I’m going to make a bold statement here. We are influenced by what other people want; By what other people have. And, thus, set our standards (accordingly) by what we do not have, but what would improve our lives if only we could get it. Oh, and I bet you haven’t booked your summer holiday yet.
To focus discussion on the can of worms I’ve opened up; let us in our near Spring daze gaze wistfully toward the summer and our attempts at summer holidaying. According to the latest findings from GfK Ascent-MI, their data reveals, in a survey of 15,000 travellers, that 75% used reviews; comments of blogs; user review sites before committing to their holiday destination. In our household, when it was made ‘my responsibility’ to book the summer holiday rather than seek out Mr Thom Cook, I opted to use my (or rather others) nouse, and make decisions based only on the reviews and comments of others. Easy. ‘Job done’ I heard myself confidently utter as the rest of the household left me to it one Sunday morning.
Yes, not so easy it turns out. When Thom Cook does it for you, you know where to go and who to blame if things go wrong. Plus part of the sales patter is to convince you to not only part with £s for sun, sea and sand, but to push you into the right direction for what it is that you want. Times have changed dramatically from the package deals of the 1980/90s; although you can still do all boozed up and nowhere (special) to go if that is your thing. Relying on others choices and experiences is, however, a minefield. Once you have narrowed down the ‘where’ (as in which part of the world) you prefer to go, then you disappear into the cross-fire of review commentary and cleverly staged PR ‘independent’ reveals. Not that I’m suggesting for one second that some of the reviews may not be as entirely without push advertisement as they would suggest… Make of that what you will. TripAd/visor.
On the (VERY) rare occasion that you do spot a genuine gem: that perfect compliment of just enough positive reviews, but not so many that it looks staged, and not so many that the destination will be a mecca for other folk searching for precisely the same set of a criteria as yourself; then you can simply book it. Can’t you?
Over the past few weeks I have tried the above course of action. I found (finally) the place to go. Then assisted myself in the provision of cheap flights, transfers and all within windows (pop up and metaphorical) of opportunity that were most suited to our plans. Perfect. What I am finding myself questioning is the implications for such shifts in my rather emotive and aesthetic sensibilities for the perfect holiday jaunt. That (could/should) reflect the transformation of our ethical dispositions and horizons. One departure is that when booking so independently there comes a point when you are suffocating in information. In this instance, knowledge is not power, rather more reason to procrastinate in order to make sure things will be ‘perfect’. Suddenly I am expert in all manner of world-wide located holiday offerings, and can even recall some of the local statistics for flora, fauna, religion, as well as the more traditional data on temperature, rainfall criteria.
I’ve decided that the ultimate challenge is not deciding where to go, that is relatively straight-forward. Rather, it is the condition of the information that is changing and influencing our expectations. In this case about how to have a holiday, and what we may (reasonably) expect such expectations to deliver. For what could be a more modern experience than drowning before you even get to your destination?…
I just want a site that says; if you can’t get what you want, click here...
About Dr Mariann Hardey
I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.
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