CODETUR assessment methodology

As previously discussed, websites are complex information sources consisting of many different kinds of content. Therefore, the assessment methodology developed by Fernández-Cavia, Rovira, Díaz-Luque, and Cavaller (2014) was chosen due to its thoroughness in analyzing the different dimensions influencing the overall quality of a website. It is a multidisciplinary methodology that has been specifically designed to fit the touristic communication specificities. Like many other investigations of touristic website communication (Law et al., 2010), this assessment system allows websites to be analyzed through an indicators checklist:

a combined method that entails a mix of counting, user judgment, and numerical computation methods. All in all, it has a final quantitative purpose, and not only sets a systematized procedure but also defines measure variables (Busquets, Medina, & Sort, 2006). Regarding CODETUR’s methodology, the checklist and the weighted scores were defined based on experts’ judgment (Choi, Lehto, & Morrison, 2007; Cavia et al., 2013; Fernández-Cavia et al., 2014; Pedraza-Jimenez, Codina, & Guallar, 2016).

More precisely, the authors propose a system that analyzes websites based on four different dimensions: the persuasive, communicative, relational, and technical dimensions. As shown in Table 5.3, the method uses a total of 127 indicators¹⁸ distributed across 12 categories (three for each dimension) to analyze overall website quality.

18 Two indicators were actualized from the original template; see Annexes.

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Table 5.3. Parameters and indicators of the assessment methodology

Source: WQI template (Annexes)

First, technical parameters assess the construction of the website as a user-friendly platform in terms of usability and architecture. Further, positioning is another fundamental parameter in the technical dimension; it assesses the easy of finding the website through search engines.

Several previous studies have investigated the relevance of technical factors for website communication success, as Park and Gretzel (2007) indicate in their meta-analysis. An inadequate technical construction of websites may turn into a negative user experience and, thus, a non-favorable attitude towards the website communication.

Not only technical parameters are key components of website communication success, however. It is also important to consider communicative aspects; in other words, to offer all the information that users expect. Destination websites must offer accurate and complete information regarding their offer characteristics (Choi, Lehto, & Morrison, 2007; Xu Li & Wang, 2010); the information must be accessible in several different languages; and the home page must summarize the most relevant information to guide users through the website (Fernández-Cavia et al., 2014).

Third, relational aspects are also assessed in the proposed method. With the popularization of the term web 2.0, the importance of messages' co-creation has increased. As O’Rielly (2005) notes, the success of web 2.0 relies upon harnessing collective intelligence, users’

contributions to messages, and interactive possibilities. Web 2.0 has also had a huge impact in the tourism field (Pedraza-Jimenez et al., 2016). As Huertas, Rovira, and Fernández-Cavia (2011, p.132) state, “interactivity is a key factor in maximizing the visibility of city websites.”

For these reasons, the assessment methodology analyzes the relationship between website and the social web, the mobile communication possibilities, and the interactivity of the site at three different levels: consumer-message, consumer-marketer, and consumer-consumer interactivity (Cho & Cheon, 2005).

Dimensions Parameters Indicators Dimensions Parameters Indicators

Technical

aspects Information architecture 11 Relational

aspects Interactivity 12

Website positioning 6 Social web 8

User-friendliness & accessibility 19 Mobile communication 5 Communicative

aspects Home page 14 Persuasive

aspects Discourse analysis 8

Languages 6 Brand handling 13

Content quality and amount 17 Distribution and marketing 8

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Finally, the persuasive dimension of the website communication is evaluated from the discourse, the brand representation, and distribution and marketing possibilities. This dimension is a highly relevant facet of commercial communication. A destination’s official website aims not only to inform users, but also to persuade potential tourists to visit the destination (Fernández-Cavia et al., 2014). Furthermore, some websites offer the possibility to transform this interest in the destination into a final purchase, transaction, ticket booking, browsing for services, etc. (Buhalis, 2000; Xu Li & Wang, 2010). This is also assessed in this methodology. However, in the present study, the most interesting part of this approach is the parameters evaluating the discourse and visual identity.

The subsequent phases of analysis of the projected image are based on the analysis of the textual content of the website. This is a limitation (see sections 5.3.2 and 5.3.3). Textual content is only a part of the overall content, as image and text integration is a key factor of persuasive destination websites (Lee & Gretzel, 2012). Thus, to conduct a valid and useful study, it was necessary in this study to consider audiovisual content as well.

In this regard, the assessment methodology selected in this phase was useful, since discursive analysis and brand handling parameters analyze the quality and expressiveness of the overall discourse considering both text and images, and even audiovisual content. Thus, positive results for these parameters would support the inference of the results obtained from textual data to the overall website content. Altogether, these parameters ensure a multidisciplinary and exhaustive analysis of the website content.

Furthermore, all these indicators are linked to a statistical weighting, assigning a value to each indicator based on a relevance criterion, as mentioned before. Thus, this technique simultaneously allows for the analysis of the overall quality of the website using a numerical index, the so-called Website Quality Index [WQI], and the identification of the website quality for each parameter separately.

All in all, the 127 indicators are analyzed for each of the websites in the sample, obtaining qualitative information about each item on the checklist and also a quantitative and comparable measure. This also allows the researcher to identify conflicting items common to different websites, and to identify useful practices that some websites might exhibit. In addition, these indicators are linked to a numerical value that, combined and weighted, gives a

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single score reflecting the overall quality of the website. The template of analysis containing all the indicators is included in the Annexes.

Some limitations of content analysis should be addressed here before proceeding to the analysis. One of the main issues for which content analysis is criticized is the influence of the coders’ personal judgment and criteria when processing the data. This can seriously affect the reliability of a study (Berganza Conde & Ruiz San Román, 2005; Krippendorff, 2013). Meanings, contexts, and symbolic interpretations of the data can differ from one coder to another. Thus, this problem should be addressed to ensure the scientific validity of any study.

To this end, researchers should pay particular attention to the methodology design; consider the possibility of conducting the analysis using a boarder team of coders; and follow strict and clear instructions to avoid the possible bias in the coding process (Collis & Hussey, 2009;

Halliburton & Ziegfeld, 2009; Krippendorff, 2013). In the present study, the coder, in this case the author of this thesis, participated in several training courses conducted by the experts who developed the methodology.

Since this is a multidisciplinary methodology, the coder had to be trained in several topics related to it: technical aspects of the website, discursive analysis, social media integrations, etc. Furthermore, the present author also participated in previous studies using the same methodology approach as part of a research project funded by the Spanish government. Part of this work has already been published (Fernández-Cavia, Vinyals-Mirabent, & López, 2013).

As a final consideration, the assessment of the overall quality of the websites is related objectives 1.1 and 2 (see Chapter 1), but it is also a relevant variable for subsequent analysis.

For this investigation, it is important to consider the overall quality of the website communication as a variable that may affect the final projection of the destination image.

Although the destinations in the sample are the most popular among tourists and they are expected to be those with more resources, it could be possible that one or more do not invest resources in the official website communication. This phenomenon could considerably affect the results of the deeper analysis of the projected destination image. Therefore, it is a variable that must be considered.

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