Determinants of the Use of Contextual and Temporal Cues in Service Settings

Abstract

Consumer services such as airlines and hotels have seen a proliferation of bookings through the Internet. The other dominant mode for making airline and hotel purchases is via telephone. This study investigates the differences in the extent to which contextual and temporal cues are utilized in reference price formation between those who make purchases using the telephone, Internet proprietary sites, and Internet third party sites. Further, the effects of brand loyalty, purchase frequency, and the likelihood of unavailability on the use of temporal and contextual cues are also hypothesized. A scale is developed to measure temporal and contextual cues. Exploratory findings are obtained with data collected from 91 students in a mid-atlantic university about airline and hotel purchases made by them.