•The theory of consumption values (TCV) is employed to extend the generic values to the online travel agencies (OTAs) context.•Quality-of-benefits, monetary, social status, information, and ...preference values are associated with purchase intentions.•Hygiene consciousness, privacy and security concerns, and age moderate the association between monetary value and purchase intentions.•Hygiene consciousness also moderates the association between social status and purchase intentions.•Visibility moderates the association between preference value and purchase intentions.
Online travel agencies (OTAs) are struggling to remain financially sustainable due to intense competition. To overcome this challenge, OTAs need to better engage their customers by offering them superior value propositions. This calls for an in-depth understanding of the consumption values pertinent to the OTA context. To address this gap, the current study puts forward a framework for predicting purchase intention by adapting the theory of consumption values to the OTA context. The proposed model is tested with data collected from 809 OTA users. The results imply that quality-of-benefits, monetary, social status, preference, and information values predict purchase intention toward OTAs, with the chief driver being the quality-of-benefits value, followed by the preference value. Moderation analysis further reveals that the strength of the relationship between these values and purchase intention differs between users in different age groups and between users with different levels of privacy and security concerns, hygiene consciousness, and visibility perceptions.
The purpose of this research is to compare the perceptions of Spanish and British tourists in the formation of the overall perceived value of the purchase decision-making process for a hotel stay. ...Comparison is made between two key tourism distribution channels: offline, via a travel agency; and online, via the Internet. The sample comprised 600 tourists. Of these, 300 (150 Spanish and 150 British) had purchased hotel accommodation for their last holiday via an offline travel agency, and the other 300 (again, 150 Spanish and 150 British) had done so via the Internet. Given that the two countries differ in their cultural dimensions, the results show that the “uncertainty-avoidance” and “individualism/collectivism” dimensions moderate the relationship between the antecedents of overall perceived value. These differences are not homogeneous, depending instead on the medium through which the service is purchased. The present research takes a comprehensive approach to overall perceived value formation, considering differences both in culture and also in distribution channel, and including different phases: purchase and use.
With the rapid development of e-commerce, an increasing number of online travel agencies (OTA) have combined traditional channels with opaque channels to maximise revenue, by implementing a ...price-discrimination strategy. Based on posted-price (PP) mechanism, this study reviews variable opaque products (VOPs) that allow travellers to change the opacity of an opaque channel to avoid unsatisfactory hotels. The purpose of the study is to determine how to optimise OTA revenue. Using a variation of the Hotelling model, this study examines the behaviour of travellers whose reservation values are relatively low. Additionally, we determine the optimal pricing strategy, which changes with the opacity of the opaque channel. The study shows that when the proportion of high-value travellers is low, OTA should decrease the price of transparent hotels; however, when the proportion is high, OTA should set a high price in the traditional channel, so that high-value travellers buy in the traditional channel, while low-value travellers buy in the opaque channel. And when the valuations differ greatly, OTA tend to increase the price of transparent hotels. Finally, when the number of travellers is constant, revenue increases when hotels increase, though there is an upper limit, and revenue decreases when the market expands. The results provide significant implications.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the tourism sector. Travel agencies, in particular, have encountered significant obstacles in conducting their business. Enhancing the resilience ...of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises, specifically travel agencies, has emerged as a crucial concern. Travel agencies tend to underestimate the effects of extreme events and usually lag behind other organizations in their sensemaking, adaptation, and business resilience to disasters. Therefore, this study investigated travel agencies' disaster response processes with respect to COVID-19. Using purposive sampling logic, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the owners and senior managers of 15 travel agencies from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area-an important tourism destination and source market. A qualitative content analysis revealed three stages of disaster sensemaking, adaptation, and business resilience. The first stage was immanent sensemaking with passive adaptations. The second stage was representational sensemaking of the disaster with business continuity measures. The third stage was deliberate sensemaking with resilient measures. This study contributes to research on travel agencies' crisis management, with implications for policymakers and practitioners.
With the advent of O2O (online to offline) mode, Online Travel Agency (OTA) websites help to introduce new customers to hotels. However, since OTAs charge a hefty commission, hotel managers hope ...returning customers can book future visits from hotel websites instead of OTA websites. The study is to investigate how OTAs and hotels cooperate and compete with each other at the same time in the multichannel environments. The results show that OTAs can attract new and returning customers by website service quality while hotels can attract returning customers by perceived value. On the other hand, OTA website service quality has a negative effect on intention to rebook via hotel websites and the intention to rebook via OTA and hotel websites indeed have a negative relationship. Thus, the two channels compete with each other for customers' future visits.
•The study is to investigate how OTAs and hotels cooperate and compete with each other in the multichannel environments.•We develop an integrated model based on cost-benefit analysis and expectancy confirmation theory.•OTA website service quality attracts both new and returning customers.•Perceived value of hotel booking services attracts returning customers.•OTA and hotel websites compete with each other for customers' future visits.
Value co-creation in B-to-B environments Berenguer-Contrí, Gloria; Gallarza, Martina G; Ruiz-Molina, Maria-Eugenia ...
The Journal of business & industrial marketing,
06/2020, Volume:
35, Issue:
7
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the way in which B-to-B relationships are built, based on commitment and trust affecting value co-creation (VcC) and resulting in greater or lesser ...economic and social satisfaction and the manager’s perception of the delivered value (business customer value) moderating these effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a means-end approach, a causal model is estimated with PLS using a sample of 268 hotel managers who rate their relationship with their main partner (travel agency or booking center) in Spain.
Findings
VcC is a) dynamic because it is episodic, where VcC is a mediator between the trust–commitment relationship and two types of satisfaction (economic and social) and b) synergetic, because when the hotel delivers higher levels of business customer value, the effects in the linkages of VcC–satisfaction(s) are intensified. These effects are not significantly different on economic versus social satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical paper collects the perception of a single partner (hotel managers) in a single setting (hotels in Spain). The moderating role of business customer value on the VcC–satisfaction(s) relationship should be further analyzed. The paper contributes to the growing literature on B-to-B VcC by translating empirically the theoretical richness of the VcC concept as being dynamic and synergetic.
Originality/value
This paper adds quantitative evidence to theoretical assumptions on VcC as dynamic and synergetic. The quantitative modelling proves VcC as a true mediator, in a chain of variables in a B-to-B setting.
This paper presents the role of travel agencies in choosing a tourist destination, a choice that is increasingly difficult for tourists due to the many existing offers. The travel agencies, in the ...tourist activity, have the role of informing and offering consultancy regarding the tourist offers, of organizing, commercializing and distributing tourist packages. They contribute to the development of tourist destinations, greatly influencing market trends and needs. In general, tourists travel for pleasure, but there are other motivations that determine them to choose a certain tourist destination. There are tourists who want to explore new territories, others want to get rid of the daily routine or are looking for social interaction. That is why the travel agency helps them very much in making the best decision when choosing their tourist destination, regardless of the motivation they have.
A logo is an important part of brand image and a key visual element that has an impact on cognitive, emotional and behavioural reactions. This article examines how often tourists consciously pay ...attention to the logos of online travel agencies and brand name types in the context of their demographic characteristics and tourism behaviour. There were a total of 170 participants in the study. Empirical data was collected using two research techniques: a survey questionnaire and click tracking. Data analysis was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, it was assessed whether there is a relationship between the demographic characteristics and tourism behaviour of the respondents and their perception of the logos of online travel agencies. In the second stage, correspondence analysis (CA) was performed to obtain information on the relationship between the frequency with which the respondents pay attention to logos and their preferred type of logo. The study showed that the frequency with which the respondents pay attention to the logos of online travel agencies varies with their education, tourism expenditure, and the number of tourism trips they make in a year. The perception of logos as regards the type of brand name they include varies depending on the frequency of tourism trips and the preferred type of travel arrangements. This study provides important guidance on the design of logos and visual communication strategies, thus helping to facilitate the brand value creation process.
This study explores the impact of travel agency employees' resilience on their intention to leave and work engagement, and simultaneously examines whether abusive supervision moderates the ...aforementioned relationships. There is a clear research gap on this subject in the tourism and hospitality literature regarding the moderating affects of abusive supervision on the relationships between resilience, intention to leave and work engagement. The survey was conducted in 18 travel agencies in Taiwan. Of the returned samples, 459 questionnaires were complete. Multiple regression analyses are used to test the four hypotheses of this study. The results indicate that travel agency employees' resilience can reduce their intention to leave and enhance their work engagement. Also, abusive supervision has a moderating affect on the relationship between resilience and intention to leave. Implications for managers of travel agency, theoretical contribution of the paper and suggestions for future research regarding travel agency employees are discussed.
•Travel agency employees' resilience can reduce their intention to leave.•Travel agency employees' resilience can enhance their work engagement.•Abusive supervision has a moderating effect between resilience and intention to leave.
Gamification implemented by online travel agencies (OTA) has been considered as a promising means for enhancing tourists' online shopping experience. However, there is limited understanding of the ...key gamification affordances valued by tourists and their underlying motivations for participating in gamified OTA platforms. Adopting a sequential mixed-methods research design, phase 1 of this research is a qualitative and interpretive study involving in-depth interviews and case analysis of OTA platforms. Based on the findings from phase 1 and relevant literature, this research builds a research model which is empirically validated by analyzing survey data in phase 2. Results reveal that the four key gamification affordances contribute to tourists’ diverse value perceptions on the OTA platform, which impact their purchase intention during the online shopping carnival. This study sheds light upon the emerging phenomenon of gamified technology use in the tourism context and provides valuable implications for designing appealing gamified OTA platforms.
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