scholarly journals Social media promotions and travelers’ value-creating behaviors: the role of perceived support

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 633-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis V. Casaló ◽  
Jaime Romero
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Perceived Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
Online Travel Agencies ◽  
Monetary Promotions

Purpose Encouraging travelers to create value that benefits firms is of great relevance for companies that operate in online contexts. The purpose of this study is to investigate, focusing on online travel agencies, how monetary promotions (i.e. economic incentives) and non-monetary promotions (i.e. draws and contests) conducted through social media enhance customers’ voluntary behaviors (i.e. suggestions, word of mouth, and social media interactions) that go beyond brand choice, which may provide benefit to firms. Design/methodology/approach The research model draws on the social exchange theory, equity theory and the concept of perceived support – how customers perceive that companies care about their well-being. The authors collect information from 491 users of online travel agencies in Spain and test their hypotheses using partial least squares. They also evaluate the existence of indirect effects. Findings Promotions developed by companies make customers more likely to perform, voluntarily, the helping behaviors of suggestions, word of mouth and social media interactions, through the influence of perceived support. Research limitations/implications Use of a single survey to collect measures and restriction of the sample to Spanish-speaking travelers suggests caution in generalizing the results. Future research could investigate other company-initiated actions and other value-creating behaviors of travelers. Practical implications Promotions help develop perceived support for customers, which leads to voluntary, valuable traveler behaviors. Promotions may be also sufficient to trigger some customer behaviors, such as word-of-mouth. Originality/value Based on the social exchange and equity theories, this paper investigates the influence of social media promotions on customers’ voluntary behaviors via perceived support.

Should I suggest this YouTube clip? The impact of UGC source credibility on eWOM and purchase intention

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazzini Muda ◽  
Muhammad Iskandar Hamzah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

PurposeIn spite of the increasing organic and interactive marketing activities over social media, a general understanding of the source credibility of voluntary user-generated content (UGC) is still limited. In line with the social identity theory, this paper examines the effects of consumers' perceived source credibility of UGC in YouTube videos on their attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, source homophily theory is included to predict the antecedent of source credibility.Design/methodology/approachThree hundred and seventy two Generation Y respondents were interviewed using snowball sampling. Data were analyzed with component-based structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsFindings confirmed that perceived source credibility indirectly affects purchase intention (PI) and electronic word-of-mouth via attitude toward UGC. Besides, perceived source credibility mediates the effect of perceived source homophily on attitude toward UGC.Practical implicationsSince today's consumers have begun to trust and rely more on UGC than company-generated content on social media when making purchase decisions, companies may reconsider democratizing certain aspects of their branding strategies. Firms may fine-tune their marketing communication budgets – not only just by sponsoring public figures and celebrities but also by nurturing coproductive engagements with independent content creators who are ordinary consumers. Endowed with their imposing credibility, these micro-influencers and prosumers have high potentials to be uplifted to brand ambassadors.Originality/valueWhile consumers' purchase outcome can be measured easily using metrics and analytics, the roles of source homophily in stages leading up to the purchase is still elusive. Drawing on the rich theoretical basis of source homophily may help researchers to understand not only how credibility and attitude are related to PI but also how this nexus generates positive word of mouth among UGC followers within the social media circles.

Managing service innovations at online travel agencies: evidence from China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Mu ◽  
Bart Bossink ◽  
Tsvi Vinig ◽  
Suchuan You
Keyword(s):  
Success Factors ◽  
Innovation Management ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
Online Travel Agencies

Purpose Research on service innovation management of online travel agencies (OTAs) remains relatively scarce. This study aims to illuminate the detailed components of managing service innovations at OTAs. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth case study is conducted at Trip, the largest OTA in China. A coherent framework of managing service innovations at OTAs is proposed through refining an existing framework from new service development (NSD), and concerning the success factors of service innovation. Based on theoretical synthesis and empirical analysis, the NSD framework is adapted, restructured and refined for service innovation management at OTAs. Findings The proposed framework contains three facets and associated managerial elements: (1) resources, including stakeholders, technologies and systems; (2) contexts, including innovation strategy, structure and culture; and (3) ideation, including idea generation and idea application. Different success factors are attached to the managerial elements. The facets, managerial elements and success factors serve as the components in the framework. Research limitations/implications This study provides academia with an analytical framework to understand and interpret service innovation management at OTAs, which can be used as a point of departure for future research. Practical implications The analytical framework inspires OTA managers to adopt a structured approach in service innovation management, and policymakers to design related interventions. Originality/value This study offers a first step toward the investigation of service innovation management at OTAs, specifically in China. The proposed framework is potentially applicable to other industries.

Room with a view: how hedonic and utilitarian choice options of online travel agencies affect consumers’ booking intentions

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Scholl-Grissemann ◽  
Benedikt Schnurr
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Shopping Behavior ◽  
Factorial Experimental Design ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Booking Intentions ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
Online Travel Agencies

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how hedonic and utilitarian choice options of online travel agencies (OTAs) affect consumers’ process enjoyment and booking intentions. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply a one-factorial experimental design. The stimuli consisted of screenshots of the fictitious OTA “www.my-holiday.com”. Participants were told to imagine they were planning a city trip to San Francisco and that, during an internet search, they came across a new OTA called “www.my-holiday.com”. Findings The authors find that both booking intentions and process enjoyment are higher for hedonic OTAs, i.e. OTAs which offer more hedonic choice options such as entertainment and spa. The authors conclude that these toolkits strongly relate to pleasurable experiences and positive emotions. Therefore, these options drive positive affective reactions in terms of process enjoyment, which subsequently affect booking intentions. Additionally, the authors find that preference insight positively affects consumers’ booking intention as the number of choices provided by the OTA increases. Originality/value This paper contributes to tourism research on online travel shopping behavior. The authors apply knowledge from research on online customization tools to an OTA context and show that hedonic and functional choice options of OTAs significantly reflect on consumer behavior.

scholarly journals Hotels that most rely on Booking.com – online travel agencies (OTAs) and hotel distribution channels

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Martin-Fuentes ◽  
Juan Pedro Mellinas
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Independent Hotels ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Simple Ratio ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
Online Travel Agencies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to know which hotels mostly rely on Booking.com, investigating the level of presence on Booking.com around the world by country, hotel size, hotel category and managerial form. Neither the company nor the hotels provide this information, so the authors use the number of reviews as an indicator of estimated sales. Design/methodology/approach Data from 33,996 hotels worldwide are downloaded from Booking.com using a Web browser automatically controlled, developed in Python, that simulated a user navigation (clicks and selections). The comparison between independent hotels and hotels belonging to a chain is performed by a Student’s t distribution test and the comparison of hotel categories and hotel size is analyzed by a one-way ANOVA test. Findings The results show that three factors clearly influence the usage level of Booking.com: independent vs chain hotels, small vs large hotels and low vs high category hotels worldwide. The authors also observe that hotels from Europe are the ones that rely more on Booking.com. Originality/value The originality of this research is to identify the factors that make hotels to have a greater (lesser) dependence on Booking.com within each destination and geographical area. Moreover, the use of big data from hotels worldwide allows the authors to know the level of use of Booking.com in dozens of countries, especially those with the highest tourist activity. This work expands the capabilities of big data in the hospitality industry research, and with a simple ratio, this study counteracts the lack of public data on hotel sales through Booking.com. This new approach could be extended to the analysis of other online travel agencies (OTAs), which use similar review systems.

Switching Barriers in Online Travel Agencies: The Impact on Positive Word of Mouth

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-225
Author(s):  
Leticia Suárez-Álvarez ◽  
Ana Belén Del Río-Lanza ◽  
Rodolfo Vázquez-Casielles ◽  
Ana María Díaz-Martín
Keyword(s):  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Positive Word ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Switching Barriers ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
Positive Word Of Mouth ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Online Travel Agencies

Online Travel Agencies as Social Media: Analyzing Customers’ Opinions

2017 ◽  
pp. 200-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginica Rusu ◽  
Cristian Rusu ◽  
Daniel Guzmán ◽  
Silvana Roncagliolo ◽  
Daniela Quiñones
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
Online Travel Agencies

Does interest alignment between hotels and online travel agencies intensify review manipulations?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Chen ◽  
Tianwei Tang ◽  
Yongjian Li ◽  
Di Fan
Keyword(s):  
Search Engine ◽  
Travel Agency ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Interest Alignment ◽  
Customer Trust ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
Online Travel Agency ◽  
Online Travel Agencies

PurposeThis study examines whether a higher interest alignment between online travel agencies (OTAs; hosting platform) and hotels (business owners) will intensify review manipulation activities.Design/methodology/approachWith a panel data set collected from a Chinese online travel agency and a travel search engine, the authors develop a matching-based difference-indifference approach to examine the presence of partnership-intensified review manipulation.FindingsThe authors find that the ratings of agency's partner hotels (with a higher interest alignment) are abnormally higher than those of matched non-partner hotels (with a lower interest alignment), after they are benchmarked with their ratings on the search engine (without a partnership business model). Further, the analysis results indicate that this partnership-intensified manipulation deteriorates the hotel's sales performance because of damaged customer trust and satisfaction.Originality/valuePrevious studies implicitly assume that review manipulator is independent from the hosting platform. This is the first study examining the role of the hosting platform in review manipulations.

Impact of word-of-mouth, job attributes and relationship strength on employer attractiveness

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faiz Ahamad
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Differential Impact ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Job Attributes ◽  
Relationship Strength ◽  
Job Information ◽  
Employer Attractiveness ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Job information through word-of-mouth (WOM) has a crucial impact on employer attractiveness. The phenomenal rise of social media offers alternate WOM platforms for sharing job information, which is quite different from traditional face-to-face WOM. The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential impact of traditional word-of-mouth (t-WOM) and social media word-of-mouth (s-WOM) on employer attractiveness along with the difference in the job attributes and relationship strength with the information source. Design/methodology/approach A 2 × 2 × 2 experiment was conducted to examine the impact of information source (t-WOM and s-WOM), job attributes (tangible and intangible) and relationship strength (strong and weak), on employer attractiveness. Source expertise and source trust were treated as the control variable. Findings The result shows the differential impact of t-WOM and s-WOM on employer attractiveness. Moreover, t-WOM from strong relation source found to have a high impact on employer attractiveness than s-WOM. No significant difference due to job attributes was found. Research limitations/implications Use of only positive WOM and not the negative one, student as the subjects, etc. Practical implications The present study suggests using t-WOM and s-WOM to attract talented job seekers. Originality/value This is the first study to analyze the differential impact of t-WOM and s-WOM on employer attractiveness.

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