Striving Towards Sustainability? : An Analysis of two Finnish tourism-focused websites' language choices
Helin, Essi (2024-04-26)
Striving Towards Sustainability? : An Analysis of two Finnish tourism-focused websites' language choices
(26.04.2024)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
avoin
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024042923498
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024042923498
Tiivistelmä
This thesis examines word choices used in tourism-focused companies’ websites’ sustainability sections. It was conducted to find out how these companies convey and present their sustainability. Two Finnish tourism focused websites, My Helsinki and Visit Tampere and their sustainability- sections are used as a primary material in this study. Altogether twenty language samples were collected from the websites and analyzed using speech act theory as a theoretical framework. Each language sample was categorized into one of five types of speech acts: assertives, directives, commissives, expressives and declarations.
Results of the study are presented in both qualitative and quantitative manner. They show that more than half of the language samples analyzed were commissives (twelve out of twenty) whereas expressives and declarations were completely nonexistent. Second most prominent category of speech acts was assertives with seven appearances in the data. Highlighting active work being done towards more sustainable operations is present in the results. The word choices are not directive but rather encouraging.
Tourism companies are not trying to tell their customer, the tourist, how to act when traveling. Instead, they are stating how they act themselves in more sustainable ways and that way making it seem like a norm to actively take more sustainable actions. More sustainable traveling alternatives are being demanded from tourism companies and by showcasing what they have already achieved in their quest to more sustainable future, they can gain credibility from the tourists. Strictly telling what should be done is not beneficial for these companies as that could be perceived as rude, but by leading by example and highlighting their own sustainable actions, such as taking public transport, they can encourage the tourist to do so as well. The results of the actions taken by the two companies towards sustainability are not documented or displayed on either of the websites, so the outcome of the actions is difficult to measure.
Results of the study are presented in both qualitative and quantitative manner. They show that more than half of the language samples analyzed were commissives (twelve out of twenty) whereas expressives and declarations were completely nonexistent. Second most prominent category of speech acts was assertives with seven appearances in the data. Highlighting active work being done towards more sustainable operations is present in the results. The word choices are not directive but rather encouraging.
Tourism companies are not trying to tell their customer, the tourist, how to act when traveling. Instead, they are stating how they act themselves in more sustainable ways and that way making it seem like a norm to actively take more sustainable actions. More sustainable traveling alternatives are being demanded from tourism companies and by showcasing what they have already achieved in their quest to more sustainable future, they can gain credibility from the tourists. Strictly telling what should be done is not beneficial for these companies as that could be perceived as rude, but by leading by example and highlighting their own sustainable actions, such as taking public transport, they can encourage the tourist to do so as well. The results of the actions taken by the two companies towards sustainability are not documented or displayed on either of the websites, so the outcome of the actions is difficult to measure.