Travel Products Research Articles

The Influences of Travel Product Types on Online Travel Purchasing of e-Travel Agency

This study explores the relationships among technology acceptance, perceived online risk, reducing transaction cost, service quality and satisfaction of customers’ transaction process in the Taiwan e-travel agency context. A mail survey of online travel products purchasers achieved an effective response rate of 58.3%. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling and multigroup comparison. The findings reveal that technology acceptance, perceived online risk, reducing transaction cost, and service quality are directly influence transaction satisfaction. Furthermore, the travel product types show its moderating effects on perceived online risk, reducing transaction cost, and service quality to transaction satisfaction

Applying bivariate normal distribution to construct demand model for travel product

Ting et al., [Journal of Statistics & Management Systems, Vol. 13 (2010), No.3, pp. 479- 484] focused on the optimal pricing strategies for travel products under considering consumer’s willing to pay and affordability in order to maximize the firm’s profit. The main purpose of this study was to examine the impact of consumer’s willing to pay and transaction cost on the demand for travel products in order to establish better understanding of changes and trends in the demand of tourism. We investigated the percentage of transaction cost burdened by consumers and suppliers on the demand model for travel products under applying bivariate normal distribution. A demand model for travel product is constructed. In the condition of consumer willing to pay for travel product, as the supplier surplus is higher than two times of mean value of consumers transaction cost, the higher the percentage of transaction cost burdened by consumers, the more demand for travel products would be. When the supplier surplus is less than two times of mean value of consumers transaction cost, the higher the percentage of transaction cost burdened by consumers, the less demand for travel products would be.

FLYER'S CORNER: SOME SIMPLE TRUTHS ABOUT SCHEDULED AIR TRAVEL

Airlines in a state of crisis need to take steps to ensure revenues keep coming in. Repeat business and eventually loyalty is critical in that respect. This paper considers airline customer buying behaviour and preferences and post-flight attitudes with a view to identifying what makes the air travel product more appealing to customers. A structured web-based purposedesigned instrument was used to collect travel and traveller data and perceptions and the findings are prioritised using a consensus decision making approach. A major issue is identified and a two-step model is developed to demonstrate its significance for airline customers’ loyalty. Specific airline customer communications and other priorities and preferences are identified. In addition, it is found that airline customers have a number of complaints, many of which are not communicated to the airline, and it is demonstrated that these complaints impact on loyalty. It is therefore argued that airlines and researchers alike need to study customer complaints in relation to loyalty in greater detail. In view of both the economic situation in Greece and airline deregulation, this research is of significance to Greek airlines seeking to “tie” their customers and maintain market presence.

The Influences of Travel Product Types on Online Travel Purchasing of e-Travel Agency

The Influences of Travel Product Types on Online Travel Purchasing of e-Travel Agency

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions and Tourist Behaviors: A Review and Conceptual Framework

This paper develops a conceptual framework for analyzing tourist behaviors and identifies three categories of behaviors based on the applications of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the processes underlying these influences. Our findings indicate that tourist behaviors in the Before-Travel, During-Travel, and After-Travel stages differ significantly in terms of the applicability and process through which Hofstede’s cultural dimensions operate. The results of our analysis suggest three categories of behavioral patterns, namely, “Social Interaction Driven Travel Behaviors,” (SID), “Risk Tendencies Driven Travel Behaviors,” (RTD), and “Collectivity Orientation Driven Travel Behaviors,” (COD). SID relates to the evaluation of travel experiences in the after-travel stage. The dominant cultural values associated with SID are Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, and Power Distance. These three values act either independently or in pairs or all three together. RTD relates to the consumption of travel products in the during-travel stage, and COD relates to the formation of travel preferences in the before-travel stage. Individualism/Collectivism and Uncertainty Avoidance are associated with both RTD and COD. However, the underlying processes differ for these two categories of travel behaviors. In addition to their independent influences on travel behaviors, these two values associated with RTD and COD also have an interactive effect. For RTD, the Uncertainty Avoidance motive determines the Individualism/Collectivism outcome, whereas, for COD, the opposite is true: the Individualism/Collectivism determines the Uncertainty Avoidance outcome. The paper also discusses the application of a fifth cultural dimension, Confucian Dynamism (short-term versus long-term orientation), for the study of tourists’ behaviors.

Assessing structure in American online purchase of travel products

The Internet has become the primary channel for the purchase of a number of travel-related products including airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rental, tickets to events and attractions, etc. This study examines the pattern of travel-related products purchased online by American travelers. The results of this study indicate that there is a strong hierarchical structure in the purchasing of eight travel-related products. In addition, it appears that American travelers can be roughly classified into three travel product groups, ranging from the ‘Core Internet Traveler’ and ‘Advanced Internet Traveler’ to the ‘Comprehensive Internet (or Complete) Traveler.’ Finally, an analysis of the travelers indicates that they differ significantly in terms of demographic characteristics, information search behavior, and travel planning activities. These findings offer a number of important implications for destination marketing.

Fuzzy hierarchical evaluations of business website performance with application to luxury hotels

Goal and objectives of the dissertationGoalThis study evaluates usefulness performance of websites by integrating functionality and usability, a fuzzy hierarchical TOPSIS model was designed for calculation process.Objectives- to develop a comprehensive list of attributes for functionality based on literature;- to establish a comprehensive list of attributes for usability based on literature;- to integrate the applicability of these two lists in the Chinese and international context; and- to assess the usefulness (functionality and usability) performance of different groups of websites (China-based and international luxury hotels) using a fuzzy TOPSIS hierarchical model from users' perception.MethodologyThe research combines both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to achieve the objectives of developing a usefulness evaluation framework and evaluating usefulness performance of websites. methodology section includes three stages. At stage one, a qualitative approach that involved Chinese and international focus groups formed by population of tourists who have purchased or searched travel products in the past 12 months. New usefulness attributes for websites were discovered from Chinese online travelers, and then the applicability of these attributes in an international context was tested. result of group discussions was employed to establish a new set of usefulness evaluation measurement.Stage two aimed to collect the perceived importance of usefulness attributes from Chinese and international respondents who have visited or searched luxury websites. performance scores of selected websites were generated from Chinese and international evaluators. For a normal sampling distribution the minimum sample size should be 30 (Mendenhall & Beaver, 1995). Thus, the researcher randomly selected 30 international luxury hotels from the publication The Leading Hotels of the World (Romanella & Chung, 2007). China-based luxury hotels were selected from the top 30 Chinese cities that received more than 200,000 inbound tourists. Using Ctrip.com, the top online travel operator in China that provides a star-related list, hotels were randomly selected.The third stage used a modified fuzzy hierarchical TOPSIS model that integrates the perceived importance of usefulness into evaluation results, which represent the overall performance of selected luxury websites. research data were mainly calculated by newly developed fuzzy model.ResultsA new usefulness evaluation list was produced and the applicability of the new list was tested by both international and Chinese consumers. importance of each usefulness attribute was indicated by Chinese and international consumers, respectively. Results revealed that Chinese and international users had similar perceptions of functionality. most important attribute is reservation information. In particular, hotel location, room rate, secured payment system, hotel descriptions, and hotel facilities were evaluated as high importance by both international and Chinese luxury consumers. On the usability aspect, both international and Chinese consumers indicated that Access speed of website, information credibility, and website learnability was the most important among all usability attributes. Different perspectives were observed between these two groups of consumers. International consumers care more about how to explore a while Chinese consumers considered accessibility and ease of use as more important attributes. Therefore, hoteliers should treat these two groups of consumers separately during their development.The usefulness performance of 30 China-based and 30 international luxury websites was evaluated by both Chinese and international evaluators, respectively. …

Hedonic Motivations and the Effectiveness of Risk Perceptions–Oriented Revenue Management Policies

The study proposes that deal-seeking travelers’ perception of risk may have a dual and contradicting impact on expected utility and, consequently, on their propensity to search for a better deal and book the travel product. According to a traditionally utilitarian motivation, a high level of risk and the prospect of negative results reduce expected utility, and they are therefore likely to reduce search activities and increase booking. This study argues that, because of hedonic motivations, consumers may enjoy the risk elements of their search for a better deal and, consequently, may respond to higher levels of induced risk perception by increasing search activities and reducing booking. The study explains how this finding affects the way revenue-managing hotels, which seek to affect their customers’ behavior by inducing risk perceptions, should adapt their strategies.

Domestic vs outbound booking and channel choice behavior: evidence from New Zealand

PurposeThis paper seeks to analyze the extent to which New Zealand domestic and outbound travelers' book components of their trip in advance or at their destination and to explore the factors that influence this. Furthermore, the paper compares the distribution channels used by domestic and outbound travelers to purchase different travel products and to examine why these channels have been selected.Design/methodology/approachThe study involves the collection and analysis of data on the profiles, trip characteristics and distribution behavior of domestic and outbound travelers based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,000 respondents.FindingsLittle variation was found in the profile characteristics of domestic and outbound travelers but significant differences occurred in terms of the trip characteristics, the extent of booking in advance and at the destination, reasons why advance bookings were not made, how bookings were made and the channels used all exhibited significant differences according to domestic or outbound travel. This pattern was less consistent with regards to the factors influencing how the bookings were made and the factors affecting channel choice.Research and practical implicationsThe findings illustrate the complexity of travel decision‐making issues, underline the need to take account of differences between domestic and outbound travel and across trip components, and to examine the factors that underlie distribution related behavior.Originality/valueThe value and originality of this paper lie in the systematic comparison of the booking and channel choice behavior of domestic and outbound travelers, the search for factors influencing this behavior and a sectoral approach that differentiates transport to and at the destination.

온라인 구전 여행정보의 신뢰와 구전효과 연구

오늘날 인터넷의 대중화가 이루어지면서 소비자들은 온라인 게시판 등을 통해 다양한 구전정보를 손쉽게 접할 수 있게 되었다. 여행에 있어 관광객의 정보교류 및 획득이 수월해짐에 따라 온라인 구전(e-WOM: Eloctronic Word-of-Mouth)은 현대사회에 있어서 가장 영향력 있는 커뮤니케이션 수단 중 하나로 부상하였다. 이는 여행사 입장에서도 중요한 의미를 갖는다고 하겠다. 이에 본 연구는 서울과 수도권에 재학중인 330명의 대학생을 대상으로 온라인 구전에 대한 신뢰, 브랜드 태도, 구전수용, 구전활동, 여행상품 구매의도 간의 관계를 분석한 결과, 첫째, 온라인 구전의 신뢰는 브랜드 태도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 브랜드 태도는 구전수용, 구전활동 및 여행상품 구매의도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 구전수용은 구전활동에는 긍정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 판명되었으나 여행상품 구매의도에는 유의하지 않은 결과로 나타났다. 따라서 여행사는 자사의 홈페이지나 브랜드 커뮤니티를 통한 온라인 구전의 관리에 있어서, 신뢰를 기반으로 한 긍정적 브랜드 태도의 형성을 통해 고객이 이를 적극적으로 수용하고 널리 전파하도록 노력해야 함을 시사한다. Today's wide-spread Internet technology allowed consumers to access much Word-of-Mouth information through an online board. As communication and exchanging information between travelers becomes easier and faster, e-WOM (Electronic Word-of-Mouth) is recognized as one of the most influencing communication methods in today's society. This new trend implies a significant impact to travel industry. This study focuses on interaction between Credibility on e-WOM, brand attitude, WOM acceptance, WOM activity and purchasing intention of travel product. The result of this study suggests: (1) Credibility in e-WOM provides positive effect in brand attitude, (2) Brand Attitude gives positive effect on WOM acceptance, WOM activity and purchasing intention of travel product, (3) WOM acceptance gives positive effect on WOM activity, but it is not effective on purchasing intention of travel product. Regarding e-WOM management of travel agencies through its website or online community, authors would like to argue that travel agencies need to build positive brand attitude based on Credibility in brand, which would lead consumers to positively acknowledge its brand and spread words out to other consumers.

Marketing Heritage Tourism Destinations: A Rejoinder



Research on Personalized Recommendation Technology for Tourism Industry - A Perspective of a System Framework Design

When massive information brings people more channels to attain messages, there generates different types of new personalized recommendation systems. As the important sector for social development, tourism industry suffers the problem of information over-loading. In the construction of personalized recommender system mainly involves two problems: information acquisition and personalized recommender. This recommender system is able to form client’s databank after user’s login and assessment for various travel destination and products to support more accurate user’s information mining. The authors adopt improved hybrid recommender algorithm through combining collaborative filtering algorithm with content-based recommendation algorithm. The relationship of user and travel destination can be classified as the interested and disinterested. So it can predict the degree of new users’ enthusiasm towards different types of travel destination to realize personalized travel recommendation.

Shopping orientation and online travel shopping: The role of travel experience

AbstractThis paper investigates how consumers' shopping orientation toward travel shopping influences their tendency to shop for travel products on the Internet. The paper also looks into the role of consumers' travel experience. A conceptual model is developed and a number of hypotheses are forwarded and tested by structural equation modeling, using data from 256 respondents. The results support several of the stated hypotheses. Shopping orientation and travel experience both influence travelers' intentions to shop travel products online. Implications for management practice and further research are discussed at the end of the paper. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Travel Packaging on the Internet

Packaging travel products on the Internet is increasing in prevalence, yet limited research exists on how consumers evaluate and purchase vacation packages online. Research on product bundling is plentiful but has been conducted primarily in non-Internet purchase settings. The current research seeks to fill the void in both areas by investigating consumer choices of Internet vacation packages. In this study, an online panel of research subjects chose between 12 pairs of Las Vegas vacation packages that varied as a function of rate transparency, savings, and price. The findings suggest that transparent pricing, that is, itemization of individual package components and discounts, is preferred if it reduces uncertainty or simplifies the decision process. Nontransparent pricing is more effective if savings are not shown or the price is higher than the alternative, in which case the itemized components complicate the decision process without providing useful information.

A model of online trust for travel products

E-travel is expected to grow at an aggressive rate in the coming years, but a lack of trust on the part of potential customers may impede this growth. As transactions through the internet continue to increase, success will largely depend on customers’ trust in the company. Trust is important to all marketing transactions, yet few studies have examined the phenomenon in an online environment for travel products. The results of this study suggest that e-brand image and user web experience have strong correlations with the establishment of online brand trust for travel products. The user web experience and online brand trust also have significant positive impacts on the satisfaction level of customers’ online purchasing experience. These results provide a platform upon which future research can be built.

The impact of travel product transaction types on customer relational benefits

Given the rapid development of the internet market and TV shopping, travel agencies are also using these electronic distribution channels to conduct travel product transactions. However, the adoption of internet and TV shopping channels has reduced a substantial portion of interaction between customers and service providers, which may negatively affect customer relationships and, in turn, decrease customer relational benefits. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of different travel product transaction types on customer relational benefits. Results indicate that interpersonal transaction is rated significantly higher than internet and TV shopping in the three dimensions of customer relational benefits. Finally, implications of these findings for travel industry managers in terms of channel strategies and customer relationship management are subsequently discussed.

The Distinctiveness Of The Youth Travel Product

The paper aims to analyze the specific fe atures of the youth travel product. Among these, the most important is the complexity, which is determined by the four qualitative aspects: wide accessibility, safety and security, flexibility and quality. Another goal of this article is to research the main components of the youth travel pr oduct. On these lines, the paper presents the basic components of this type of product, namely: b ooking services, travel arrangements made by youth, specific accommodation units, recreational a ctivities, etc.

Online Information Search Strategies: A Focus On Flights and Accommodations

ABSTRACT The problem of the research was to understand information search strategies that individuals utilized in online travel product purchases. Two products, flights and accommodations, were selected to examine each product's explanatory variables in online purchase behaviors. The results indicate online flight purchasers utilize direct information sources and focus on transactional attributes. Online accommodation purchasers utilize various types of sources; and they focus not only on transactional, but also informational and branding attributes. The study results support the constructive consumer choice processes theory and suggest some marketing tips for the airline and lodging industries.

When east meets west: An exploratory study on Chinese outbound tourists’ travel expectations

The booming Chinese outbound tourism has attracted worldwide attention. This study attempts to examine Chinese tourists’ expectations of outbound travel products. A series of focus groups were conducted in eleven cities in China and various issues, concerns, and problems were identified related to Chinese outbound tourists’ expectations of accommodations, food and restaurants, tour guides and itineraries, entertainment and activities, and transportation. The focus group results showed that, while Chinese outbound tourists share many of the same fundamental needs and desires of all tourists, this group has particular expectations in terms of amenities and service standards. Understanding these expectations may help Western service providers better serve this market.

An analysis of pricing strategy under growing income inequality: a case of travel product

From the perspective of the firms, it is important to understand customer’s demand and willingness to pay (WTP). The objective of this study is trying to present the pricing strategies on growing income inequality in order to maximize the firm’s profit. A basic premise of this study assume that effective demand function is influenced by consumer’s affordable price. We discuss when the firms set unit selling price of the product is higher(lower) than average value of consumer’s affordable price, whether it will affect profit of the firms, optimal selling price or not. The numerical analysis demonstrates under growing income inequality, when the firms set unit selling price of the product is higher than the average value of consumer’s affordable price, the higher of unit selling price does not bring more beneficial to the firms. When the firms set unit selling price of the product is lower than the average value of consumer’s affordable price, the profit of firms would be gradually convex as the high of unit selling price is.