Value of offering

It is essential for an operator to acknowledge the potential value his/her offering creates. Value is a pivotal factor to enhance tourists‟ satisfaction (Lee, Bendle, Yoon &

Kim, 2012: 86). According to Bajs (2015: 124) and Lee et al (2012: 71), value, satisfaction and tourists‟ intended behaviour are linked with one another. Value is an indicator of tourist‟s satisfaction and possibly determines his/her future behaviour.

Sanches, Callarisa, Rodriguez and Moliner (2006: 397) indicate that satisfaction derives from fulfilling or exceeding a tourist‟s assumptions regarding perceived value and influences his/her loyalty towards the offering. A team building participant who perceives the offering as valuable will likely be satisfied with it. As established earlier on, satisfaction can have an impact on tourists‟ future behaviour. Bajs (2015: 125) adds that experienced value can have impact on future behaviour but does not guarantee tourists' revisit or repurchase of an offering. Created value and satisfaction resulting from a team building activity might not motivate the participant to repurchase the

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offering. He/she might have been satisfied with the offering but does not have a need to participate in team building again.

Alsos, Eide and Madsen (2014: 162) define value as a tourism offering which is satisfying or entails a benefit. Tourism offerings‟ quality, attributes and cognitive benefits are part of tourists‟ potentially perceived benefits. Experienced quality of an offering can enhance its value (Bajs, 2015: 123). Quality is defined as the assessment of the offering‟s characteristics which are mainly controlled by the tourism operator (He

& Song, 2009: 319). This entails the operator‟s staff to be competent, and the equipment to be well maintained as invested financial costs, time, cognitive and physical involvement are perceived as sacrifices (Bajs, 2015: 123). According to Bajs (2015: 123), experienced benefits and sacrifices influence tourists‟ perception of value, since benefits can reduce perceived sacrifices.

Tourists who perceive that the offering is worth the monetary costs tend to be satisfied with it (Alsos et al, 2014: 162). Bajs (2015: 123) highlights that monetary sacrifices perceived by tourists‟ are significantly higher as their perception is that of acquiring high value for high costs. Sanchez et al (2006: 405) emphasize that price has the most significant cognitive value. Tourists will not only be influenced in their purchase decision regarding monetary costs. The gained benefits will be weighed against the price after the offering is consumed/has been experienced (Sanchez et al, 2006: 405). Depending on the tourist‟s evaluation, this can reduce his/her level of satisfaction. As corporate team building participants usually get sent by their employer, they do not pay for the activity themselves. It can be assumed that it has a positive effect on their perception of the activity. Eliminating the risk of investing money in an offering of which the value and outcome are uncertain might lead to participants regarding the quality of the team building activity less critically. Those participants might perceive a significant value from the team building activity as their required input is not of a financial nature. The team building participants‟ satisfaction can lead to a positive attitude towards the team building operator in general. As explained earlier on, a satisfied tourist is more likely to evaluate the destination as desirable for other activities or return visits. A team building activity which, in the opinion of the participant, has significant value is likely to lead to a satisfied participant.

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Value is a subjective construct and differs depending on a product‟s features, each individual‟s perception, expectations, experience and the situation in which the offering takes place (Bajs, 2015: 124; Alsos et al, 2014: 163). The value of an offering can be tangible or intangible (Alsos et al, 2014: 162). This makes value a dynamic construct, uniquely assessed by each tourist (Alsos et al, 2014: 163).

The intangible component of team building makes each activity a unique experience which is influenced by factors such as weather, participants and environment. A participant who partakes in an outdoor activity during a hot day will be likely to value certain settings of the destination and additional services or precautions offered by the operator more highly than he/she would do during a mild day. An operator who can provide team building which takes place in the shade or who provides sun protection and cool beverages is likely to be recognised for the additional effort and precautions.

During mild weather participants possibly do not realise these factors and do not rate them as additional benefits. It can be assumed that participants have expectations towards the team building activity based on former experience or opinions. Participants might assume that the team building activity focuses exclusively on work-related issues and problem-solving, excluding entertaining elements. Additional value can be created when the team building operator manages to address these issues in a pleasant way with appealing activities tailored for each team and its unique members. The offering will be seen as valuable if these expectations are exceeded. Delivering a positive team building experience the output of which is higher than participants‟ input can lead to the perception of value and quality of the offering.

Alsos et al (2014: 163) stress that value is created throughout several encounters between tourist and provider. They highlight that the interaction between provider and tourist before the actual consumption/experience of the offering influences the received value. In the case of team building this has less impact on the participant‟s perception if he/she is not involved in planning the team building activity and therefore has no prior interaction with the operator. However, it can be assumed that the interaction with participants prior to the team building activity, such as welcoming groups, and then again afterwards does influence the significance of crated value.

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According to Conner, in Alsos et al (2014: 163), it is vital for operators to have and maintain offerings with value. This can be ensured through fulfilling tourists‟ wants and needs (Alsos et al, 2014: 163). As established above, this leads to the creation of satisfaction. Alsos et al (2014:164) emphasise the link between tourist‟s perceived value, satisfaction and behaviour.

Value is multi-dimensional depending on an offering‟s unique impact under different circumstances (Bajs, 2015: 123). The kind of benefit which is added to an offering through value defines its dimension. Alsos et al (2014: 164) divide value into four dimensions: functional, emotional, social and epistemic. These categories are also called experience value dimensions and can be created before, during and after the tourism offering is consumed/experienced (Alsos et al, 2014: 172; Sanchez et al in Bajs, 2015: 127). Bajs (2015: 126) emphasises the significance of these dimensions as they impact the tourist‟s willingness to engage repetitively in the tourism offering. The tourist‟s active participation is required to develop a value as it is his/her perception about an offering (Alsos et al, 2014: 172).

Functional value is the quality of an offering regarding its performance and its financial costs (Alsos et al, 2014: 166; Bajs, 2015: 123). Team building operators should aim to attract and market their offering to the type of client their activities cater for. Corporate team building operator should inform potential clients about their ability to deliver qualitative team building for work teams which has the potential to increase the teams‟

communication and productivity. Functional value can be created during the activity through providing activities which are tailored to the specific teams‟ needs and take into consideration participants‟ suggestions and complaints. Participants might identify additional functional value after comparing their team building experience with the narratives of people who have done team building in the past.

Social value is an offering‟s ability to increase the tourists‟ self-concept, including social image and reputation (Sweeney & Soutar in Alsos et al, 2014: 167). A company might want to associate itself with a renowned team building operator to signify l wealth. This could increase the company‟s self-image as it shows that they have the finances to afford these operators and organise adequate team building activities to maintain their teams. Participants of team building might experience social value through activities

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which create a pleasant atmosphere where they get to communicate and socialise with each other. Members who build new relationships initiated through the team building activity might associate these as a social value which was created beyond the activity.

Emotional value are feelings and affectiona which the tourists experience caused by the offering (Alsos et al, 2014: 168). Deng et al (2013: 134) highlight the link between positive emotions and satisfaction which can influence tourists‟ behaviour. This implies that team building participants who experience positive emotions gain value which possibly satisfies them in terms of the overall offering. Alsos et al (2014: 169) emphasises that treating a tourist as unique individual adds emotional value. A team building operator can create emotional value through communication with the potential client before the actual team building activity. Delivering information regarding the activity and exchanging possibilities on tailoring the team building can create a positive attitude towards the operator where the client feels treated as an individual. During a team build, emotional value can be the providing of information regarding the aim of the activity and how to reflect the learned outcomes to a work environment. This information can help to reassure participants of their role within the team. Alsos et al (2014: 172) suggest that pictures taken during an activity can be emotionally valuable.

Photos taken by the team building operator and sent to the participants after the actual activity will possibly lead to emotional value which is developed only after the offering is consumed/experienced.

Epistemic value is added when an offering increases tourists‟ "…curiosity, provides novelty and/or satisfies a desire for knowledge” (Sweeney & Soutar in Alsos et al, 2014:169). A team building operator who informs potential clients about features of their offering which differentiate them from others and make them unique, will communicate a sense of novelty. Team building participants can experience epistemic value during the activity through visiting a destination in which they are interested. Alsos et al (2014:171) highlight that epistemic value can be the experience of learning something new, combined with fun. It can be assumed that team building offerings have epistemic value. The activities usually use enjoyable tools to educate teams about improving themselves. Epistemic value may be enhanced after the team building offering through participants‟ increased interest and gathering of information regarding the destination, operator or activity.

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Tourists‟ loyalty, WOM, repurchase and revisit are a result of satisfied customers‟

behaviour while an offering‟s quality and sacrifices contributes to tourists‟ perceived value, which leads to the development of satisfaction. Bajs (2015: 125) displays this relationship in the following model:

Figure 4.1: Model of quality, costs, perceive value, satisfaction and behavioural intentions (Bajs, 2015: 54)

The model resembles the models of He and Song (2009: 323) and Um et al (2006:

1147) regarding repurchase and revisit intention. Bajs (2015: 54) additionally takes the tourists‟ sacrifices, in the form of perceived costs, into consideration. Operators who understand the construct of value might be able to deliver benefits from all value dimensions and exceed tourists‟ sacrifices. This will enhance the overall satisfaction of the team building participant and might have positive impacts such as return intentions, WOM and increased loyalty.