Travel Purchase Research Articles

Exploring customer experience, commitment, and engagement behaviours

ABSTRACT The creation of strong customer experiences is a pivotal topic in the services marketing field, as customer experience (CX) has repeatedly been associated with customer commitment and customer engagement behaviours. However, the relationship between these constructs and their different roles – including their respective sub-components – in the customer purchase journey have received little research attention. To address this shortcoming, the authors propose a theoretical framework delineating the constructs’ relationships in a retail context. To test this framework, data were collected from Australian retail customers and subsequently analysed with PLS path modelling techniques. The results show that the explored constructs and their sub-components, although interrelated, have different performance effects. More specifically, the findings suggest that CX positively affects customer commitment, which in turn positively affects customer engagement behaviours, whereas a more nuanced picture emerges for the construct’s sub-dimensions. The study contributes to marketing theory and practice and concludes with limitations and future research directions.

Antecedents to Online Travel Purchase: Role of Network Benefits, Pilgrimage Packages, Interactivity, Trust and Customer Reviews

ABSTRACT Customers prefer apps over websites for travel search and booking. However, websites offer a competitive advantage over apps in terms of branding and CRM opportunities. Therefore, to retain customers on travel websites, this research investigated the role of monetary incentives resulting from network benefits, cultural adaptation of websites by offering pilgrimage packages, website interactivity, ease of information access, trust, and customer reviews on website continuance intention. Data was collected from 356 travel website customers. The results indicate that network benefits, interactivity, pilgrimage packages act as antecedents to trust, and customer reviews moderate trust and website continuance intention relationship.

Achieving customers’ repurchase intention through stimuli and site attachment

ABSTRACT Despite its widespread use as a purchase channel, the Internet still provokes consumer concerns when it comes to the acquisition of high-involvement services, such as travel. This study, therefore, explores customers’ intentions to repeat their online travel purchases, depending on the level of attachment they develop with a website, as is driven by high- and low-task relevant website characteristics. With an innovative, electronic Stimulus–Organism–Response model that introduces a new site attachment variable, this study reveals that, among experienced online travel purchasers, service quality, security and privacy issues, and entertainment all function as stimuli to incite affective, cognitive, and social activity and thereby enhance site attachment. This site attachment, in turn, evokes beneficial customers’ responses, in the form of increased intentions to purchase travel services online again. With this distinctive approach to observing customers’ reactions to and interaction with websites, this study establishes several strategic implications that can help companies enhance their service features and provision, as well as ensure lasting relationships with their customers.

TTK Group’s “SKORE”: scoring in the condom industry

Learning outcomes To appreciate the link of marketing strategy in terms of a brand launch, implementation and sustainability for business growth; to appreciate the complexity of consumer behavior in the purchase and usage journey of consumers for condoms; to analyze the nature of competition for the entry of a differentiated new brand; to analyze points-of-parity and points-of differentiation for uniquely positioning a new brand in the condom category; and to examine, analyze and evaluate strategic options for the next stage of growth. To make choices from the options. Case overview/synopsis Vishal Vyas, General Manager Marketing, TTK Protective Devices Limited (TTKPDL), had been a part of the exciting journey of launching SKORE, their new brand of condoms. In 2010, the company found itself in a rather unusual circumstance when it lost its rights to the most successful condom brands in the country. However, they had with them their sales and marketing expertise, a good team and a strong and loyal network of retailers. TTKPDL decided to enter the rather crowded Indian condom market and launch a new brand, SKORE. As a product category, condoms were particularly complex, socially, as well as in attitude toward their purchase and usage. SKORE went on to optimally using marketing strategy and gaining a strong foothold by capturing market share from strong players with a differentiated positioning of a brand that was youthful and quirky. By 2017 after having steadily grown the brand, Vyas was now looking for the next level of growth in a market, which not only appeared to be stagnating but also one where competitive activity was increasing. He was considering different options for SKORE’s growth. For TTKPDL, the strategic choice may be between expanding to new markets and new segments of consumers or capturing more of their currently defined target group or both. If they wanted to do something different, should they also look at expanding their product portfolio? Vyas needed to decide on the next move. Complexity academic level This case can be used in the core MBA Marketing Management course or core marketing course in the executive education program to highlight the important link of marketing strategy to business strategy. It can also find a place in marketing strategy and consumer behavior courses. It clearly demonstrates the launch and implementation of a new brand in a cluttered market of a sensitive product category and considers strategic options for further growth. The case is designed to help students appreciate consumer behavior for a sensitive product category and the entry of a new brand with five strong brands leading the market. It guides students toward looking at different options for the next level of growth and making recommendations. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.

Segmentation of Brazilian travelers’ mobile purchase behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to segment travelers by their predispositions regarding the adoption of smartphones to purchase travel-related services, which is crucial for developing specific marketing strategies for each group of tourists.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with 1,014 Brazilian travelers assessing their smartphone usage frequency and predispositions regarding travel purchases. The authors selected three variables related to the users’ acceptance of technology (perceived usefulness, ease of use and intentions to use smartphones for tourism purchases) and m-commerce perceptions of risk. Segmentation was conducted employing cluster analysis.FindingsThe authors identified three significantly different clusters of travel consumers: “Risk Ignorers,” “Cautious Users” and “Conservatives.” Risk perceptions appeared to be the main discriminating variable, followed by perceptions that smartphone apps are useful and free of effort.Research limitations/implicationsThe non-probabilistic snowball sampling technique of Brazilian travelers may limit the generalization of the findings. Also, the use of intentions as one of our clustering variables instead of actual purchase behavior might bring limitations.Practical implicationsSegmentation enables the development of specific marketing strategies for each group, encompassing different risk profiles. Cautious travelers demand the development of safe and trustworthy m-commerce environments, as well as reassuring communication approach to reduce their perceptions of risk in performing mobile-mediated transactions. Conservatives demand marketers to build simpler and more straightforward apps to entice them.Originality/valueThe study reveals more fine-grained nuances to the role of mobile technology and its impact on travelers, unveiling important differences across travelers’ predispositions toward smartphone adoption that is distinctively associated with usage patterns regarding their risk profiles.

Customer Purchase Journey, Privacy Choices, and Advertising Strategies

Advertising to a consumer moves her further along the purchase journey, and tracking the consumer's online activities enables the advertiser to infer her purchase journey stage and target her accordingly. However, many consumers dislike being tracked, and repeated advertising leads to ad wearout. Under these considerations, we investigate the impact of regulations that endow a consumer with the choice to opt in to have her activity be tracked or opt out of tracking. A consumer's opt-in decision balances two aspects of privacy: its intrinsic value (protect privacy for its own sake) and its instrumental value (compromise privacy if doing so leads to utility-enhancing outcomes). Consumers opt in or out of tracking under different conditions. For instance, when ad effectiveness is intermediate, such that repeated ads would be useful for the advertiser, consumers opt in. This is because tracking reveals the consumer's purchase journey stage, which increases advertising efficiency and thus reduces ad repetition than if the consumer had opted out. Due to the opt-in/-out choice, and compared to the pre-regulation benchmark of consumer data being tracked, consumer surplus weakly increases and the advertiser's and the ad network's profits weakly decrease. Interestingly, the advertiser's and the ad network's profits may decrease in ad effectiveness.

Viability of Amazon’s driven innovations targeting shoppers’ impulsiveness

The growth of new technological innovations has given rise to a highly digitized retailing world that is re-defining the consumer purchase journey. Innovations, such as Amazon's Alexa, Dash-buttons (physical and virtual), and Spark, have indeed led to the creation of an Omni-channel journey that reshaped the shopping experience. Such tech-disruptions are likely to have a significant bearing on shoppers, brands and retailers, which is expected to vary between the short and the long-term. A quantitative research based on 600 U.S. Amazon customers studied the long-term incremental sales effect of e-retailers' tech innovations when driven by impulsive shopping behavior. The findings show that while retailers' tech-driven solutions would increase shoppers' impulsiveness, and hence sales, their continued interaction with such purchasing solutions would decline over time, making the overall innovation cycle much shorter.

The ideal companion: the role of mobile phone attachment in travel purchase intention

ABSTRACT Mobile phones have become a highly personal tool for individuals and have revolutionized many aspects of travellers’ lives. Indeed, mobile phones can be considered an integral part of travellers’ trip routines, thus engendering strong feelings of attachment to them. Following the stimulus–organism–response model, this paper analyses how certain stimuli (travellers’ addiction to their device, perceived control, perceived entertainment, and subjective norms) influence travellers’ mobile phone attachment (MPA) and intention to purchase travel using the device. The results of this model show the importance of personal and environmental factors in increasing MPA and reveal how this attachment positively influences intention toward mobile shopping for travel-related purchases. This work proposes a model in both the mobile and travel contexts with MPA as the central variable. As such, this paper contributes to the academic literature and yields several recommendations for business practice.

Divisional advertising efficiency in the consumer car purchase funnel: A network DEA approach

Previous advertising efficiency studies have neglected the “black box” of the consumer purchase funnel. Thus, this study decomposes advertising efficiency into marketing and sales efficiency to unravel a complicated and multi-stage consumer purchase decision, and measures divisional advertising efficiency in the US consumer car purchase funnel using a slack-based measure network data envelopment analysis. Additionally, this study identifies consumer key brand perception attributes that affect divisional advertising efficiency by using a bootstrapped truncated regression to offer strategic advertising initiatives that are appropriate to car brand position and characteristics at each step of the customer buying funnel. The contributions of this study are twofold. First, this study is an unprecedented attempt at researching the divisional advertising efficiency for opening the hidden “black box” of the consumer car purchase journey. Second, this study suggests that advertising strategies, such as advertising themes and appeal type, should be differentiated in accordance with consumer key brand perception attributes at each step of the customer buying funnel, depending on car brand types such as luxury and mainstream.

Family versus couples: How travel goal influences evaluations of bundled travel packages

This research investigates how travel goal activates judgmental heuristics when choosing a travel package. Family travelers must consider the complex needs of all family members, whereas couples face simpler demands. Since motivations vary according to traveling companions, the decision-making processes are different by the travel goal. Pricing is a determinant of decisions for travel packages bundled with add-on items. When the decision process requires less mental effort, the availability heuristic operates when filtering products by travel goal, and the representativeness heuristic works when seeking consistency between add-on items and the travel goal. Dual processing theories suggest that goal influences the motivation to process information systematically or automatically when making choices. An experiment was conducted to examine how the decision-making process differs as a function of travel goal, price bundling, and the consistency between the travel goal and add-on item. The findings suggest that judgmental heuristics influence travel purchase decision when motivation to process information is low. Specifically, the current research supports the proposition that automatic processing influences couples’ travel decisions while systematic processing works for family travel decisions. The research suggests the use of an effective segmentation for vacation packages in the online purchase environment and highlights the importance of a travel goal in decision-making.

When is Concentration a Good Thing? The Dynamic Effect of Recommendation Concentration on Consumer Purchase

The effect of recommendation concentration is critical to profit maximization of e-commerce platforms. However, recommendation with high concentration level may not always be a good thing to purchase behavior which researchers know little about. To fill this gap, we develop a stochastic model to capture the state-dependent effect of recommendation concentration on purchase behavior. Specifically, we introduce a hidden Markov model (HMM) to investigate the following research questions: (1) is there any hidden state that potentially governs the dynamic purchase journey? (2) If so, how will concentration-level factors affect purchase behavior given a consumer's hidden state? (3) How does recommendation concentration play a role in transferring consumers among different hidden states? Would concentration levels in different recommendation systems (popularity recommender, content-based recommender and collaborative filtering recommender) make a difference? Based on Bayesian estimation of the model with a granular click-stream dataset from a vertical e-commerce platform of liquors, we identify three consumer states governing the purchase process, which are termed as awareness'', interest'' and desire'' respectively. Our results show that the effects of recommendation concentration on purchase are state-dependent. Concentrated recommendation with focal product is effective to boost the focal product's conversion rate in awareness state, whereas it would depress the conversion rate of the focal product in interest state. In addition, recommendation concentration has a significant impact on moving consumer into a deeper state in which the intrinsic purchase intention is higher. Furthermore, through counterfactual simulations of different concentration strategies, our findings offer implications for e-commerce platforms on when and how recommendation concentration should be introduced dynamically, which stimulates more purchase actions eventually.

Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Based Automatic Determination of Travel Preferences of Chinese Tourists

Background and Objective: Tourism and travel sector continues to grow by gaining an important place in the world economy and many countries want to increase their share in this sector. At the same time, it is known that today's consumer tourism and travel purchase decisions are influenced by social media. By examining the data of consumers on social media, it is possible for businesses to reach the right person and get more efficiency from high-cost promotion activities. The study aims to analyze the historical data of users on TripAdvisor with artificial intelligence methods to reveal a profile of consumers who might prefer Turkey. Methods: In this context, TripAdvisor, which is one of the best-known websites in the tourism sector, is an important source of data for countries to increase their share in the tourism market. Inferences can be made by using artificial intelligence methods and the data in TripAdvisor together. In this study, as a case study, the potentials of Chinese tourists to prefer Turkey are dealt because Turkey has increased its tourism targets ten folds for China and the year 2018 was declared as “Turkey Tourism Year” in China. In this context, this study aims to determine the potentials of Chinese tourists to prefer Turkey, by processing travel data histories obtained from TripAdvisor with artificial intelligence methods. It is expected that the study will contribute to the tourism sector as well as the academic literature. The study used the travel data history of Chinese tourists taken from TripAdvisor. Significant travel histories were selected by the F-score method. Depending on the selected and all travel histories of users, their travel preferences (Turkey/France) were classified by artificial intelligence algorithms. The developed model was tested with performance criteria. Results: At the end of the study, it was ensured that the Chinese, who would prefer Turkey, were determined with an accuracy rate of 75.25% and sensitivity rate of 0.76. Conclusions: It was observed that it is possible to find the tourists who will prefer Turkey by using the developed system. In other words, the study revealed that the countries can reach the individual instead of masses in their promotional activities.

Navike i stavovi srpskih putnika o rezervaciji smeštaja na Internetu

The Internet and its services nowadays have significant influence on the organization of our travel arrangements, starting from information gathering to final booking and payment and they are the major distribution channel for travel services and products. The focus of the paper is on digital accommodation platforms, which enable users to search, explore, compare, book and pay online for accommodation all over the world. The study presents habits and attitudes of Serbian consumers to digital travel purchases, particularly accommodation booking. First, the most significant models of online booking systems, such as hotel websites, online tourist agencies and dedicated accommodation booking platforms are presented and compared. The analysis of the habits of Serbian travelers showed that they very often use various websites and online platforms to book their travels, but also that they prefer well-established international platforms, such as Booking.com and Airbnb. They also use online booking more when staying abroad than for domestic stays, and usually book shorter and cheaper travels and stays. As a key advantages of online booking systems, respondents stated wider variety of the offer and time and money savings.

Do tourists have different motivations for online travel purchasing? A segmentation of the Russian market

This study investigates online travel purchasing (OTP) motivations of Russian tourists as a neglected research topic in the literature. Data were collected from 403 Russian tourists visiting Antalya, Turkey. Convenience, hedonic, socialization and economic motivations were identified as the main underlying OTP motivations. Furthermore, cluster analysis on OTP motivation dimensions yielded three market segments: multi-benefit seekers, convenience lovers and utilitarian benefiters. Differences among the segments in terms of their demographic profiles and online purchasing behaviours were additionally tested by cross-tab analyses with χ2 tests. Finally, study findings revealed that influences of OTP motivations on behavioural intention to buy tourism-related products might differ across the segments.

Virtual reality and its impact on B2B marketing: A value-in-use perspective

The opportunities virtual reality provides for B2B marketing are increasingly recognized by the trade press in discussions of interesting examples from early adopters like GE, Siemens and Airbus. However, while there is growing recognition of its promise and potential, the specific impact of virtual reality on B2B marketing remains an unexplored research area. This paper provides an early theoretical consideration of the topic by developing a framework and offering propositions that describe the impact of virtual reality on B2B buyer perceptions of value-in-use during the post-purchase stage of the buyer's purchase journey. The paper also considers the moderating impact of several aspects of buyer-supplier relationships, including knowledge complexity, social complexity and task complexity, on virtual reality's contribution to value-in-use perceptions. The discussion provides B2B marketing scholars with several directions for future research and makes several recommendations for B2B marketers interested in leveraging the opportunities presented by virtual reality.

Wine Tourists in Emerging Wine Regions: A Study of Tasting Room Visitors in the Great Lakes Region of the US

Since 2000, the number of wineries in the US has nearly tripled. Many of the new wineries are small, located in regions not known for wine production, and often specialize in lesser known wine grape varieties that are suited to the local environment. With over 900 wineries, the Great Lakes region in the northern US accounts for a small percentage of US wine production, but the wine industry there plays an important role in rural economies that historically relied on manufacturing, extraction, and non-wine agriculture. The emerging wine industry in new locations is also providing new opportunities for people to experience a winery visit. In fact, most small wineries rely primarily on sales from their tasting rooms. However, the factors that impact the purchase decision at a winery are different than those at retail establishments and restaurants, and there is evidence that the people who visit wineries in emerging regions are different than typical wine consumers and visitors to the world's best-known wine regions. Given the importance of winery visitors to the success of wineries in emerging regions, it is critical that winery leaders and tourism stakeholders understand their consumers and the factors that impact their travel and wine purchase decisions. This article presents the results of a study of over 3,000 visitors to wineries in three Great Lakes region states. Findings show that the main reason for visiting wineries is for recreational experiences rather than to purchase wine; however, almost all wine tourists contacted for this study purchased several bottles of wine to take home. Moreover, visiting wineries is an important reason for travel decisions, and wine tourists spend a significant amount of money in the region while they are there. Additional findings can inform the decisions of wine tourism stakeholders and provide insights on visitors to emerging wine regions.

Thrilled to Have “Bagged a Bargain” or “Bitter” and “Very Frustrating”? Exploring Consumer Attitudes to Value and Deals in Tourism

Similar to most global tourism markets, UK consumers adjusted their behavior during the global financial crisis, emphasizing value for money in travel choices. However, there is little evidence concerning consumers’ value-seeking behavior and especially how deals, discounts, and other sales promotions influence tourist decision making. This project explores concepts of value consciousness and deal proneness to shed light on attitudes toward monetary value in travel purchases. Using focus groups, the study found that deals and discounts frequently underpin some tourist choices, but that value consciousness is related to deal proneness, and interactions between the two could result in negative, positive, or mixed emotions. This relationship was captured through a dynamic categorization of tourists’ attitudes and behavior into four approaches to deals and value, namely, deals (1) as a way of life, (2) as a bonus, (3) as a problem, and (4) as toxic. The categories were dynamic in that individuals could move across them. The implications for tourism marketers are outlined.

Risk versus Reward: When Will Travelers Go the Distance?

Online reviews have a powerful influence on travel purchase decisions and outweigh other considerations, including price. Price and location are primary factors influencing hotel selection. This research investigates the influence of reviews and location on travel decisions for a spring break vacation in Cancun. Prospect theory and judgmental heuristics provide a theoretical foundation for the prediction that people will exert greater effort to avoid risk versus seek reward. Participants chose between two resorts that varied in review valence and distance from the popular area in an experimental design. Participants preferred a resort with neutral versus negative reviews regardless of distance, but preference for a positive versus neutral resort declined as distance increased. When both resorts had neutral reviews, location was the main determinant of lodging choice. The findings suggest that locational superiority can be offset by negative reviews, whereas locational inferiority can be overcome by maintaining good reviews online.

Customer reviews are not always informative: The impact of effortful versus heuristic processing

Online customer reviews and ratings are powerful sources of information that influence travel purchase decisions. The complexity of the online environment lends itself to heuristic processing, which aids in decision-making yet may bias perceptions. However, enlisting systematic processing reduces dependence on heuristics. Research suggests that base rate information is often neglected in favor of information that is more salient but less diagnostic. In the online review environment, base rate information takes the form of recommendation percentages, and review content varies in usefulness. This research examines the effect of base rate information, review content, and processing effort in a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design. The results indicate that ambiguous base rate information and high processing effort cause consumers to pay greater attention to review content. In turn, this influences consumers’ perceptions, decisions, and recall. The findings deepen our understanding of dual processing systems and how they influence consumer choice.

Online Tourist Behaviour: An Evaluation of the Tourism Industry of India

A review of literature pertaining to online travel behaviour shows that most travel purchases in India are done online. In India, 68% of the population book flight tickets directly. India has an urban adult population of 240 million out of which 27% or 65 million go on holidays. India has 205 million internet users and 110 million Smartphone users. Online Travel bookings are expected to grow rapidly as India’s online travel penetration is expected to increase It is not only restricted to online product purchases. This paper is an attempt to discuss online tourist behaviour in the burgeoning Tourism Industry. The paper also looks into some key aspects such as the performance of the service sector, E-commerce and development of internet which are majorly responsible for developing customer expectation. It also throws light on online tourist behaviour and means of delivering a good experience to the tourists through an array of online services.