Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
Key Words: 
Information channel, organizational behavior, CVBs, meeting planners. 
INTRODUCTION 
Meetings and conventions represent one of the largest elements of the hospitality and tourism industry 
today. According to a recent market report (Meetings & Conventions, 2004), the meetings market was estimated to 
be a $ 40.8 billion industry in the U.S. in 2003. Broadly, the meetings and convention industry consists of the four 
components of tourism: attractions, transportation, lodging, and food and beverage (Montgomery, 1995). As an 
intermediary between convention attendees and convention suppliers, meeting planners have played an important 
role in the meetings and convention industry by selecting sites, organizing meetings, and coordinating services and 
events (Rutherford, 1990). As a layer of destination marketing organizations (DMOs), convention and visitor 
bureaus (CVBs) are important information brokers and disseminators in the meetings and convention industry. With 
local community financial support, one of critical missions of CVBs is to promote and brand their destination for 
soliciting and serving meetings and conventions and other related group business through travel intermediaries such 
as a travel agency and meeting planner (Gartell, 1994).
In the organizational channel research, a substantial amount of literature proved that communication and 
advertising channels are adopted differently depending on the characteristics of an organization because each 
organization has different organizational properties and resources. That is, the value of communication and 
advertising channel is determined by the organizational resources and supports in order to fully take advantage of 
the technology. Therefore, there is a need to examine organizational channel adaptation considering different types 
of organizations (i.e., CVBs and meeting planners), organizational properties and environments. Based on the 
recognition, the purpose of this study was to compared the perceptions of advertising (i.e., TV, magazine, Internet, 
etc.) and communication (i.e., fax, telephone, e-mail, etc.) channels between CVBs and meeting planners in order to 
develop a more comprehensive understanding of their marketing communication activities. The specific objectives 
of this study were to (1) compare perceptions and usage of channels between CVBs and meeting planners, and (2) 
identify and describe how the two groups are different in terms of the relationships between advertising channels 
and advertising effects.