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Introduction
Challenged by growing competition and market saturation, tourism and hospitality firms are increasingly focusing on proactive marketing strategies to reinforce their competitive position (Alonso-Almeida et al., 2015; Alonso-Almeida and Bremser, 2013; Becerra et al., 2013; Kandampully et al., 2015). In particular, both traditional and online travel agencies are taking specific marketing actions to react to the severe structural changes that have affected their sector (Dolnicar and Laesser, 2007; Huang, 2013; Huang et al., 2009; Inversini and Masiero, 2015; Law et al., 2015; Lawton and Weaver, 2009). This sector has reached a mature stage in several developed countries (Avci et al., 2011), and the development of the Internet as a new distribution channel has profoundly changed both the buying habits of tourists and the distribution strategies of tourism and hospitality firms (Alvarez et al., 2007; Law et al., 2004, 2015; Lawton and Weaver, 2009).
Travel agencies that focus on proactive marketing strategies enjoy superior customer satisfaction, higher financial results and a competitive advantage (Avci et al., 2011). The successful implementation of these proactive marketing strategies (Seilov, 2015) requires frequent adjustments of resource allocation across alternative marketing programs to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing investments and, in turn, improve overall firm performance (Bruni et al., 2017). These strategies are based on the ability to collect real-time measures of marketing performance and to use them to enhance marketing decisions (Bruni et al., 2017; Ozkaya et al., 2015).
Experience-based performance measures have already been adopted in the travel agency sector (Huang, 2008), and some travel agencies are collecting real-time data on the impact of their marketing actions (Almunawar et al., 2013). However, several studies have highlighted that these data are useless if proper mechanisms to factor this information into decision-making are not established beforehand (Almunawar et al., 2013; McManus, 2013). Recent research (Frösén et al., 2013; Homburg et al., 2012) suggests that the successful implementation of proactive marketing strategies requires the adoption of a comprehensive marketing performance assessment system (MPAS), which consists of a set of formalized routines and procedures that use the information collected through a set of marketing metrics to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing investments,...