will be reviewed in relation to their relevance to the research topic. Also, these will be used in the analysis and discussion or in providing answers to all the research questions posed.

Methodologies

The researcher opted to use the descriptive research method, which is primarily concerned with describing the nature or conditions of the current situation in detail (Creswell, 1994). The emphasis is on describing rather than on judging. In this instance, the case study technique is the main research design. Using HKTB online advertising as the case, the research questions will be answered by using empirical or observed facts from different HKTB ads available online. By combining the facts gathered from various literatures and observations, the research questions are directly addressed. It is also acknowledge that the information gathered from literatures will support the identified observations.

The following are the major steps that the researcher will undertook to complete the paper:

1. The first part of the paper will involve reading, evaluating and finding the research gaps in the literature in order to come up with a topic that would be helpful for the understanding of internet advertising.

2. The researcher limits the scope to focus on and refine the questions in this study and in the process, revise and redraft his queries to come up with a compact, focused and substantial subject.

3. The researcher will design the research process.

4. Finally, the researcher will discuss and analyze the variables and connect it to literatures that will lead to his conclusions and recommendations.

The primary data collection method includes the analysis of the HKTB website and its internet advertisement. Specifically, the following features are taken into account: for website – user-friendliness, ease of access, design and lay-out, quality of information, speed and response time, quality of functionality, and clarity of terminology used and for internet advertisements – type, design and lay-out, quality of information, quality of functionality, and clarity of terminology used. Analysis using the theories and concepts extracted from the literatures collected will be conducted. Further, a question and answer survey to a selected HKTB authority – preferably from the promotions department – is also considered. A formal letter will be sent that states the purpose of the research. Then, the researcher will take down notes and use it in the analysis and discussion. The information to be collected from the credible source will also serve as the reinforcing and validating agent in the analysis and discussion.

On the other hand, secondary data collection method is literature review. Specifically, a wide variety of literatures covering the period from 1990s up to the present will be used. The literatures relates to the following key words: marketing, marketing communications, marketing strategy, integrated marketing communications (IMC), advertising, internet advertising, sustainability, competitive advantage, effectiveness, and Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). The author conducted a thorough critical review of the literatures that are personally selected.

References

Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.