| dc.description.abstract | In eco-tourism destinations, business practice is usually developed around strict beliefs
and values regarding the environment. By devising a brand, a business is projecting their
beliefs and values to the customer through their name, logo and proposed practices.
Internal branding is a means of internalising brand messages to the staff, and aligning
them to the brand. The role of staff and management are crucial to the process, and
frameworks are highlighted for successful implementation. This study aimed to uncover
the link between internal branding within eco-tourism destinations, specifically in the
North- Western region of Ireland and what the perceptions were of key participants
within the service provision process regarding it.
The key findings of this study came from questionnaires with staff members, interviews
with managers and mystery shops conducted by customers of the businesses. It was
apparent from the data uncovered that despite staff believing internal branding took place
within their organisations, there was disparity between this and their responses with
regard to internal branding practices. Many staff expressed that there were no formal
processes in place for the education and constant reinforcement of the brand in their
organisations, and many expresses that the brand had not even been discussed in the
interview process. Despite this, staff members still believed their role important in the
communication of brand values within the business.
Similarly, managers also placed emphasis on the staff role in communicating brand
values, but all admitted to a lack of education pertaining to the brand internally. All of the
managers in the study felt it important to align the staff to the brand, and two of the
businesses had elements of internal branding incorporated into the hiring process.
However, it emerged in published literature that for internal branding efforts to be
successful, a strong external brand was required. This is to ensure that internalised brand
messages match the ones being projected to the customer. All of the managers specified that there was not a great deal of emphasis placed on the external brand, though all
understood the benefits associated with branding.
The effects of a weak external brand was apparent at times in the customer responses, and
respondents in one business especially, expressed disparity at times between what they
expected from brand to what they received. This may have been attributed to weak
external brand messages. Despite this in two businesses, overall customers believed staff
to be successfully aligned to the brand. This was concurrent with what staff believed, and
it was proposed that internal branding may be something which eco-tourism businesses
do to a certain degree unconsciously.
From the findings, recommendations were made. It was suggested that eco- tourism
businesses strengthen their external brand to ensure implementing an internal brand will
be successful. It was then suggested that processes and procedures be implemented to
educate and continually reinforce the brand, proposed by the literature reviewed. The
final recommendation, also based on the existing literature, was that businesses
implement a method of staff performance appraisal so that they may continually assess
staff performance and alignment with regard to the brand.
Published literature expressed many benefits to internal branding such as enhanced
customer relations and differentiation from competitors. Internal branding is about
successfully aligning beliefs and values, which are two components crucial to the success
of eco-tourism. | en |
