Designing Knowledge Model of Promotional Strategy for Handicraft Products

Abstract

With the development of the economy, tourism is becoming the global industry and it is multiplying. Tourism shopping has become one of the most popular activities which contributes much to tourism income. As an important part of Thai culture and art, handicraft is one of the most potential tourism products in Chiang Mai. However, the promotion of handicrafts in Chiang Mai is not effective for Chinese tourists due to the lack of promotion knowledge based on Chinese tourists’ customer behavior. In order to solve the problem and fill the gap, this research aims to investigate Chinese tourists’ customer behavior towards handicrafts and identify critical knowledge for promoting handicrafts to Chinese tourists effectively. The research framework will be designed based on knowledge engineering methodology, marketing mix 4P and 4C theory and integrated marketing communication theory. Text mining method will be adopted to analyze the data of Chinese tourists’ comments. Literature review method will be used to acquire knowledge from explicit sources. Semi-structured interview will also be the staple method to extract critical knowledge from experienced specialists. The findings of this research mainly include two parts: first is the crucial knowledge for handicrafts promotion from the perspective of Chinese tourists’ demands and the communication process between the organization and Chinese tourists. Second is design the knowledge model of promotion strategy for handicrafts.