New marketing theories and practices emerging from innovations in the cultural and tourism sectors

Abstract

Cultural and tourism organisations have always been characterised by their capacity for innovation (Caves, 2000; Pratt & Jeffcutt, 2009; Wijngaarden et al., 2019). These innovations can be associated with both the design and creation of new cultural and tourism products or with radically innovative production processes that break with existing conventions (Castañer & Campos, 2002; Pierce, 2000; Trevisan, 2016). Beyond ‘product’ innovations, forms of strategic and marketing innovation include the introduction of a novelty into an organisation leading to a particular organisational change (Le Roy et al., 2013) through experience design, distribution channels, place branding (Chaney, 2020; Lichrou et al., 2017) or labelling such as Unesco (Barbosa, 2016; Dosquet et al., 2020; Mariani & Guizzardi, 2020; Thuriot, 2019), or communication strategies and pricing mechanisms like paid streaming for theatres and operas (Mueser & Vlachos, 2018; Roll et al., 2017). The broad scope of research about innovations in increasingly intertwined cultural and tourism experiences (Bourgeon-Renault & Petr, 2022) and their implications for marketing theory and practice (Purchase & Volery, 2020) calls for more significant research on such sectors. The impact of new technologies on making offers more attractive has been demonstrated in practice (particularly through audiences’ reception of these offers), supporting the need for marketing to increase understanding of the various ways in which innovative technologies can generate positive effects on the evaluation and promotion of offers. Further, recent and previous research have highlighted the role of co-creation, social interactions and emotions, narratives, and gamification during the experience (BourgeonRenault et al., 2019; Frochot et al., 2017; Garcia et al., 2019; Jafari et al., 2013; Minkiewicz et al., 2014; Xi & Hamari, 2020; Xu et al., 2017). However, we should not only focus on these themes since new technologies infuse the entirety of the stages from production to consumption of a cultural and tourist experience, leading to profound changes in the value chain (Benghozi, 2016; Benghozi & Salvador, 2016). Therefore, there are still numerous and important research gaps to fulfill. This special issue sheds light on the diversity of the impacts of technology and innovation in the cultural and tourism sectors. In doing so, this special issue belongs to the Journal of Marketing Management’s long tradition of stimulating research in the field and to provide conceptual and empirical content for further managerial conclusions and recommendations (Butler, 2000; Derbaix & Gombault, 2016; Dresler & Fuchs, 2021; Hanna & Rowley, 2019; Hunter-Jones, 2014; Lecompte et al., 2017; Lehman & Wickham, 2014; Murdy et al., 2016; Preece & Kerrigan, 2015; Skandalis et al., 2016; Tinson et al., 2015; Vom Lehn, 2010; etc.). A preliminary commentary shows how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the operations of many cultural industries. It also paved the way for an overall technological JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT 2023, VOL. 39, NOS. 5–6, 367–372 https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2023.2213964