Perception Mapping of Visual & Auditory Communication Elements
Introduction
This assignment is part of the preliminary study of a project entitled "Destination Branding: Perception Mapping of Visual and Auditory Communication Elements" which aims to understand how the perception of visual and auditory communication affects the decision of a person, thus creating a new marketing approach on place branding. In understanding cultural heritage and tourism, it is necessary to find meaning on how auditory and visual communication elements affect the perception of the audience to these cultural attractions. Auditory plays an important role in creating awareness of the surrounding, adding meaning to the visual attention, and developing additional information necessary in complex communication (Shilling & Shinn-Cunningham). The entertainment industry has long regarding audio-visual as important elements in attracting audiences. If this is applied in the culture and tourism, it is necessary to understand how local audiences, foreign residents and tourists perceive audio and visual elements.
In this paper, I will be reviewing the way visual and auditory communication elements can attract attention of the audience. Foremost, it tries to understand how visual representation (pictures) can create cultural and tourism meaning on Emiratis, residents and tourists. Second, I will be reviewing the way audio materials can reach out to the same audiences. Third, it is also necessary to create a relationship between auditory and visual communications as they make meaning regarding cultural and heritage attractions. As shown by research of past studies, there is a strong correlation between auditory and visual elements. This means that the real definition of the communication can only be understood if they are put into the same perspective.
To accomplish the goals and objectives of this study, I have decided to conduct the research on Emiratis, residents of UAE (who are not Emiratis, but are living in the country), and tourists. It is important to understand how these audiences perceive the same visual and audio material to clearly identify the impact of these cultural and heritage attractions on specific segments of the market. In the end, I will also provide recommendations regarding the analysis and finding of the research. With these recommendations, I will be making this research relevant to the current demands of the United Arab Emirates tourism industry.
The fruition of this research will help to shape knowledge on consumer neuroscience research as used in destination communication and branding. With this, the research will be useful to brand managers of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Ras-Al-Khaimah Tourism, the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Authority, and the UAE National Council for Tourism and Antiquities. By clearly defining the different parameters, factors and elements affecting the way consumer perceive communication branding, agencies that are engaged in the promotion of UAE tourism will get an invaluable information to guide them in creating strategies. In the same manner, the result of this study will also reinforce the knowledge of UAE locals regarding their culture, thus promoting sustainable cultural tourism.
Literature Review
United Arab Emirates – Overview
The United Arab Emirates is considered to have the most open economies in the world (Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, 2009). The continuity of UAE's position as the strategic trade hub of the world could be traced to the history of Gulf history. Prior to the federation of the seven independent emirates and the discovery of oil, the economy of the UAE was dependent on fishing and the pearl industry, which was starting to decline. It was in 1962 that the UAE economy found itself being transformed by the discovery and exportation of oil, initiated by Abu Dhabi. When the potential of UAE for oil exportation, the late Sheikh Zayed, ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the president of the federation, seized the moment and spearheaded development of the seven states. In essence, development of UAE - in terms of national infrastructure, healthcare and education – could be traced to the revenue derived from oil exports. Now, UAE is looking forward to reduce the national economy's dependency on oil exports through diversification of the national economy in tourism, real estate and construction, trade and commerce, and financial.
Prior to the formation of the United Arab Emirates, most of people in the region were dependent on the pearling industry which thrived throughout the Arabian Gulf coast in the 19th and early 20th century (Interact, 2014). Pearling and farming or date gardening were commonly mixed together in this semi-nomadic lifestyle of the region. Yet, these not-so-good conditions were severely worsened by the impact of the World War I. The First World War brought forth serious economic depression in the region and the Japanese invasion of the cultured pearl eventually caused the pearling industry of the Arabian Gulf coast to a decline. After the Second World War, the industry faded away.
Without the basic infrastructure that would support the populace, the entire region suffered terrible blow from the economic depression that plunged the world during and after the war. Discovery of oil and the first cargo of crude oil that was exported from Abu Dhabi in 1962 brought new hope for the region. Since then, massive developments have been made to use oil revenue in rebuilding the nation and to provide the basic infrastructure needed by the populace.
Today, more than 10 percent of the total labor force is made up of citizens of the country. Emiratis maintain 99% of the total state sector employment with jobs in both technical and non-technical jobs in education, military, police force, and the civil service. Businesses in the country are mostly owned by local citizens with number of multinational companies operating in the country as well. Foreign workers also work in both private and public sectors with focus on manual, technical, and professional positions.
Visual and Auditory Communication
According to Bulkin & Groh (2006), oftentimes there is an overlapping of roles between visual and auditory systems. These elements are concerned about the stimuli that come across the persons. In a sense, the combination of visual and auditory elements can add value to the development of the spatial and temporal information. In a sense, when combined, auditory and visual elements complement each other to add the information about specific stimuli. Rather than separating the stimuli, these elements add them together to create meaning out of the context. This means that the auditory element can add the missing pieces of the visual representation as perceived by the person.
In this era of competition for market audiences, the tourism industry must also reinvent itself on the way it engages with the audience. There is a need to improve on the way cultural attractions sell themselves to the market audiences. Visual representations of cultural attractions can create meaning on the mind of the person. On the other hand, auditory elements can add the missing pieces. If added properly, these elements can generate awareness and emotions out of the person, thus creating excitement regarding the cultural attraction.
In the study conducted by Michaelidou, et al. (2013) regarding the utilization of visual representations of destinations for the development of value on tourists, they noted that photographs can create a strong image or perception on the uniqueness of the landscapes, the local cuisine, and culture. Based on this study, it was found that the way marketers create the image of the destination (for this study, Taiwan) is way different from the holistic image as perceived by visitors of the country. Michaelidou, et al. (2013) noted the need of creating a holistic image of the destination using visual representation, rather than creating a piecemeal approach of showing only some parts thus developing a partial representation of the destination.
In fact, the importance of visual representation in cultural tourism is also noted by Hunter (2013). Difficulty of creating visual representation is noted in areas that are suffering from chaos thus creating an impact to the cultural landscape. This means that marketers have to find ways on reducing the impact of the chaos on the visual representation. Even if the visual representation is good, there will always a negative impact creating by the news image. In this regard, visual representation seems to differ from the viewpoint of the audience. While those who are living in the area are already accustomed to the condition and may find the presence of military a normal one, tourists would find it alarming to see armed officers roaming the tourism destination.
In the same manner, according to Chatelard, the representation of tourism may greatly differ from the reality of the tourism destination. In this regard, the perception of the audience may vary depending on their exposure to the reality of the visual representation. In the same manner, the representation of tourism destination also differs from one culture to another. This also affects the way the audience perceives the destination. There are cultures that are focused on showing the individual part of the destination, while there are those that show the integral part of the entire destination. In this regard, Michaeliodou, et al. (2013) noted the need of creating a holistic approach of visual representation to formulate a better image of the destination.
On the other hand, auditory also plays an important role in creating representation of the tourism destination. According to Bullmore (2002), in this era of audio-visual communication, sounds and music play an important role in branding and marketing. While the auditory element of tourism communication has not been widely promoted by several marketers, one cannot deny the importance of using sounds to reach out to the sensory of the person. In fact, tourism destinations make use of sounds to properly reach to market audiences.
The main principle of using sounds or music for representation of tourism destination could be traced to the cultural fact of the role played by sounds and music. For instance, traditional dances of the tourism destination can be well relayed through sounds. When people hear the music of the dance, they can easily meaning from it. However, as noted by Chatelard, there are still differences in understanding the meaning of the audio representation depending on the exposure of the audience. While locals can identify the meaning of the sound, those who are not exposed to the said culture may find it hard to find any meaning from it.
Methodology
This study aims to generate information that will help to substantiate the role played by auditory and visual communication elements in building the perception of different audiences regarding specific cultural attraction or destination. This study is focused on the culture and heritage of the entire United Arab Emirates or the entire global tourism industry. In this regard, this study hypothesizes that differences of perception as the visual and audio stimuli reach the audience could be traced to the pre-knowledge and exposure to the said cultural attraction.
For the purpose of generating information or data for this study, the researcher made use of visual photographs and audio clips. These photographs and audio clips are representations of the cultural attractions and destinations available in United Arab Emirates This research instrument will be provided to respondents of this study to evaluate their perception regarding the audio or the visual photograph. To gather the data, there is a need for a face-to-face survey interviews were conducted to properly administer the survey instruments. Audio clips must be properly heard by the respondent to avoid misunderstanding of the clip.
Survey instruments were administered to three groups: local Emiratis, foreign residents of Abu Dhabi, and tourists. It is important to know if local Emiratis can easily find meaning or identify the cultural attractions or destinations based on the photographs and audio clips provided. In a sense, this group is the base of the study because they are the ones greatly exposed to the attraction. Secondly, foreign residents who have already settled in Abu Dhabi must also be included because their perception will be the next base for the understanding of the tourism attraction. If this group understands and finds meaning in the attraction based on the photographs and audio clips, this will have a great impact to the way these attractions will be marketed to foreign tourist. Lastly, the perception of tourists upon hearing the audio and seeing the photograph takes a great part of the research because this will mean big in the understanding of the tourism industry as it reaches out to foreign tourists.
The researcher has chosen to administer the research instrument to respondents based on the principle of convenience of random sampling. The researcher interviewed respondents of the Group A among close relatives and friends. This allows the researcher to complete survey in a convenient way and this will also provide a clearer understanding of their perception. Through random sampling, the only criterion is that the person must be an Emirati of 20-40 years old.
In administering the instrument to foreign residents in Abu Dhabi, the researcher still chooses to use random sampling of convenience. The instrument was provided to foreigners who are living in the emirate for at least two years. To do this, the researcher asked some members of companies around the area who are foreigners and are living in Abu Dhabi. Lastly, the researcher still uses the same data collection technique and sample method for the last group of respondents. Upon seeing tourists in the area, the researcher asks if they will be fine with the survey. The researcher has chosen to ask tourists who visited the Grand Zayed Mosque, aged 28-45 years old.
Throughout the data collection process, the researcher ensures that any activity of data collection falls on the value of ethics. While random sampling is administered, the researcher has to make sure that there is a clear consent or permission prior the instrument is provided. In the same manner, ethical standards of data collection are also followed to avoid discrimination based on color, gender, ethnicity, and other factors.
Photographs/Sounds & Descriptions
This section shows the picture and sound clips that were used by the researcher in conducting this research. The pictures were taken from Alittihad Newspaper archives (as the researcher works from that company, it was easier to obtain copies of these photos). Copyrights of all photographs also belong to the Alittihad Newspaper. For example of the point of view of locals, residents and tourists, comments were provided.
| Title | Description | Why Chosen? | Comments |
| Doctor  | The image show case the development of medical technologies in Abu Dhabi. | This image is chosen for it clearly shows the medical community of Abu Dhabi. | Local: UAE is trying to push local to medical industry Residents: Medical tourism will be a great boast to the country’s future. Tourists: UAE have a good repetition in medical industry. |
| The rababa  | The rababa is a musical instrument used in celebrations. Bedouin men well knows to use this instrument. | The rababa is a common instrument used in Abu Dhabi and even the entire UAE. | Local: It is common in the most gulf region. Residents: I have seen this, but have not experienced it. Tourists: I didn’t see it any where |
| Palm leaf weaver  | Weaving palm leaf " khouss" is an occupation known in the farmer community. Weaving produce different product such as weave mats, baskets, and other materials from the leaves of palms. | This image vividly speaks for itself. | Local: It takes me back to childhood memories Residents: This is a good part of culture of the country. Tourists: I didn’t see it any where. |
| The Pearl diver  | Pearl diving in Abu Dhabi is a part of our traditions. The divers who dived for pearls were called “gayees” and they used the “futam” on their noses to stop salt water going up their noses. | Pearl diving is an old occupation of the region that has continued today. | Local: It is common in the most gulf region. Residents: I have known that UAE is a pearl diving one, but have not experienced this one. Tourists: It is the traditional photo of UAE. |
| Palm Climber  | "alhabool" is an occupation where the man harvest the dates and plan new seeds to grow new dates in the upcoming season. | This image is chosen because it clearly shows the palm gardening culture of Abu Dhabi and UAE. | Local: You can see this activity in Alain oasis where I come from Residents: A common sight in palm date gardens. Tourists: It is nice if we can see it. |
| Telli Weaving  | "Talli"a form of traditional Emirati embroidery still practiced today to create intricate designs for the collars and cuffs of abayas and other items of clothing. | For a local, this image is hard not to distinguish. | Local: It is common in the most gulf region . Residents: Seen some products, but not the weaving one. Tourists: I didn’t see it any where |
| Teacher  | Teaching profession has become very popular in the UAE especially with development of the educational system. | With the growth of the economy, the role of teachers and education are not be ignored. | Local: As common as in other places. Residents: Yes, of course. I have seen this. Tourists: It is important job. |
| Officer  | Emirati women are now found in several departments of the police force. Female officers are often called upon to handle situations that would be difficult for male officers. | The police force of UAE is a great part of the labor market for local citizens. | Local: An important part of the country. Residents: I like them. Tourists: In Belgian female officer not allowed to wear HAJAB "cover the hair" It show how UAE respect females |
| Photographer  | Photography is a new emerging profession especially among the young generation. | It is not hard to distinguish the cultural movement based on this picture. | Local: This is a trend spread in the new generation Residents: I have seen this across the country as several visitors flock to most attractive places of the country. Tourists: Common among us, tourists. |
| Business men  | Business men profession development since early ages with the emerging a new economic market. | This shows the new movement of the economy. | Local: We need more government support for the small business men. Residents: Yes, this is a common sight. Tourists: Because UAE is a rich country. |
In the same manner, sound clips were also administered or being played to the samples of this study. These audio clips were also extracted from Alittihad Newspaper archive.
Findings
This section shows the findings of this research. After data collection, data were collated and prepared to provide readers and users of this study an easy way to understand the flow of information. Shown below is the summary of the research data collection.
Figure 1Average Ranking of Visual Acknowledgment
Looking at the table above, it is easy to note the average of each particular sample group. For the locals, the highest (being number 1 in rank) is palm weaving, while for residents the highest is teacher, and for tourists, it is business. There is a wide difference in the ranking of the perception and exposure among the three sample groups. As seen in the pattern, for the locals they are more accustomed to the traditional cultural activity of their country than the modern upheavals that the country is experiencing, but if we look at the result, this is a direct opposite to that of the tourists. For instance, locals can easily distinguish the value of palm weaving, while tourists are more accustomed to seeing the business activity of the region. As an inference, this perception of UAE can be attributed to the way the region is painted: a modern place for business in the dessert.
| Ranking of Photographs | |||
| | Locals | Residents | Tourists |
| 1 | Palm Weaving | Teacher | Business |
| 2 | Teacher | Officer | Doctor/Medical |
| 3 | Pearl Diving | Telli Weaving | Pearl Diving |
| 4 | Palm Climbing | Palm Climbing | Teacher |
| 5 | Officer | Palm Weaving | Officer |
| 6 | Telli Weaving | Pearl Diving | Telli Weaving |
| 7 | Doctor/Medical | Doctor/Medical | Palm Climbing |
| 8 | Rababa | Photography | Palm Weaving |
| 9 | Photography | Rababa | Photography |
| 10 | Business | Business | Rababa |
The top photographs for all the groups are as follow: It is important to note that the cultural exposure and perception could also be affected by the age of the respondents. While most of the respondents are aged 25 to 50 (across all groups), this is a direct statement to the way they see things. For instance, locals who are aged 30-40 years may have directly seen or have experienced palm weaving as they grow up 40 years ago while the country has not yet seen the boom of its economy. In the opposite, adding the lack of exposure factor to the way tourists perceive the photograph is their age. Interviewed respondents were around 28-45 years old. Due to the advancement of some Western countries, they may not experience the traditional palm weaving or such other. For a note, tourists from the Philippines can easily identify the traditional palm weaving occupation because they have this in the country, they noted.
In the same manner, results of the audio clips also reveal that locals can easily distinguish the sound, while tourists are the least knowledgeable about the clip. This can be due to their exposure to these audios in their daily lives. It is impossible to separate the reality of experience into their perception.
Looking at the graphical presentation above, it is easy to see that the UAE Anthem is the most popular audio to all categories or groups. Due to the fact that the anthem is played throughout and is integrated into the education system, it is easy for residents and locals to know them. The anthem is part of their daily life. In fact, even for tourists the anthem is most distinguishable because it becomes part of the communication branding message of the country or its marketing and promotional materials contain the national anthem.
However, for the case of rababa and the divine song, the three categories could not also agree. For locals, they know more about divine song. This is also true with residents. Maybe this is due to the fact that the divine song is part of the pearl diving industry that is part of the rural and urban culture, while the rababa is a Bedouin culture. Yet, tourists are more accustomed to it. Maybe there are other causative factors that could explain such as the Bedouin culture is a regional one and not just an Emirati culture.
Interpretation of Results
Based on the data collected as shown in the preceding sections, there are three important implications and key features of this study that should be discussed. First, the variance of the perception regarding culture affects their acceptance and finding meaning of the same. Second, the appreciation and interest of the person on culture and heritage helps to improve tourism for these destinations. Thirdly, tourists are interested to see the culture based on what they hear and they see or the impact of the auditory and visual elements as exhibited in the form of communication.
The white paper released by UNESCO (2000) noted that one of the problems of cultural tourism is disparity of perception. While most of the Emiratis can easily identify the traditional occupation or the cultural activity (dance, sounds, etc), it is hard for new tourists to find meaning from them. This means that there is a gap between perceptions among the three respondent groups. Their exposure and orientation regarding the culture of the region greatly affects their understanding of what the photograph shows or the audio clips provide. One could not expect tourists to clearly understand the culture of the region especially if it is their first time to in there. In fact, when tourists haven't seen someone weaving traditional mats or textiles, it would be hard to understand this traditional way of producing the material.
To bridge the gap of differences of finding meaning due to cultural orientation, marketers should start working on the details of creating marketing materials that will expose tourists to the culture, rather than just showing photographs of destinations or buildings. It is important to note that these buildings are part of the region's culture, and their meanings could be traced to the traditional beliefs, norms and way of life of the people. Once tourists are exposed to this specific culture, they will find meaning from it and they relate to the said tradition.
Moreover, it is also important to understand that even among Emiratis, there are cultural attractions, activities, traditional beliefs, and norms as shown and represented by the audio clips and photographs that are not anymore familiar to them, especially to those who already live in the urban area of the emirate. Yet, it is also necessary to note that there are foreign residents who know these culture and heritage elements better than Emiratis. This is a direct dilution of the first facet of the study as raised earlier regarding the cultural orientation.
A more plausible explanation could be traced to the notion that people know about their culture when they are interested about. In fact, Reinfeld (2003) was concerned about the need of preserving culture even in the midst of urbanization and tourism boom. Cultural preservation demands that the people are interested about specific cultural features. Otherwise, they would not find meaning from the culture itself. In the same manner, it is important to consider that interest of culture does not always depend on orientation or the ethnicity of the person, but rather than on the understanding of other way of life. Foreign residents may find better meaning from the cultural feature compared to the local Emiratis.
Nonetheless, this study also revealed that while tourists find it hard to identify cultural activities, they are more than willing to know about it. This interest could be readily distinguished from the way tourists tried to identify these cultural activities and explain them even if they are not familiar with it. While some of those who answered the survey (Emiratis and foreign residents) are not anymore interested in knowing the culture or they are already exposed to it and just ignore it, tourists are willing to know about it, thus they are trying to find meaning on what they see and hear.
This is a good point for cultural tourism because it puts marketers in the right track on how to keep tourists interested about the culture of the region. Simply, visual representation helps to raise awareness regarding specific culture and it keeps the audience wanting to get a real experience out of the said culture. This is also true with the audio clips. Together, these elements of communication can help to explain a small part of the region's culture and make tourists interested to know the holistic or integral picture of the culture as proposed by Michaelidou, et al. (2013).
Conclusion
Based on the finding and discussion made in the preceding sections, this study on the relationship of the visual and auditory communication elements and the perception of the person to the culture and heritage in Abu Dhabi concludes three things. First, the way the person perceives culture affects their response to it and how they make meaning out of it. If they are conditioned regarding the culture of another country or the tourist destination, they more they appreciate the differences of culture. However, if their mindset is not conditioned to accept that culture, they will suffer from what we call "culture shock".
As much as the condition of their mindset affects their perception, the same appreciation and interest of the region's culture also affect the tourism of the place. As much as in tourism branding, it is important to put into consideration the root of all this. In branding communication, it is important to go back to the important aspect of the matter: the perception of the audience. When the interest of the tourists is heightened concerning the culture and heritage of the tourism destination, their interest to tour around will also increase.
Lastly, in this study regarding the visual and auditory elements of branding communication, it is easy to see how these factors can affect the perception and interest of the person. In a sense, marketers have to craft audio and visual presentations that will ignite the interest of the market audience and to raise awareness regarding the tourism destination.
Recommendations
Earlier, the researcher mentioned that the aim of this research is to help marketers of place branding to understanding how customers behave with respect their exposure to the culture or their origin. For the purpose of helping in communication branding, the following are recommendations to consider:
Don’t Assume They Know. One of the problems of communication branding for places is that most marketers assume that people already have prior knowledge regarding the culture of the place that would get them into the wagon. As noted in this research, tourists who don’t have exposure or knowledge regarding the culture of UAE find it hard to find value in an advertisement or a communication tool that does not start from scratch. While this type of marketing works for the locals and for those who already live in UAE, this will not work with those who don’t have prior exposure or knowledge regarding the culture.
It is time for the marketer to start from scratch and be aware of the need to create communication tools that will not just tap on available knowledge, but will try to impart knowledge regarding the culture to the person or the audience. In doing so, the communication branding tool becomes an integral one, and not just targeting a market segment.
Make Communication Integral to All Ages. As the researcher has observed from the results of the survey, most of the respondents from UAE or the locals are in the age of 25-40. Most of the younger respondents place higher value on activities that they can easily see in their surroundings. Even if pearl diving is a very famous and one of the oldest occupations in UAE, this is not distinguished by most younger respondents.
The communication tool to be used must make sure that those who belong to different generation must understand culture. It is also necessary to acknowledge that for culture to be preserved; younger generations must be exposed to it. With the communication line of place branding, this can be achieved.
References
Bulkin, D. & Groh, J. (2006). "Seeing sounds: visual and auditory interactions in the brain." Current Opinion in Neurobiology 2006, 16:415–419.
Bullmore, J. (2002). Brand Immortality: How Brands Can Live Long and Prosper. _________________________.
Hunter, W. (2013). "The Visual Representation of Border Tourism: Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Dokdo in South Korea." International Journal of Tourism Research.
Reinfeld, M.A. (2003). Tourism and the politics of cultural preservation. Princeton University.
Shilling, R. & Shinn-Cunningham, B. (2000). Virtual Auditory Displays. Handbook of Virtual
Environment Technology. K. Stanney (ed), Lawrence Erlbaum, Associates, Inc.
UNESCO. (2000). Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Development. United Nations.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Please provide the ranking of the photographs according to your knowledge about them. For the next part, please provide comments regarding the photograph.
| # | Title | Description | Ranking | Comments |
| 1 | Doctor  | The image show case the development of medical technologies in Abu Dhabi. | | |
| 2 | The rababa  | The rababa is a musical instrument used in celebrations. Bedouin men well knows to use this instrument. | | |
| 3 | Palm leaf weaver  | Weaving palm leaf " khouss" is an occupation known in the farmer community. Weaving produce different product such as weave mats, baskets, and other materials from the leaves of palms. | | |
| 4 | The Pearl diver  | Pearl diving in Abu Dhabi is a part of our traditions. The divers who dived for pearls were called “gayees” and they used the “futam” on their noses to stop salt water going up their noses. | | |
| 5 | Palm Climber  | "alhabool" is an occupation where the man harvest the dates and plan new seeds to grow new dates in the upcoming season. | | |
| 6 | Telli Weaving  | "Talli"a form of traditional Emirati embroidery still practiced today to create intricate designs for the collars and cuffs of abayas and other items of clothing. | | |
| 7 | Teacher  | Teaching profession has become very popular in the UAE especially with development of the educational system. | | |
| 8 | Officer  | Emirati women are now found in several departments of the police force. Female officers are often called upon to handle situations that would be difficult for male officers. | | |
| 9 | Photographer  | Photography is a new emerging profession especially among the young generation. | | |
| 10 | Business men  | Business men profession development since early ages with the emerging a new economic market. | | |
Appendix 2
Audio Clips
