Dealing With the Risks of Information Overload

Abstract

While guests go on farm holidays in the hope of receiving authentic and memorable experiences, information overload is a factor that is increasingly detracting from such experiences. For instance, the steady stream of emails, text messages, and news received through social media channels tends to distract from the main experience. To cope with such overload, script theory suggests that guests are increasingly ‘satisficing' their information intake and subconsciously tuning-out much incoming stimuli from their surroundings. This subconscious satisficing makes it more difficult for farm holiday providers to win the guest's full attention in order to create memorable and authentic experiences. Therefore, this chapter synthesizes theories and empirical research from several disciplines with a view to gaining a better understanding of how this modern information overload serves as a formidable threat to farm holiday providers, who typically operate from small family farms. This synthesis is then employed as the basis for a number of practical and research recommendations.