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e viewing of LOTR or the reading of Tolkien’s novel
2) To indicate whether the visitors are aware of other LOTR screened locations
3) To gain an understanding of the motivations of visitors to the Hobbiton Movie Set
4) To determine whether the visitors’ motivations incline toward iconic attractions within LOTR rather than other factors such as learning or novelty
5) To specify whether the visitors’ motivations include an interest in Tolkien’s novel
6) To ascertain demographic characteristics of the visitors to the Hobbiton Movie Set
Study Site
Matamata is situated within the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island. Located approximately fifteen minutes from 98
International Tourism and Media Conference 2004
Matamata, the Hobbiton Movie Set was created on the property of the Alexander family farm for the production of LOTR in 1999 (Rings Scenic Tours, 2002). In October 2002, the Alexanders were given permission by LOTR’s production company and legal owners of only the created set, New Line Cinema, to allow visitors to the screened location (Whiting, 2003). This facilitated the Alexander’s formation of Rings Scenic Tours and the subsequent launch of Hobbiton Movie Set tours on December 1, 2002.
This study was conducted at the Matamata Visitor Information Centre, currently managed by staff from the Matamata Public Relations Association. The Visitor Information Centre is the start and end point of the two-hour, fully guided Hobbiton Movie Set tours.
Literature Review
Consumer Behaviour
Within tourism research, emphasis has been placed on consumer behaviour analysis (see, for example, Kotler, Bowen & Makens 1999, Nielsen 2001). Consumer behaviour within tourism is “…the study of why people buy the product they do, and how they make their decision” (Horner and Swarbrook 1996, cited in Swarbrook & Horner 1999, 6). This why and how emphasises that needs as well as consumer values, perceptions, motivations and decision-making are critical to the expansion of travel behaviour knowledge.
Consumer behaviour also involves perspectives from psychology, anthropology, sociology and economics (Wells & Prensky, 1996). The psychological aspect of consumer behaviour examines consumer motivations, perceptions and attitudes (Swarbrook & Horner, 1999). The paucity of research pertaining to the socio-psychological aspects of film-induced tourists has signified that this subset of consumer behaviour justifies investigation.
Motivation Theory
Motivation according to Fridgen (1991, 53) is: “…a force within an individual which causes him/her to do something to fulfil a biological need or psychological desire”. This relates to Crompton’s (1979) proposal that individuals live in a social-psychological equilibrium that may become unbalanced over time, resulting in a state of tension, imbalance or disequilibrium, triggering need arousal within an individual (Mullen & Johnson, 1990).
The recognition of a need causes an individual to choose a course of action in an attempt to re-establish equilibrium (Crompton, 1979). For an individual to satisfy a need and return to a state of equilibrium, an objective must be present (Mill & Morrison, 1998). The next section will discuss travel as the objective and the notions of ‘being away to’ and ‘being away from’ (Harrill & Potts, 2002 after Wapner, Cohen & Kaplan, 1976) as motivations for travel.
Travel Motivations
No single theory can possibly en