Resumen de Vcations as sweepstake prizes: tourism in the service of selling
Many sweepstakes feature vacations as prizes. Manufacturers of non-tourism products use such prizes to increase sales. This article draws upon the concept of theming and applies it to an exploratory study of sweepstakes and vacation prizes. Purposeful thematization is widespread, extending from shopping malls to large cruise ships to Las Vegas casinos. With respect to sweepstakes, theming invites consumers to make connections between the product that is for sale and the prize.
Central to marketing is the presentation of goods in such a way as to create desire for commodities, and thus enlarge their markets. The pleasures of tourism are familiar to, and resonate with, a broad base of consumers. Through sweepstakes and vacation prizes, tourism�an activity linked to fantasy, escape, and �the extraordinary��is used to foster the consumption of everyday, non-tourism products. An effort is made to link tourism�s symbolic meanings, often absent from the rationalized flow of daily life, to these products. Allusions to tourism have therefore expanded into the realm of routine shopping and consumption. The main contribution of this work is to articulate a conceptual link between tourism-related sweepstake prizes and the frequently-purchased consumer goods they are used to promote.
