TY - JOUR
T1 - Mythologies of a theme park
T2 - An icon of modern family life
AU - Johns, Nick
AU - Gyimóthy, Szilvia
PY - 2002/1/1
Y1 - 2002/1/1
N2 - This study took the view that visitors perceive theme parks in terms of hedonic experience rather than simply as commercial service offerings, and respond to emotional content rather than to the utility of tourism service provision. The study took place at Legoland, at Billund in Denmark. The views of 35 customers were solicited through indepth interviews and these were analysed in two diferent ways in order to investigate customer perceptions and satisfaction. Grounded theory was employed to identify basic concepts that cropped up in the interview transcripts, and a linguistic analysis of 'mythologies' underlying visitors' discourse was also used, providing important reference points to visitors' choice, expectation, perception and evaluation of the theme park. The two techniques were in broad agreement that the park catered well for children's needs, but left adults with a feeling that they were 'babysitting'. The paper suggests various ways in which Legoland might address this disparity.
AB - This study took the view that visitors perceive theme parks in terms of hedonic experience rather than simply as commercial service offerings, and respond to emotional content rather than to the utility of tourism service provision. The study took place at Legoland, at Billund in Denmark. The views of 35 customers were solicited through indepth interviews and these were analysed in two diferent ways in order to investigate customer perceptions and satisfaction. Grounded theory was employed to identify basic concepts that cropped up in the interview transcripts, and a linguistic analysis of 'mythologies' underlying visitors' discourse was also used, providing important reference points to visitors' choice, expectation, perception and evaluation of the theme park. The two techniques were in broad agreement that the park catered well for children's needs, but left adults with a feeling that they were 'babysitting'. The paper suggests various ways in which Legoland might address this disparity.
KW - brand
KW - customer satisfaction
KW - Legoland
KW - mythologies
KW - visitor experiences
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84881849647&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/135676670200800403
DO - 10.1177/135676670200800403
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84881849647
SN - 1356-7667
VL - 8
SP - 320
EP - 331
JO - Journal of Vacation Marketing
JF - Journal of Vacation Marketing
IS - 4
ER -