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| Methodological approach |
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We address the raised research questions by designing a research process that is divided into four methodological steps (see figure 1):
Figure 1: four-step research methodology of SkiSustain
Step 1: Overview on system of global change
A review of the current state of climate impact research on tourism and of global change research as well as consumer demand surveys enables hypotheses about a causal model of vulnerability to global change and the development of guide lines for the semi-structured interviews of step two.
Step 2: Experiences and strategies of tourism stakeholders
In step two we assess experiences and strategies by interviewing the managements of ropeways companies as the main steering and suffering stakeholders in ski des-tinations and ski tourism. We discuss sensitivity, adaptive capacity and the potential of sustainable adaptation and mitigation in personal in-depth interviews.
Methods used are qualitative open guide-lined expert interviews with duration each of about one hour. Ski areas are selected to represent a mean of ski areas in the Alps and of a current understanding of vulnerability. We select ski areas in France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. The total number of interviews is 20. Some of these interviews are held with representatives of a group of ski areas, for example Dolomiti Super Ski as a marketing aggregation and Remy Loisirs as an investment corporation.
In total, the supply side interviews reflect a number of 36 ski areas in four Alpine countries.
Step 3: Consumer demand for sustainable ski tourism
Form the hypothesized causal model of vulnerability we construct scenarios of fu-ture ski areas described by attributes and their levels. Attributes and levels are based on indicators of sensitivity and of adaptive capacity which are derived from the ski area experiences in step two, as well as from iterative literature review about expected outcomes of global change in the theory chapter of this study.
Together with the scenarios we test effects of green marketing and add informa-tion treatments. The contents of these treatments and their kind are developed in expert discussions in ski resorts with experiences of marketing sustainability. Some ski resorts in North America are internationally leading the track in terms of actively communicating global change and sustainability issues.
For these reasons we interview experts and practitioners in North American ski resorts:
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Mammoth Lakes, California, USA
Aspen Snowmass, Aspen, Colorado, USA
Copper Mountain Ski Area, Copper, Colorado, USA
National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), Denver, Colorado, USA
This sub step leads to a number of attributes and levels describing future ski area scenarios and to two kinds of information treatments with the focus on supporting sustainable adaptation of ski areas. We then use the validated indicators and scenarios of future ski areas to research and model customer demand.
Methods used are stated choice experiments from the group of Conjoint Analyses (CJA) in combination with a quantitative questionnaire both performed online (“Save-Snow”). The online study “Save-Snow” consists of a choice set part with eight questions plus a set of 27 quantitative general questions addressing a variety of topics matching the risen research questions.
In total, more than 3000 participants filled out the questions of "Save-Snow".
Part 1: Quantitative questionnaire
The quantitative questionnaire consists of 27 questions that investigate customer preferences for different kinds of ski area services. We aim on a representative sample of German ski tourists in terms of age, gender, skills, origin and income. We generated respondents in ski areas incorporating small, big, low and high areas in different countries of the Alps. A group of students was trained to do short interviews and randomly collected email addresses in different ski areas in the winter of 2006/07. In addition, radio, television and other channels were used too.
Extensive pre-testing of the online survey was done with about 100 customers before starting the actual survey later on. Feedback was generated and some of the visual choice set design and some explanations were changed according to the expe-riences of the tests. In general the first results showed no unexpected irregularities in the experimental design. The online survey Save-Snow was combined with a lottery to win ski day passes for the season 2007/2008 in different ski areas of the Alps.
Part 2: Choice experiment
The demand of customers is modelled using a discrete choice model from the group of Conjoint Analyses. Choice experiments are a variance of the original Conjoint idea developed for market research which is why they are referred to as “Choice based Conjoint”. There are many definitions of choice experiments with some joint principles:
The respondents choose between given alternatives: the discrete variable(“choice”) is qualitative (yes/no decision or selection of alternative A from the possible alternatives A, B, C, D, ...)
Choice experiments are based on the assumption that a good or a product is reflected by many attributes (“attribute-based”). The theoretical base is given in Lancaster (Lancaster 1966) with the so called “Characteristics Theory of Value”.
Choice experiments generate data by stated methods.
A choice experiment allows computing tentative willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the different ski area services and scenarios indicated by the attributes and levels. The experimental design includes a treatment factor that provides some partici-pants with additional information on the ski areas to choose from. We chose three different information treatments:
1. A recommendations from a well known environmental foundation/NGO
2. A recommendations by other customers who already visited the ski areas
3. A third option of no treatment serving as a reference.
The information treatments serve to test the effects of directed marketing on cus-tomer choices.
Step 4: Vulnerability management framework
A vulnerability management framework assesses the sensitivity and the adaptive ca-pacity of the coupled human-environment system ski tourism to global change. A framework delivers opportunities and guidelines how to increase the adaptive ca-pacity in a sustainable matter under uncertainty in expected changes. It captures the stakeholder and the customer perspective of sustainability and portrays the central role of communication linking the two. Such a framework can help to support dif-ferent models of governance, to monitor and react to changes in the system. In this fourth step we provide concrete recommendations for ropeways companies and ski tourism stakeholders for sustainable adaptation to global change.
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