Determinants of the effectiveness of integrated marketing communications (IMC): Insights from volunteer tourism organizations

Abstract

The rise of advanced technology, Internet and information and communication technology (ICT) not only has facilitated the changing consumer behaviour but also enable organizations’ ability to search for their target markets efficiently and tailor their market offering and marketing programs effectively. On another hand, it creates a complex challenge for all organizations to maintain their sustained competitive advantages. This paper aims to investigate the most effective marketing communication channels (offline/online) and content (visual/verbal) used by volunteer tourism organizations to promote their volunteer tourism projects. The total of five volunteer tourism organizations was selected and interviewed regarding their volunteer tourism projects including the target audience, marketing communication channels and content used in each project, and the outcomes of using those marketing communication channels and content. The findings present the insights of the most effective integrated marketing communication channels and content that appropriately help volunteer tourism organizations to achieve their marketing objectives.