University of Kuopio, Department of Business and Management, PO Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland; Tel: +358 17 163 981; Fax: +358 17 163 967; E-mail: teuvo.kantanen@uku.fi; irma.tikkanen@taloverkot.fi

Received 2 November 2005.

Abstract

In Finland almost 10 million tourists visit cultural attractions every year, which makes cultural tourism a considerable part of the tourism industry. Individual differences between cultural tourists may lead to wide variations in the manner in which they respond to communication appeals. The analysis presented in this paper is based on the tourist typology of McKercher. The dimensions of the typology are involvement and experience. The authors suggest that message perception can also be studied with the help of these dimensions. The perception processes were elaborated on the basis of Vaughn's FCB Grid model. The result of the analyses was an enriched McKercher typology that describes how different tourist types process message perception and what kind of marketing communication strategy is suitable for each type. Finally, it was illustrated with the help of the selected marketing communication material of four cultural attractions, how cultural attractions try to appeal to potential cultural tourists. The communication material mainly followed the informative strategy, but there was also potential for affective, habitual and satisfaction strategies. The authors maintain that differences in message reception should be analysed and utilised when marketing communication is planned for cultural attractions.