Sámi tourism in marketing material: a multimodal discourse analysis

ABSTRACT

The study of tourism marketing communication is an important aspect that contributes to the understanding of how destinations and locals are portrayed. Through the so-called circle of representation, images can spread from tourism marketing to other media, such as tourism photography. Marketing material in the form of 118 brochures, 3000 Instagram posts and a guidebook portraying the Sámi population mostly in Swedish Lapland, but also in Finnish Lapland as well as Finnmark, Norway, have been collected and analyzed. The focus is on pictorial and textual elements and eight previously conceptualized themes have been used to guide the analysis. The focus was on the portrayal of the Sámi Indigenous population. The materials were collected through a direct qualitative content analysis and analyzed through a multimodal discourse analysis. The results show that there is still a tendency to portray the Sámi based on exoticism. This can spread to different media channels, but there are also discrepancies that hint at a gradual change in how Indigenous populations such as the Sámi are presented. The results of this study show the potential for the use of social media channels such as Instagram for Indigenous entrepreneurs and destination management organizations to educate, attract and entice potential visitors.

KEYWORDS:

• Authenticity
• Sámi
• tourism
• indigenous
• marketing
• brochures
• Instagram

Introduction

Tourists have expectations when they visit a certain destination (e.g. Rickly-Boyd 2012; Olsen 2016) and tourism marketing communication does shape such expectations (e.g. Pettersson 2006; Hunter 2008; Gunnarsdóttir 2011). The same has been argued about user-generated content (UGC) (Duffy 2015). As digital materials become more and more prevalent, tourists still rely on more traditional ways of gathering information, such as guidebooks and brochures (e.g. Andereck 2005; Zillinger 2006; Ho et al. 2015; Chang, Wang, and Lin 2017). Especially in the case of Indigenous populations, brochures and guidebooks have been relevant in the study of representations of places and people (Olsen 2006; Müller and Pettersson 2006; Olsen 2008; Pashkevich and Keskitalo 2017). Nevertheless, the use of UGC can be a good marketing communication tool for Indigenous tourism companies (Tegelberg 2013; Holder and Ruhanen 2019). Official marketing materials can influence other channels (Bergmeister 2015) as well as tourist photography (Jenkins 2003; Urry and Larsen 2011). Images can then circulate from the dominant marketing channels to the tourists’ own photographs. Furthermore, tourists’ expectations are also shaped by movies and advertising (Dilley 1986). However, there are also discrepancies between user-generated content and official marketing (Larsen 2006; Tang et al. 2009; Paül i Agustí 2018). Marketing information and Indigenous tourism are also related to the study of authenticity. In the case of the Sámi, authenticity has meant a representation of Sámi culture(s) as frozen in time and exotic (Olsen 2006) rather than evolving and dynamic (Olsen 2016).

As mentioned in this short introduction, images circulate between different kinds of material. Books and movies can influence what is shown in brochures and guidebooks and consequently what is shown on social media, both produced by DMOs (Destination Management Organizations) as well as from companies and visitors. This is a practical example of what has been defined as “the circle of representation” (Jenkins 2003). Considering this interconnection of different kinds of materials, some explicitly meant for marketing purposes and some not, the aim of this study is to analyze the presentation of the Sámi in different marketing communication materials with a particular focus on the circulation of imagery. The research questions addressed in the paper are the following:

• How is Sámi culture(s) presented in the analyzed material?

  • How are the previously conceptualized themes presented in the analyzed materials?

  • How is authenticity conceptualized in the analyzed materials?

  • What are the commonalities as well as differences in between different analyzed materials?

A total of 118 brochures of different kinds, 3000 Instagram posts and related text, as well as one guidebook, were collected and analyzed through previously identified themes (De Bernardi 2020). The study is framed by the scholarship on authenticity, as perceptions of what is “authentic” in relation to Sámi culture(s) can also be circulated through different materials, as previously discussed. This study also contributes to the recent scholarship looking at the presence of Indigenous tourism on internet platforms as well as UGC (e.g. Holder and Ruhanen 2019; Keskitalo et al. 2019) to assess the possible power relations and the conceptualization of authenticity. This study contributes to the discussion by comparing traditional marketing and information material (guidebooks and brochures) with UGC. The results will provide insights on how Sámi culture(s) is currently marketed and portrayed. Since it has been argued that education on Indigenous populations should be a focus in tourism promotion (Chang, Wang, and Lin 2017), recommendations can be made on how materials can be both enticing and informative.

The paper first presents a brief overview of the case study and then of the research investigating the different materials that are analyzed here. The theoretical framework contains an outline of the circle of representation, discourse analysis, and authenticity. The materials and methods are then presented, and, in the findings, a brief summary of the themes contained in each material is presented. The results are then discussed and in the conclusions some recommendations for future research are made.

Case background

The Sámi

The Sámi are an Indigenous population residing in Europe, mostly in the Nordic countries, but also in Russia. They have traditionally resided in a transnational area called Sápmi and the population is estimated to be about 100,000 for the whole of Sápmi. The Sámi are a very heterogenous group; legislation is also different and there are dedicated Sámi institutions such as the Sámi Parliament (samer.se 2022a). In the Nordic countries, the Sámi are the only ones who are allowed to own large herds of reindeer in Norway and Sweden, but not in Finland (Pettersson 2006; Müller and Viken 2017).

Tourism activities have been both positive and negative for the Sámi (Viken 2006). On the one hand, it is a way to disseminate culture (Müller and Viken 2017) and to convey information (Sametinget 2010). On the other hand, some conflicts have emerged. For instance, over marketing practices (Müller and Kuoljok Huuva 2009; Niskala and Ridanpää 2016) and issues of representation (Keskitalo 2017), which has recently led the Finnish Sámi parliament to publish guidelines for the ethical treatment of Sámi culture(s) in tourism (Heith 2019; Sámediggi.fi 2021).

Some members of the Sámi population participate in tourism as a source of income (Leu and Müller 2016), lifestyle choice and activity diversification (Leu 2019), and as a way to challenge stereotypes (Leu and Müller 2016). The interest of the tourists is usually on elements that distinguish the Sámi, such as the traditional Sámi tent and costumes, among other things (Viken and Müller 2017). Tourism marketing tends to present people as stuck in the past (e.g. Niskala and Ridanpää 2016) and primitive (e.g. Bruner 2001; Niskala and Ridanpää 2016). Tourists are also interested in the everyday life of the populations they visit (Olsen et al. 2019). Sámi tourism research has focused on Sámi tourism and its roles and shortcomings, conflicts over development and representations (Hägglund, Schilar, and Keskitalo 2019).

Considering that certain types of tourism marketing material can influence the information contained in others (Bergmeister 2015; Duffy 2015), it is relevant to compare different ways in which this particular destination is marketed.

Theoretical framework

The circle of representation

The circle of representation exemplifies how certain imagery, as well as perceptions of authenticity, circulate between different users and media platforms. Images of exoticism are reproduced in tourism photographs for instance (Caton and Santos 2008). This was exemplified in Urry’s (1990) discussion of how images are produced and reproduced by tourists, as tourism is strongly visual. Jenkins (2003) describes how pictures of certain places, landscapes and people overlap between mainstream and user imagery. This is very prominent in the case of surf tourism, in which all destinations end up looking the same (Ponting 2009).

In order to explain how this process of circulation of imagery works, this article is based on a discourse analysis. The method will be discussed more thoroughly in the methodological section, but its theoretical underpinnings will be explained here. The circle of representation postulates that imagery is transmitted between different media and different types of representation. Discourse analysis is designed to study practices (Fairclough 2001), such as producing advertising for a destination. Social practices are seen as networked and one practice will affect others, especially when subordinate. As an example, when a destination marketer produces marketing material, their view will probably be influenced by movies and other media and the representations produced can create expectations for the tourists, which in turn would affect the locals, especially indigenous populations. This is the reason why multimodal discourse analysis (Hallett and Kaplan-Weinger 2010) was chosen. This particular method allows for a study of different practices and different authors, such as creating brochures (where the authors are usually companies and institutional actors), posting on Instagram (where the authors are actors including tourists) or writing guidebooks (where the authors are publishers). This is why the circle of representation and discourse analysis are both very suitable to study how representations circulate between different media platforms as well as messages, and to see how imagery spreads between different authors with different roles in the tourism industry.

UGC, brochures and guidebooks

Images can be circulated between different media in different ways. Brochures can perpetuate stereotypical images (Sun and Luo 2016; Vanolo and Cattan 2017), especially in the context of Indigenous populations (Young 2009). Guidebooks can also be used to support certain narratives (Bhattacharyya 1997; Irving 2019) and stereotypes (Bender, Gidlow, and Fisher 2013), while brochures have been used as a legitimization tool (Bratt 2018). Guidebooks can also instil certain expectations in the tourists (Ogden 2019). Similarly, Instagram can further colonial relations (Smith 2018), while brochures can promote “taken-for-granted views of society as unproblematic truths” (Edelheim 2007, 5). This is common in the context of Indigenous tourism (Buzinde, Santos, and Smith 2006; Tresidder 2010; Burton and Klemm 2011; Niskala and Ridanpää 2016). One example is the description of the places in which Indigenous peoples live as remote (Hsu and Nilep 2015), while, in contrast, integrating Indigenous views in brochures can enhance the experience of the visitors (Zeppel and Muloin 2008). This kind of marketing material can also reinforce interpretations (Guedes and Jimenez 2016) and representations of places (Gunnarsdóttir 2011; Hoffman and Kearns 2016).

DMOs use social media in the traditional sense, as a marketing platform (Zelenka and Hruška 2018; Uşaklı, Koç, and Sönmez 2019), while potential visitors use the platform to gather information before travelling (Ebrahimi, Hajmohammadi, and Khajeheian 2019; Prisgunanto 2020). Through Instagram, users express their identity and their conceptualization of nature (Conti and Heldt Cassel 2020).

Authenticity

As imagery can circulate through the circle of representation, so can assumptions of what is authentic (Sang 2020). For instance, DMOs have a considerable amount of control and their way of portraying a place can conflict with the locals’ view on the area (Keskitalo and Schilar 2016). When producing their own marketing material, the Sámi connect authenticity to contemporaneity and modernity (De Bernardi 2020). When images are circulated through the circle of representation, destinations and the local populations are represented in a certain way and this becomes a frame for what is considered authentic (Caton and Santos 2008).

The scholarship on authenticity is quite vast and comprehensive (De Bernardi 2020), so in this context only relevant work for the topic at hand will be touched upon. Authenticity is conceptualized in this paper as a compromise between more fixed dimensions connected to culture and the fact that culture is also fluid and everchanging (De Bernardi 2020). This means that some reference to cultural artefacts (both tangible and intangible) are seen as important and create a community between the Sámi and between the Sámi and other Indigenous populations, as previously mentioned. Other aspects are instead more subjective. This kind of analysis of marketing material helps to understand how elements that are considered authentic in regards to Sámi culture(s) and that are important for both the Sámi and the promotion of a destination cross-path and where there is room for improvement. In fact, research on Indigenous populations such as the Sámi and authenticity intersect. Authenticity has been discussed in the context of indigeneity (Keskitalo and Schilar 2016; Keskitalo et al. 2019) and storytelling (Äikäs and Spangen 2016; Schilar and Keskitalo 2018a). Authenticity is also seen as the result of a negotiation between Indigenous populations and tourists (Lane and Waitt 2007) and is related to locality and souvenirs (Schilar and Keskitalo 2018b). Furthermore, Indigenous populations portrayed in brochures can be seen as a symbol for what is authentic (Chang, Wang, and Lin 2017).

Materials and methods

Materials and data collection

This study follows a similar procedure as the study by Paül i Agustí (2018) comparing brochures, Instagram pictures and guidebooks for Montevideo, Uruguay. Instagram is a widely used visual content app (Conti and Heldt Cassel 2020).

All three kinds of material are analyzed here in the context of tourism. Even though a more traditional means of conveying information to the tourists, guidebooks are still recommended as a good medium for certain segments and consumer groups (Fraiz, de Carlos, and Araújo 2020; Mieli and Zillinger 2020). Guidebooks also rely strongly on pictures as a communication tool (Korell 2018), which makes them easily comparable to Instagram pictures and brochures.

A total of 118 brochures, 3000 Instagram posts and one guidebook for the whole Lapland have been analyzed. The materials were collected between May of 2019 and June 2020. The brochures were collected in northern Sweden in places such as museums, shops, and tourist information offices, while the Instagram pictures were collected in chronological order from the hashtag #swedishlapland. It was not possible to collect the Instagram pictures for the same period as the brochures due to the large amount of posts associated with the hashtag (more than 170,000). The time span of the collected posts goes from the end of June to about mid-May 2020. The influence of Covid-19 is taken into consideration, even though Sweden did not enforce any travel restrictions except for travel from outside of the EU (Government Offices of Sweden 2020). One Instagram post may contain several pictures, and all were analyzed, the only excluded material was videos, as it requires another kind of content analysis technique.

The guidebook was published by Bradt publisher in 2015 and the author is James Proctor. This is one of the very few guidebooks that are specifically for Lapland and not for the Nordic countries including Lapland.

Data analysis

As previously mentioned, discourse is a fruitful frame of analysis for unbalanced power relations spread by images, as in the circle of representation. Discourse analysis is a method that requires an analysis of language (Fairclough 2001). This analysis includes different kinds of texts, from short picture descriptions, to hashtags, to long descriptions from the guidebook. Therefore, language will also be thematized and exemplified with extracts and examples. Pictures are analyzed in terms of themes, contents and in which contexts Sámi culture is presented, considering that most of the materials (brochures and UGC) are strongly visual. For the guidebook, pictures and texts were analyzed in the same manner, even though the longer texts necessitated a more thorough analysis of the language.

Discourse analysis is about looking at different aspects of social practice as well as identity performance. Following the multimodal discourse analysis method employed by Hallett and Kaplan-Weinger (2010), the analysis is based on different kinds of materials (both textual and pictorial). Furthermore, I discuss the themes that are presented, the messages that are communicated and how these relate to previous studies on the presentation of the Sámi and Indigenous populations. The analysis highlights how certain themes, which correspond to imagery and text, are recurrent and can contribute to the future spreading of misinformation and exotic images to new media messages.

In all of the cases, pictures have been classified based on previously conceptualized categories (Table 1), which have been elaborated by the author (De Bernardi 2020). The elaborated categories have been developed by analyzing websites of Sámi-run companies in Sweden which focus on highlighting Sámi understandings and values (Sametinget 2010, 4). The conceptualization of categories based on Sámi-produced websites is seen as a good point of departure for the analysis of other kinds of media.

Table 1. Categories used for coding (adapted from De Bernardi 2020).

Theme 1: Connection to nature/harmony with nature/peacefulness

Theme 2: Connection to reindeer

Theme 3: Connection to the past

Theme 4: The use of friendly language

Theme 5: “Authenticity” as a noun or adjective

Theme 6: The Sámi costume; the Sámi hut; the yoik; handicrafts; food

Theme 7: Joining the Sámi

Theme 8: Modernity and useful information for tourists

These categories are meant to summarize important aspects of Sámi culture(s), without reducing Sámi culture(s) to them. In fact, Sámi culture is here seen as Sámi culture(s) where there are aspects uniting the Sámi and creating commonalities with other Indigenous populations while also including important differences. This means that there are several dimensions that compose Sámi culture(s). The Sámi themselves, for instance, put a strong focus on what they define as “fake” Sámi culture (De Bernardi 2020; Kugapi et al. 2020; Müller and de Bernardi 2020). However, this is not something that the author can ascertain from pictures without being part of the Sámi community. Despite these potential pitfalls, the categories are based on an extensive review of previous literature both on the Sámi and on other Indigenous populations and have a prominent role in the production of marketing material and in the representations surrounding Lapland and other parts of the world (e.g. Olsen 2006, 2008; Hunter 2008; Niskala and Ridanpää 2016; Schilar and Keskitalo 2018b; Hägglund, Schilar, and Keskitalo 2019; De Bernardi 2020).

One of the most prominent aspects is to connect Indigenous populations to nature and wilderness (e.g. Pashkevich and Keskitalo 2017) and to the reindeer (e.g. Vladimirova 2011). This is also due to the popularity of nature-based tourism in the northern areas of the Nordic countries (Ren et al. 2021). Furthermore, handicrafts are an important aspect of Sámi culture and the same can be said about the traditional costume and the Sámi hut, which are also often present in marketing material as diversifying features (e.g. Olsen 2006). Authenticity is often mentioned in the websites’ text, which makes it an important concept to consider even for this analysis. Furthermore, the Sámi and other Indigenous populations are also often connected to the past and to history (e.g. Bruner 2001). As websites and the materials analyzed here are part of marketing communication, a category deals with friendly language and how it is used to entice the tourists. The last category refers to the showcasing of characteristics of modernity, which is a way to express resistance to dominant discourses (De Bernardi 2020).

In order to classify the material according to the categories, explicit references to Sámi culture, for example showing traditional costumes or handicrafts, were recorded. Examples are presented in Figures 1–8, which are explanatory examples collected from Wikimedia Commons to overcome the copyright restrictions of Instagram. Some pictures, such as Figures 1 and 2 contain explicit visual connections to Sámi culture, in other cases such as Figures 3 and 4, the connection to Sámi culture is made through text in the form of hashtags, captions and descriptions. Figure 5 shows an example of what tourists commonly post in relation to Lapland, even if no reference to the Sámi is present. These have also been collected and analyzed.

Figure 1. selbst gemacht/Public domain. Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wildnis5.jpg

Figure 2. Ernmuhl at lb.wikipedia / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:nordkappsami.jpg

Figure 3. Ninara from Helsinki, Finland / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%84k%C3%A4slompolo,_Lapland_(29850669207).jpg

Figure 4. Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saana_over_Ala-Kilpisj%C3%A4rvi,_Lapland,_Finland,_2015_April.jpg

Figure 5. Vincent Guth vingtcent / CC0. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aurora_borealis_over_Lapland_(Unsplash).jpg

Figure 6. W. Bulach / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:00_2843_Inlandsv%C3%A4gen_in_Lappland.jpg

Figure 7. Mats Andersson / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reindeer_herding.jpg

Figure 8. Florianej / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lapland_Paradise.jpg

The data collection is based on references to Sámi culture, such as different spellings of the word “Sámi” in different contexts. As this is a multimodal analysis, text supports the analysis of the pictures when the picture does not show clear references to Sámi culture. This means that references to important Sámi places that are not clearly connected by text or picture to Sámi culture may be missed, but the circulation of such images in terms of the circle of representation is unlikely considering the lack of a frame of reference. For the Instagram pictures, the process was to go through the posts and make an annotation of the posts containing Sámi culture. A total of 3000 Instagram posts associated with the hashtag #swedishlapland have been analyzed and notes were made of what was represented. The references to Sámi culture either in the picture, the text or in both were recorded. The posts that did not contain any reference were simply described in general; 85 posts out of 3000 clearly referred to Sámi culture either in picture, text or both.

Findings

Almost half of the analyzed brochures (circa 46%) contain Sámi culture in some form, either textual, pictorial or both. Considering that Sámi companies in Sweden were estimated to be about 100 in total in 2010 (Sametinget 2010), compared to the 2000 tourism companies present in Northern Sweden (Sjöberg and Arvidsson 2012), almost half of the brochures is a high number. The brochures were mostly in Swedish, while a few were in both languages or were published in two versions. Sámi languages were only found in four brochures, one of which was just a summary. A small number of brochures was also available in Finnish and in German.

Sámi culture is mostly present in brochures produced by institutions managing parks and other places, followed by companies, DMOs, tourist offices and different public, private as well as public-private partnerships. The most common way to show Sámi culture was by having both text and pictures. The most common theme is the Sámi association with reindeer and their association with the past, followed by a presentation of Sámi modernity.

Of the 3000 posts that were analyzed on Instagram, the Sámi were clearly present in 85. Most of the posts were in Swedish and by companies and shops. The Sámi are mostly associated with related hashtags such as #sápmi, #saamiland and #ilovesapmi, hashtags related to close cities and towns (e.g. #welcometogallivare) and with hashtags related to nature and wilderness such as #elementsofwild and #nature. Posts from shops related to handicrafts are often tagged with #homemade, #handmade and #handcraft. Tags can also refer to the materials used such as #skinn. Pictures of nature landscapes including hashtags related to photography are also present and users also like to show they are travelling by adding tags related to travel (e.g. #travelgram). Some authors, who indicated their Sámi origin, also spread information through their posts about the everyday life of the Sámi. In the collected posts, the Sámi are mostly associated with nature, the reindeer and other cultural markers such as the hut and traditional clothing. The traditional clothing is mostly shown because the pictures are of celebrations, and only one was for clear tourism purposes.

The guidebook to Lapland (Proctor 2015) has a reindeer on the front cover and a picture of a woman in Sámi costume is included in the interior cover page. The Sámi are also presented together with a series of pictures showcasing the destination. The traditional costume, the reindeer and the Sámi tent are in focus. The guidebook provides these pictures with information describing the Sámi and with a reference to a section of the guidebook in which the Sámi are presented. The spelling used for Sámi is the same used in this publication. Information about the Sámi is also given in other parts of the guidebook, such as in the introduction, which opens with a Sámi proverb. The Sámi have a strong presence through the guidebook from the section outlining the history of the region to all of the different companies that are showcased. The handicraft certification Sámi Duodji (2021) is mentioned but not described.

Discussion

As shown in Table 1, there are different themes that have been identified in marketing material produced by Sámi tourism companies. Indigenous populations are often connected to the reindeer, to nature, to the past and to tangible and intangible aspects of heritage, as presented in other studies on, for instance, brochures (Olsen 2006; Niskala and Ridanpää 2016), but also in other contexts (Hägglund, Schilar, and Keskitalo 2019).

Connection to nature and the reindeer (Themes 1 and 2)

Nature is an important aspect of the tourism offer of Lapland, both in Sweden, Finland and Norway (Fredman and Tyrväinen 2010). The focus of this investigation is the summer season, so another common tourism product for the area is fishing (Byström and Müller 2014; Kajan 2014). Nature landscapes and fishing are prominent themes in both the brochures and the UGC from Instagram. In the brochures nature is not often associated with Sámi culture. Examples of the common themes are presented in Figures 3 and 4. In the brochures, pictures of landscapes are common and the same can be argued for the UGC materials. For instance, memories from the winter and snowy landscapes (Figure 4) are very common. Hashtags and descriptions are about travelling and nature. Regarding the association of Indigenous populations such as the Sámi with nature, problematic representations are the ones in which the Sámi are placed, often in traditional clothing, in the middle of a natural wilderness (Niskala and Ridanpää 2016), which bears the risk of associating them with the element of the “untouched” (Pashkevich and Keskitalo 2017; Heldt Cassel 2019; Keskitalo et al. 2019).

If the association with nature is toned down in the brochures, the UGC material from Instagram, which is strongly based on visual cues, reinforces this association. Landscapes such as the ones previously shown are common for the collected materials that mention the Sámi in the text or in the hashtags. The reindeer is also common in the UGC in general, but most often the Sámi are not mentioned in the description or in the hashtag. One example of a common theme when it comes to reindeer is Figure 6. Herds grazing in nature are often portrayed as well as conventional reindeer herding work, as shown in Figure 7. Furthermore, tourists visiting companies that include reindeer in their products also take pictures with the animal, as shown in the example of Figure 8. However, this picture was uncommon and was not placed in Theme 2 because the description contained information about the Sámi and their modern lives. The reindeer are featured in the brochures, but when associated with the Sámi, an interview of a tourism company and/or a reindeer herder accompanies the picture. The reindeer is also featured in one specific brochure produced by Sámi institutions to inform visitors about Sámi people and Sámi culture.

As previously mentioned, guidebooks are often criticized for portraying places and peoples in a stereotypical way (Bhattacharyya 1997; Bender, Gidlow, and Fisher 2013), which is partially the case here as well. In a section about the religion and mythology of the Sámi (Proctor 2015, 43–44), harmony with nature is described as very important. The same is argued in the context of Sámi art (Proctor 2015, 69). Another problematic aspect is that reindeer are described as being a common sighting in Lapland, which conveys an idea of untamed wilderness where the reindeer roams free for the tourists to snap pictures of. The reindeer is also described as being “domesticated” or “semi-tame” (Proctor 2015, 26), which communicates the idea of an animal that would go close to humans when spotted, which is not the case. In the same section the reindeer marking is described as an “impressive photo” opportunity, which is not true for every reindeer herder family. In the UGC material there were a few pictures of reindeer markings, but the Sámi were not mentioned in the post. People can be invited to see and to take pictures, otherwise the pictures portray a conventional work day outdoors. This kind of portrayal can lead the tourists to interrupt or disturb conventional activities, which has already happened in the past (Viken 2006; Kugapi et al. 2020).

The hashtags also connect the area to themes of travelling, relaxation and wanderlust in nature (Stamou and Paraskevopoulos 2004). Some examples are #nature, #nationalgeographic, #thewanderco, #stayandwander, #outdoors, #splendid, #mindful, #travelholic, #natureperfection and #wildlife. This connects the Sámi to nature in a way that could potentially result in exoticization as a strong connection to untouched nature is established (Keskitalo and Schilar 2016).

Connection to the past, heritage and “joining” the Sámi (Themes 3, 6 and 7)

Indigenous populations such as the Sámi are involved in marketing materials based on tangible and intangible elements of their heritage. One example that I mentioned earlier is the Sámi traditional costume, which was not prominent in either the UGC material or the brochures. The traditional costume is a prominent theme in marketing of the Nordic countries (Keskitalo et al. 2019; Brattland et al. 2020; Kugapi et al. 2020). The depiction in the brochures does not frequently include the traditional Sámi costume and when the representation is present, it includes information and portrayal of the evolving Sámi culture such as fashion and design. One aspect that emerged from the analysis of the UGC, which is not present in marketing, is the traditional Sámi costume displayed in the context of family functions. Both the depiction in the brochures and the UGC will be discussed more in detail in the following section regarding the modernity and contemporaneity of Sámi culture.

Both the brochures and the guidebook do have instances in which Sámi people are on the cover of a leaflet, or in the very beginning of the guidebook, standing wearing traditional costume or standing in the traditional costume close to a reindeer. One example is given in Figure 2. This kind of representation can shape the expectations of the tourists, which can once again lead to an invasion of people’s private spaces (Kugapi et al. 2020), such as important family functions. Furthermore, the guidebook does contain an exotic description of the costume as “brightly coloured” (Proctor 2015, 15). This is followed by information about the fact that the costume is not always worn for tourists, but this characterization still has a strong link of the exotic Other (Olsen 2008). However, even the brochure designed to inform visitors about Sámi people and culture features members of the community wearing the traditional costume on the cover. The traditional costume is a very important cultural artefact (Kugapi et al. 2020), but, as previously mentioned, the tourism marketing features can have unwanted consequences. It is also important to mention that this particular brochure designed by Sámi institutions to educate about the Sámi was only available in Swedish, so the analyzed version is not meant for an international public.

Other important aspects of Sámi culture that are part of marketing are the handicrafts, the traditional chant yoik and the Sámi tent or hut, called respectively lávvu or goahti (with considerable linguistic variations depending on the Sámi language used). The tent or hut is often displayed in the UGC posts, but not so often in the brochures. The guidebook mentions the hut to explain the modern dwelling of the Sámi, but also to explain the history of alcohol abuse of the northern populations during the early nineteenth century. The stereotype related to alcohol intoxication in relation to the Sámi has been a common one (Müller and Kuoljok Huuva 2009) and this short description of the religious approach of the Sámi does not contribute to its eradication. In the UGC a concert with the traditional chant is advertised, while information about this cultural form of expression is given in the guidebook (Proctor 2015, 45–46), but no information is given about the modern forms of Sámi music such as rap and rock music (Ridanpää 2016; Ramnarine 2017).

Handicrafts and their production have a strong value in Sámi society. Some of the Instagram posts that are connected to the Sámi are advertising pictures for handicraft shops. Sámi handicrafts are also presented in the brochures and in the guidebook. Both contain addresses and contact information for shops and museums. One interesting aspect of the UGC is that many shops display designs that are similar to the ones produced by the Sámi, such as the bracelets with pewter thread embroidery, but no indication that the producer or the shop is Sámi. This highlights an issue with handicraft production that is not of easy solution. The Sámi Duodji certification is designed to protect Sámi handicrafts produced in a certain manner and with certain materials (Sámi Duodji 2021). However, conflicts over the “authenticity” of artefacts such as handicrafts exist, even internally in the Sámi community, and recently voices have called for a certification less strict than the Sámi Duodji in order to allow for more creative freedom (Kugapi et al. 2020). The brochures also feature information about handicrafts, in particular artists are interviewed about new designs and fashion, while in other cases shops and artists are advertised.

An aspect that is also often stressed in marketing is the association with the past (e.g. Olsen 2017). This is quite common in the brochures because many authors of the materials are institutions managing national parks, which often stress the long history of the places and subsequently the role of the Sámi. Some examples are descriptions of areas in which people have lived “as long as we can remember” or that the Sámi have lived in an area for thousands of years. This aspect is also present in other brochures and particularly in the one produced by Sámi institutions that is available in Swedish. This particular aspect was not stressed in the UGC material, while the guidebook provides a historical account for the Nordic countries and the Sámi are often mentioned in all of the historical periods described in the guidebook. The guidebook informs the reader that the history of settlement of Lapland is uncertain regarding its prehistory (Proctor 2015, 28). Even though there is still some uncertainty regarding the periods close to the end of the Ice Age, a Sámi settlement that is almost 10,000 years old has been discovered in Arjeplog (Svensk Information et al. 2005, 12–13), which conflicts with the information given in the guidebook. As previously mentioned, education is important (Chang, Wang, and Lin 2017). Even though uncontested knowledge is often not available, the consultation of members of the Sámi population or the addition of more information materials will provide more multifaceted facts to visitors relying on guidebooks for information.

An exotic image of indigenous populations such as the Sámi as stuck in the past is often present in marketing but also in other situations. For instance, the Sámi have been reprimanded for using mobile phones in the World Heritage area of Laponia. The reason is that this does not match a view of the Sámi as stuck in the past (Green 2009). This was also an issue for the presentation of the Sámi in brochures (Niskala and Ridanpää 2016).

The direct invitation to the reader to join the Sámi in certain activities was not common in the brochures and was recorded only a handful of times, while it has not been recorded in the analysis of the guidebook. For what concerns the UGC, this theme is only present in one of the analyzed posts.

Modernity, authenticity and friendly language (Themes 4, 5 and 8)

The Instagram posts were revealed to be an interesting case of analysis because sometimes there is a completely separate categorization between the information given in the text and the picture. This is the reason why I have opted for a multimodal discourse analysis. Many of the examples are those that were classified as being a representation of the modernity and fluidity of Sámi culture.

The analysis of these materials provided an additional subcategory to the previous thematization based on the websites. All of the analyzed material is from public profiles that tagged the pictures with the hashtag #swedishlapland and some of the pictures included family celebrations. This inadvertently provides the tourists with information about Sámi everyday life, as the costume is a very important cultural artefact and is indeed used to celebrate special occasions (Kugapi et al. 2020; samer.se 2022b). An example of this kind of situation is given in Figure 1 in which a member of the Sámi population happens to be wearing a traditional Sámi costume during pictures of family occasions or other activities. Not all the pictures in this category show members of the Sámi population wearing the costume; many are depicted in conventional dress, which means that potential visitors consulting the UGC materials will gain a window into the daily life of the Sámi, which is different from and yet very similar to the one of other Nordic citizens. The UGC material is also produced by members of the Sámi populations and other locals that provide information about the daily life of Sámi people. Considering the period in which the pictures were collected, this implies showing the reindeer, the marking and the roundup of the herd. There are also winter pictures that often are memories from previous years or periods. One example of the pictures showing the everyday life of the reindeer herder is Figure 7. The brochures also indirectly contain this aspect in certain instances where tourism entrepreneurs who also work with reindeer herding are interviewed about their daily lives and activities.

As previously mentioned, information is also given by the tourists visiting Lapland. In many of the posts written in English by tourists there is a clear effort to write informative posts about the Sámi. The themes that express modernity are a description of how the Sámi live nowadays, collaboration of international companies with local entrepreneurs, learning and even research about Sámi culture. This is an important aspect for the education of potential tourists and especially when the posts are from members of the Sámi population, this is an occasion for DMOs and other actors producing tourism marketing material to draw inspiration and initiate cooperation ventures with Instagram influencers. In this category I also included visits to a Sámi entrepreneur resulting in posts with pictures such as Figure 1, because in the description of the picture the visitor provides information about who the Sámi are and how they live.

Authenticity is not often mentioned as a term in the texts, hashtags and in the picture descriptions. This seems to be in line with a willingness to show authenticity and to transmit authenticity in different and indirect ways. This is something that Gilmore and Joseph Pine (2007) also mention, that authenticity is shown rather than spelled out. As mentioned by Keskitalo et al. (2019), authenticity is conceptualized in different ways by entrepreneurs in connection to their identity and locality. One interesting instance in which authenticity is mentioned is in the guidebook. In the description of a hotel in Lapland, it is mentioned that the hotel includes a stuffed reindeer “for authenticity” (Proctor 2015, 94). It is unclear if there is some degree of irony in this comment, but this is the only time in which authenticity is indirectly connected to the Sámi.

Other than this comment about authenticity, the guidebook does display a clear effort to communicate useful information to educate the tourists. Despite the problem with the account of the prehistory of the area and the problematic depiction of the Sámi religions, the Sámi are present in every historical period, informing the potential visitors about the modern life the Sámi conduct, even concerning their housing and transportation (Proctor 2015, 40). The guidebook also informs tourists that the Sámi would not want to be called Lapps and that the Sámi have been fighting for their rights to be recognized. The guidebook also provides information about the fact that the traditional costume is not worn specifically for tourism. As previously shown in research about the Sámi (De Bernardi 2020), entrepreneurs working with Sámi tourism are eager to show to the tourists that they have a strong tradition and connection to history, but also that they are modern people. The information given in this context is very important and more education should be provided through especially guidebooks and brochures.

Concerning friendly language, this was referred to as a way to refer to the tourists that includes talking directly to the reader as “you” (De Bernardi 2020); this was not present in the brochures or in the UGC. The guidebook does contain some instances of this kind of language, however (e.g. Proctor 2015, 15, 68).

Conclusions

This analysis of brochures available in northern Sweden shows some differences as well as commonalities with previously examined marketing of Sámi tourism (De Bernardi 2020). Furthermore, the analysis also shows some new emerging characteristics regarding the daily lives of the Sámi. Recent studies about Sámi culture connected to the representation of places have described this kind of promotional information, connected to authenticity, as potentially ambiguous and as supporting of dominant discourses of colonialism and stereotypes (Heldt Cassel 2019). In this study it is shown that materials differ in relation to how the tourism discourse regarding indigenous populations is reproduced. A previous study on tourism web marketing produced by Sámi tourism companies showed that the Sámi were using certain elements that are common in the tourism marketing discourse (De Bernardi 2020). This is especially highlighted in the comparison between materials produced by Sámi and materials such as guidebooks. The UGC material acts as a sort of middle-way as it contains materials produced by all kinds of actors, including locals and visitors. Materials such as guidebooks and brochures still contain elements of exoticism, while several elements of modernity are meant to show to potential visitors that Sámi culture is contemporary, fluid and constantly evolving (De Bernardi 2020).

The analyzed marketing material includes information on important elements of Sámi culture in the tourism context, such as contemporary Sámi culture and fashion, while also highlighting important traditional activities that are still carried out and are important nowadays. This exemplifies the conceptualization of authenticity as a compromise, which is a balance between elements that are seen as important or even constitutive to Sámi culture(s) as well as different subjective interpretations (De Bernardi 2020). Sámi entrepreneurs and artists were involved in the brochures through interviews, stories, and recommendations. The UGC instead does not showcase many posts regarding Sámi culture as only 85 out of 3000 contained some reference to Sámi culture, while the brochures are exactly the opposite in terms of representation. This highlights the importance of involving local minorities such as the Sámi in the production of marketing material, in order to achieve a more balanced portrayal of the culture and heritage. Engaging more with UGC not only as a traditional marketing channel, but to also involve followers with activities such as co-creation, virtual products, virtual communities and direct communication (Shao, Rodriguez, and Gretzel 2012) would support the communication of relevant information to potential visitors and tourists.

This study involved the analysis of both Swedish and English materials, and there are some differences regarding the domestic and international market segments. As previously mentioned, images and representations can circulate between marketing communication and tourist photography in the circle of representation (Jenkins 2003). If this information spreads, the potential is to change the expectations of the tourists as well as positively benefit their experience (Chhabra 2008; Chang, Wang, and Lin 2017). This also implies an effort to expand language availability based on the local markets. The DMOs are producing materials that are the same in English and Swedish, but to direct the information specifically to each segment could enhance their learning and interest. For instance, the Sámi are seen differently by the Nordic populations than by international visitors. As the interest in people’s everyday lives grows (Olsen et al. 2019), tourists also look for difference when travelling to see Indigenous cultures (Müller and Viken 2017), therefore information should be catered to provide visitors with both education (Chang, Wang, and Lin 2017) as well as pull factors. Future research should look into the perspective of the producers of marketing materials such as regional and national DMOs as well as companies. Videos are seen as one of the ways in which tourism marketing can be more multifaceted and research could help to steer the efforts into the production of promotional material that is informative as well as enticing. Furthermore, the possibility to involve more local minorities in the production of marketing materials should be investigated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).