A quasi-experiment to map innovation perception and pinpoint innovation opportunities along the tourism experience journey

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the role of perceived innovativeness along the travellers' journey and, in particular, during the planning phase. The main determinants of perceived innovativeness of the tourism experience are in the focus of this study: the level of co-creation, authenticity, potential negative events, like unexpected long queues and the effects of surprise gifts. 116 responses in four different online scenarios were collected during the quasi-experiment. Each scenario resembled a distinct type of tourism experience journey by manipulating the above listed four determinants of perceived innovativeness. This way, a clearer understanding could be gained about the determinants’ influence on expectations, purchase intention and willingness to pay. The findings confirmed positive correlation between all the determinants and two of the outcomes: expectations and purchase intention, but not the willingness to pay. This latter does not change significantly due to customer reviews/updates about the tourism experience authenticity, neither as a result of negative or positive surprise events during the journey.