Journal of Innovations in Digital Marketing

Introduction

Jordan placed in a strategic position and meeting area for three continents. It connects geographically between Asia, Africa, and Europe. Jordan was a place for famous Empires in the ancient world and, and enjoys its pleasant climate for all era of history (Jordan Tourism Board, 2020). The historical events left their fingerprints throughout so that it changed into a large museum whose various features bear eyewitness to the artistic legacy that visitors flock to visit continuously. Global markets have observed intense competition between businesses intending to expand their market shares, and this competition took different forms and arrangements with the development of Internet networks (Jordan Tourism Board, 2020). Tourism firms tried to take advantage of these arrangements in achieving their marketing goals for widespread deployment, so they became globally oriented instead of being local. It took the global scheme by creating its websites on the Internet to distribute information about its products and services, through which it seeks to influence the behavior of consumers and attract them in their purchasing decisions (Jordan Tourism Board, 2020).

The e-marketing strategy describes the application of information technology in the field of tourism, as it aims to reshape the electronic marketing mix, and to increase the benefits and advantages of the customers, furthermore to plan more effectively for the marketing mix, as well as to create exchanges that contribute to the fulfilment of both needs and objectives (Grönroos, 2012; Hall, 2009). The electronic marketing mix represents a group of marketing elements, namely: electronic product, electronic distribution, electronic pricing and promotion, in which the Internet used as a mechanism to deal with consumers to attain the purposes of the global and local businesses and serve consumers with the lowest costs, effort and time (Al-Rabiah, 2007; Grönroos, 2012; Law & Qhsu, 2005).

This study investigates the role of the electronic marketing mix in enhancing the positive attitudes of tourists towards tourism in Jordan. The tourism sector is one of the most vital sectors in the Jordanian economy, as it represents 13% of the gross domestic product, according to the Bulletin of the Jordan (Jordan Tourism Board, 2020), where Tourists receive information about Jordan, the tourist sites in it, and the level of services provided to them through electronic marketing. Upon the arrival of tourists, they expect to receive the promised service via the Internet, follow and have a feeling about the service provided to them, and thus they will be positive attitudes towards tourism in Jordan (Al-Shishani, 2006; Gummesson & Mele, 2010).

Due to the lack of official information about Jordan and its tourist sites, and the lack of electronic marketing channels available, besides. Tourists acquire information about Jordan through the websites that are provided to them through electronic marketing with its string (service, price, promotion, website, the accuracy of the information, payment, personal preferences) carried out by the concerned authorities in Jordan such as the Tourism Promotion Authority, tourism, and travel agencies, hotels, and therapy centers, for example

Based on the information on these websites, their decisions to visit Jordan or not depend on the validity of the information available online on the different tourism and service sites (Al-Shishani, 2006; Gyurácz-Németh, Friedrich, & Clarke, 2013). Consequently, the purpose of this study is to describe the effect of the electronic marketing mix on promoting the positive attitudes of tourists towards tourism in Jordan. This study attempts to answer questions related to What is the impact of the e-marketing strategy on the tourist attitudes towards tourism in Jordan, what are the attitudes of tourists towards tourism in Jordan? What is the degree of differences resulting from the difference in personal and demographic characteristics at the level of e-marketing use and tourism in Jordan?

The importance of the study extends in illustrating the impact of the electronic marketing strategy for the development of tourism in Jordan, especially in light of the lack of previous marketing research at the Arab countries' level. Several studies (Anderson & Kaplan, 2006; Hjalager, 2006; Stewart & Shaheed, 2001) investigated traditional marketing, the significance of this study arises in its focus on electronic marketing for national research priority in Jordan, as indicated in the Bulletin of the Jordan Tourism Board for the year 2020 (Jordan Tourism Board, 2020). The value of this research paper also continues toward the practical aspect of the Jordanian tourism sector. It has great importance for the national economy in light of the scarcity of natural resources in Jordan. This research contributes implications for decision-makers in multiple areas such as Tourism Activation Authority, tourism and travel agencies, hotels, and therapy centers to adapt electronic marketing to introduce high-quality services to customers at competitive prices, which helps to enhance in achieving their goals and future vision and managing the development of tourism in Jordan.

Background

A recent study issued by the World Tourism Organization indicated that 20 percent of the total kinds of tourist reservations executed via the Internet during the next five years (Jordan Tourism Board, 2020). The study explicated that the first source of information when planning for travel and vacationing in developed countries is becoming the Internet, surpassing that of traditional midpoints such as tourist agency bulletins, television programs, and newspaper and magazine advertisements. The study encouraged various tourism companies to market through the Internet, as it can reach multiple places in the world on the one hand, and it is less expensive than printing advertisements and pictures related to tourist places on the other hand. The study determined the continuous expansion in the number of Internet users, as the number of people who have computers connected to the Internet has increased. Countries that bring out the most tourists are the ones that use the Internet, such as the United States, Canada, and the countries of Northern Europe. Internet users from educated countries enjoy a reasonable income, which makes them one of the most valuable segments that tourism companies can target and address. The emergence of the Internet as a critical informational and marketing tool has forced marketing and sales managers in tourism and hotel companies to adjust marketing strategies and techniques to ensure the success of advertising campaigns to focus specifically on the Internet. Also, the use of the Internet will promote tourism and hotel companies to expand in the areas of marketing activity, and tourism companies, regardless of their size, will be able to compete in the market within equal limits. It will also be able to open a direct communication channel with its customers. That is, by entering the Internet, companies of all sizes have equal competitive opportunities in the market.

The key to success in marketing tourism services via the Internet needs to follow an effective system that uses information technology on a holistic basis so that the website includes a database, transaction history, query tools, selection instruments, and direct e-mail (Hall, 2009). Access to the Internet in the world of commerce has become one of the primary forces that have negatively affected the role of intermediaries. For example, the cost of booking over the phone may reach ten dollars, while it will not exceed 24 cents via the Internet. This result will encourage tourists and travelers to use the Internet as a medium of direct communication with tourist and hotel establishments. Thus, the role of mediators between sellers and customers will gradually disappear in the coming years (Hsia, Chen, & Chen, 2009; Khojastehpour & Johns, 2014).

To comply with the tremendous technological development of travel and reservations in the world, tourism companies and travel agencies need to pay more attention to enhancing and developing the relationship with their customers and try to deliver as much information and data updated, accurate, and enhanced with pictures and prices as possible, and thus the ability to compete with the tourism and hotel companies that have become possible (Heung, 2003). All of us enter into the e-tourism market.

Not information technology is only the challenge that faces hospitality institutions, but also how officials can manage and draw marketing strategies based on this technology, and create a state of confidence among tourists who deal with these institutions electronically (Hsia et al., 2009). Exchange experiences and consultations and increase the volume of cooperation among local, Arab and international tourism institutions in Jordan, the information technology policies of the Jordanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are currently focusing on establishing an e-government portal, which will be the interface to the world via the Internet. Among the services that will be provided by this portal is the tourism promotion service by marketing the archaeological, historical, and tourist sites in Jordan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Promotion Authority. The unified website for government services via the Internet reflects a positive and open image of Jordan, and this in itself is a marketing and invitation to visit a developed Jordan, which seeks at all levels to show the extent of progress it has made in various fields.

Numerous of the newly established companies and tourist offices that do not have great potential can market themselves through this network, and thus there is equal opportunity for those wishing to deliver their services over the Internet. Although equal opportunities in marketing have risks sometimes (Hamel & Prahalad, 1996; Hazra, Fletcher, & Wilkes, 2014; Law et al., 2005; Stewart et al., 2001), the visitor to the site and the beneficiary of it can know the best through the quality and volume of information and services that they are looking for nearly 38 locations for Jordan Tourism Board offices. A large number of tourism and travel offices now have websites over the Internet to conduct their dealings with citizens, the number of members reaches 170, and all five-star hotels have a site on this network. The Tourism Promotion Authority is currently working on developing its website so that much of the available information on archaeological and tourist sites in Jordan and the services provided are translated into five languages in addition to English, and these languages are Arabic, Spanish, Italian, French, and German.

The annual budget of the authority is five million dinars, which pushes to search for less expensive marketing sources than the other important aspect of using the Internet and developing the website of the authority lies in the possibility for the members of the body to benefit themselves and enable them to see the latest developments related to the tourism market, whether inside or outside Jordan. Tourism marketing via the Internet in Jordan will achieve great success, as it has become known that the technology sector in Jordan is efficient at the local and Arab levels. Many practitioners believe that tourism marketing and internet promotion will benefit the increase in the number of tourists coming to Jordan, and will help increase the demand for cooperation with travel agencies.

Although some fear the possibility of this technological development on its performance due to the low cost of entering the Internet, one of the manageable solutions at travel offices is to allocate a free telephone line to receive more information and complete the various reservations (Angelis & Dimaki, 2011; Khojastehpour et al., 2014). As there is no justification for assuming that the market will be open to the weak and the strong in this area, the best perpetually and the one with credibility with the consumer is the one who will achieve sustainable advantage (Adaileh, Rawashdeh, Elrehail, & Adaileh, 2020).

(Hsia et al., 2009) investigated how to enhance service quality in internet marketing through the application of 6 sigma. They focused on increasing service quality in internet marketing by applying six sigma processes. A quality control system is used to create a system that contributes to enhancing consumer satisfaction with the quality of service for the product or service marketed via the Internet. Moreover, this study adopted five steps to achieve quality, namely, Identifying satisfaction with service quality and its effect. Second, measuring consumer acceptance using a questionnaire that measures satisfaction and quality, and then structuring the service quality performance matrix to measure low importance and high satisfaction, and measuring high performance and low satisfaction for the service dimensions. Third: the analysis to structure the classification of effects and causes that determine the removal of the defective service, which represents the cause, and then define the reasons behind its emergence to identify the service strategies. Fourth: improvement and the development of quality functions used to address critical service strategies as goals for continuous improvement and a new assessment of satisfaction with the performance of defective service dimensions to identify and confirm the completion of refinement in all services. The final step which controls by focusing on the maintenance and marketing department, procedures for operating standards, and systems knowledge management. The implementation of a quality control system following Six Sigma processes will contribute to enhancing the quality of service for the product or service marketed via the Internet, which boosts consumer buying behavior and increases business performance (Anderson et al., 2006; Hjalager, 2006).

On the other hand, (Law et al., 2005) identified the perceived importance of the website's characteristics and features in hotels based on tourist customer point of view. A random sample collected from 2,400 tourists who came through Hong Kong International Airport, the results indicated that the booking information Hotel is the most influential factor, in addition to room fees that determine the service purchasing decision.

While Heung (2003) measured the extent of the use of the Internet by international tourists, the reasons, and the constraints, the study focused on determining the levels of internet use as a source of information and means of purchasing products by tourists in seven countries. A sample of 1114 tourists collected, the results showed that 30% Of the tourists use the Internet to book or buy any tourist product, and this percentage was higher among tourists coming from the most developed western countries and the highest level of income.

Whereas, (Stewart et al., 2001) ’s study interpreted the content websites of the 300 largest hotels in the world. The study aimed to evaluate the current situation of hotel websites and the extent to which the hotel industry uses e-commerce it. The study found several results, the most important of which is that there is an increase in the volume of online reservations in international hotels, and different backgrounds used for hotel websites. There is a great diversity of languages used on these websites. The study figured out the current situation of websites in several international hotels and the extent to which these hotels depend on the Internet for e-commerce. The study included companies working in the tourism sector to find out the effect of the Internet in promoting tourism. Al-Shishani (2006) focused on the impact of using e-commerce on the hotel service market, a field study on first-class hotels in Jordan aimed to identify the effect of using e-commerce on the hotel service market in Jordan (Rawwash et al., 2020) . The results exhibited several prominent positive relationships between e-commerce in Jordanian hotels and increased market share plus geographical expansion in the hotel services market, the increasing costs, and the shortening of the distribution channel. The researcher suggested a set of recommendations such as escorting companies thinking that e-commerce is a new way to do business, reach customers, and the need to follow pricing policies that would enhance the role of the direct distribution channel through the hotel website itself.

Comparing Jordan with the Arab countries, (Al-Rabiah, 2007) investigated the effect of internet use on promoting tourism in the United Arab Emirates. The study aimed to identify the impact of using the Internet in promoting tourism in the United Arab Emirates. he found insufficient interest by Emirati tourism companies in using the Internet to promote tourism. The study included companies serving in the tourism sector, in addition to Arab and foreign tourists coming to the United Arab Emirates. The website also includes reports and clarifications about the company and the Emirati tourism and explains the facilities that the UAE government provides to tourists, such as free visas and discounts (Adaileh, 2012) . Finally, the website introduces an opportunity to increase market share in the tourism sector. The study focused on increasing interest in websites dedicated to receiving complaints, objections, observations, and proposals about tourism in the United Arab Emirates, marketing campaigns and reshaping the tourism marketing strategy via the Internet, establishing an Emirati data bank for the tourism sector, and updating the information on the website to increase interaction and communicate with targeted tourists in different parts of the world. Finally, increase the activation of marketing communications through the website, as the promotional message contains information of interest to tourists and contributes to influencing them to visit the United Arab Emirates.

Reviewing the relevant literature is an attempt to assess the role of the e-marketing strategy as a modern and strategic approach to marketing. The current study adapted (Chen) model was presented in 2006 . The model is an attempt to explain the formation of the inclinations of tourism service recipients in Jordan, whether positive or negative, for the development of tourism as a result of their use of an electronic marketing strategy. And by reviewing the relevant studies that attempted to study the attitudes (Aqueveque & Bianchi, 2017; Kotler, Haider, & Rein, 1993), the psychologist Gordon Alport provides the most comprehensive definition of the attitudes in its different stages by defining it as one of the states of mental preparation and preparation managed by experience and practice to produce a particular feeling (Baglieri & Consoli, 2009; McComb, Boyd, & Boluk, 2017).

This model focuses on an e-marketing strategy that includes the application of a wide range of information techniques to reshape marketing policies. It will increase the benefits obtained by the consumer through effective market segmentation, targeting, and differentiation, positioning strategies, most effective planning, implementation of ideas, distribution, including promotion, pricing of goods and services, as well as creating bourses that meet the needs of individual consumers and the goals of consumer enterprises (Bilgihan & Nejad, 2015; Mei, Arcodia, & Ruhanen, 2010).

The e-marketing strategy consists of the electronic service, that is, all the benefits that tourists (consumers) obtain through the time available for exchange between the tourist and the site in an electronic style (Bumblys, 2007; Meneses & Teixeira, 2011). Electronic price is the value determined for the service provided to tourists in terms of money to receive the promised service (Anderson et al., 2006; Hjalager, 2006). As for electronic promotion, it is all information transmitted between all parties in the marketing process. The website is everything through which the electronic transaction process takes place and is necessary to complete the interactive process between the parties (Burns, Barney, Angus, & Herrick, 2014). According to the accuracy of information since it focuses on selecting the target market (target retail), determining the position within digital content based on high-precision database management systems, and giving correct and honest information (Burns, Barney, Angus, & Herrick, 2016; Ottenbacher, 2008; Pirnar, Bulut, & Eris, 2012). Online payment indicates that payment systems are safe for tourists to use and easy to interact with. Enumerate personal character, that is, the website interface implies flexibility and ability to adapt to the needs and desires of tourists (Carvalho & Costa, 2011; Radzeviciute & Šliburyte, 2005; Ratten, 2010).

On the other hand, the tourist attitudes represent ideas, feelings, perceptions, and beliefs about the experience which guide the behavior of tourists and determine their status on that experience. I.e., it is the positive or negative feeling or the state of thoughtful readiness acquired through experience, and often an effect occurs in the response of tourists towards people, attitudes, and material things surrounding them (Bosch, 1977; Chen, Chen, Ho, & Lee, 2009; Shams, 2016).

The model presented by Chen assumes that elements of electronic marketing influence the knowledge, feeling, and behavior of tourists. The tourist knowledge element represents beliefs and convictions about some of the judgments related to the tourist experience that the tourists will be, and the things that tourists embrace and believe (Chiu, 2009; Spencer & Dixon, 1983; Tuan, 1975). As for the feeling, it represents the emotional and passionate response towards the tourism experience, that is, the extent of the tourist interaction and emotions, their response may be positive, negative, or neutral. Finally, the behavior of tourists expresses the behavioral methods and tendencies of the individual and his behavior towards the tourist experience (Decelle, 2006; Tomsett & Shaw, 2015).

The Study Design

This paper considers an impact between the e-marketing strategy (e-service, price, promotion, website, the accuracy of the information, payment, personal preferences), and tourist attitudes towards tourism in Jordan. To confirm this, the researcher used personal interviews (Tashakkori & Teddle, 2003) from a group of tourists who visited Jordan and to make sure that they had used electronic tools for bookings through websites. The researcher was able to interview more than 48 tourists from different countries. A set of open and unrestricted questions has developed so that the tourist can elaborate on explaining his orientations towards the services provided by the websites, and whether they have contributed to enhancing his experience and increasing his knowledge, feeling, and behavior. Tourists inquired to provide their opinion about the quality of the electronic service (Harazneh et al., 2020), prices, the efficiency of the promotion, effectiveness of the website, accuracy of the information, electronic payment, and the level of personal preferences in the website. The interviews were interpreted through the content analysis, and the researcher took into account the demographic variables that may affect decisions and attitudes towards the elements of e-marketing and tourism in Jordan. The demographic variables included gender, age, nationality, educational qualification, annual income, marital status, and the reason for the visit to Jordan. The purpose of this paper is to build a general framework for using e-marketing in determining the attitudes of tourists towards tourism in Jordan. Theoretical literature and various models in e-marketing were have investigated, and the researcher used personal interviews and content analysis to expedite building the comprehensive framework.

Discussion and implications

The interviews revealed that the majority of the interviewees agree that electronic marketing strategies have a positive effect on attitudes towards tourism in Jordan. The majority believe that the most influential variable is the accuracy of the information, and some of them argue that personal preferences are not a significant component of the marketing mix.

The tourists are strongly desire to obtain accurate information about the tourist sites that they want to visit in the future, and a high percentage of them focused on the fact that electronic service, price, promotion are crucial elements in e-marketing strategy, the price is also an element as most of them agreed upon Its importance.

According to the impact of the e-marketing strategy on attitudes towards tourism knowledge in Jordan, the answers focused on the influence that e-marketing plays in increasing knowledge (Adaileh et al., 2020). The price is also one of the prominent variables, as the interest in knowing tourist attitudes related to price obtained. The electronic service and the accuracy of the information affect the attitudes of tourists towards Jordanian tourism, while the rest of the dimensions have low influence. The electronic marketing strategy impacts the feelings of tourists towards tourism in Jordan, and it has observed that the electronic service and the accuracy of the information added to the electronic payment facilities contribute to the creation of the visitor feel, with more emphasis on the accuracy of the information that affects, while the people interviewed did not comprehend the importance of the price, The website, personal preferences the feeling.

Demographic variables and impact on the relationship between the e-marketing strategy and the attitudes towards tourism in Jordan have been investigated. The results revealed that the tourist nationality variable does not affect these attitudes, as there are no statistical differences between the different nationalities interviewed. Similar to the reasons for the visit, as the attitudes towards tourism in Jordan are not affected by the purpose of the visit, noting that various reasons shift tourists to visit Jordan, such as recreational tourism, therapeutic tourism, archaeological, cultural, and other site visits. The same applies to other demographic variables, where the results exhibited that there are no critical differences for gender, age, marital status, educational qualification, annual income in the impact of e-marketing strategy.

By interpreting the answers of the tourists coming to Jordan, the results explicate that the e-marketing strategy affects the attitudes towards marketing in Jordan. The impact of e-marketing variables varies between the accuracy of the information, website, personal preferences, electronic payment facilities, and others on knowledge, behavior, and their feeling about tourism in Jordan (Chiappa & Presenza, 2013). The proposed model in this study can also be applied to measure the attitudes of tourists with their various demographic variables towards tourism in Jordan, which leads to the development of a unified marketing policy that can take into account the preferences, needs, and desires of tourists (Dominici, 2009). Many researchers agree (Aqueveque et al., 2017; Kotler et al., 1993) that the accuracy of the information, price, website, electronic payment, electronic service, online promotion, and personal preferences affect the inclinations of tourists (Ellis & Sheridan, 2014).

Results explained by the fact that tourists, in general, depend on websites to identify the tourist sites in Jordan before visiting, and they use the information they obtain in planning their tourism trip on the one hand, and in evaluating their tourism alternatives on the other hand, especially the comparison between the tourist sites in Jordan and the sites Tourist in other countries. The price was not the main factor in choosing the tourist sites, but there were other factors, the most important of which was the value of the tourist site, whether this value was historical, religious, or therapeutic.

Tourism websites have succeeded in forming positive attitudes among tourists towards tourism in Jordan, and the reason for this is due to the accuracy of the information provided by these sites to tourists, in addition to their success in meeting needs and preferences, and providing the information they need in everything related to Jordanian tourism, whether at the level of information Related to tourism services, or information related to tourist sites. We must not lose sight of the importance of showing the acquaintance that attracts tourists, which the websites have succeeded not only in providing, but also to create confidence in presenting them to tourists.

Whereas, the e-marketing strategy used in websites has succeeded in developing positive attitudes among visitors by providing correct and accurate information about Jordanian tourist sites and tourism services in Jordan. In addition to focusing the e-marketing strategy on providing comprehensive information on Jordanian tourist sites in a manner that meets the needs of tourists without the need to visit other sites to deepen their knowledge of Jordanian tourist sites.

The used electronic marketing strategy succeeded in guiding the behavior of tourists during their tourism trip to the Jordanian tourist sites, thanks to the information it provided on those sites and the tourism services. There is a state of satisfaction among tourists after they visit the Jordanian tourist sites in light of a match between the information provided by the websites of information about Jordanian tourist sites and tourism services provided to tourists during their visit to Jordan.

Through analysis of the impact of demographic variables, we found that the used e-marketing strategy succeeded in meeting the needs of both Arab and foreign tourists alike. Also, the electronic marketing strategy has succeeded in effectively promoting all Jordanian tourist sites, whether religious, historical, or therapeutic. Also, the e-marketing strategy was able to meet the needs of all tourists, regardless of their characteristics, and the ability to target the right audience with appropriate electronic advertising campaigns at the right time and place. The results showed the success of the e-marketing strategy in developing positive attitudes among tourists, regardless of their nationality, as e-marketing campaigns were directed to match them by providing websites in more than 12 languages. The results also showed the success of the e-marketing strategy in generating positive attitudes among tourists, regardless of the reason for the visit, religious, historical, or therapeutic. Finally, the answers of the interviewees showed the success of the e-marketing strategy in developing the positive attitudes of all tourists by running to reach the target audience of the e-tourism marketing strategy.

Implication

In light of these results, we can promote a set of vital implications for decision-makers and website developers. The e-marketing strategy must include all dimensions of e-marketing without exception (electronic service, price, promotion, website, the accuracy of the information, payment, personal preferences), and accordingly, e-marketing must follow the popular recent scientific schemes where sites examined.

In terms of visitor numbers, their quality, responses to the advertisement, and the investment return, after launching any campaign, a follow-up is made to ensure the level of effectiveness and make any changes necessary for improvement. The price should not be at the bottom of the e-marketing strategy. The marketing strategy should build through the website, where the websites must be updated permanently and continue to provide accurate information to customers in various fields such as tourist sites information, entrance fees for countries that need a visa, information about tourism and travel offices, and hotels, an exhibition of tourist photos and films, and in various official languages internationally. Finally, managing intensive marketing campaigns via the Google search engine, and working on continuous communication with potential travellers by using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate with them by promoting Jordan for them, answering any inquiries that require them, or responding to any complaint or note received about tourism and Jordan via These channels.

Conclusion

This study sought to build a general framework for the impact of the e-marketing mix on the attitudes towards tourism in Jordan. The researcher examined considerable theoretical literature in the field of e-marketing, as well as recent trends in global tourism. We used personal interviews for a group of tourists who came to Jordan during the year 2019. The results revealed that the marketing mix used contributes significantly to the attitudes of visitors towards tourism in Jordan, and the influence of its elements in determining these attitudes varies. There was no significant impact of demographic factors, meaning that attitudes are affected by the e-marketing strategy in a manner that does not differ according to the different demographic variables. The limitations of this study are several. First, this model is theoretical and needs empirical research to confirm the results. Second, this model should be extended to other countries to facilitate its ability to generalize and measure the impact of other variables. Finally, future studies should be oriented to conducting comparative studies on different periods, because customer trends are always in constant change.

Funding statement

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.