Adoption of social media as distribution channels in tourism marketing: A qualitative analysis of consumers’ experiences

Chatzigeorgiou, Chryssoula and Christou, Evangelos (2020): Adoption of social media as distribution channels in tourism marketing: A qualitative analysis of consumers’ experiences. Published in: Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing , Vol. 6, No. 1 (30 January 2020): pp. 25-32.

Abstract

The study reported in this paper explores consumers’ experiences with technology-assisted service encounters by investigating the applicability of Mick and Fournier’s paradoxes of technology adoption to the social media as distribution channel in tourism scenario. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore consumers’ experiences when using social media distribution services and the results were compared to those of Mick and Fournier. The findings are similar, suggesting that when consumers adopt online technology like social media, they can simultaneously develop positive and negative attitudes. The findings of this study also suggest that the nature of some of the paradoxes experienced by consumers may depend on the industry (tourism in this study) and the technology (social media in this study) being investigated.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: adoption of technological innovations, social media, distribution channels, consumer attitudes, tourism marketing
• Subjects: L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L83 - Sports ; Gambling ; Restaurants ; Recreation ; Tourism; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M1 - Business Administration; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O14 - Industrialization ; Manufacturing and Service Industries ; Choice of Technology

References

Aggarwal P., Chaj M. and Wilemon D. (1998) Barriers to the adoption of really-new products and the role of surrogate buyers. Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 15(4), 432-451.

Barczak G., Ellen P.S. and Pilling B.K. (1997) Developing typologies of consumer motives for use of technologically based banking services. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 38(1), 131-139.

Bateson J.E.G. (1985) Self-Service customer: An exploratory study. Journal of Retailing, Vol. 61(3), 49-76.

Bedard F. (2000) Tomorrow's Travel Agency. In Fesenmaier D.R., Klein S. and Buhalis D. (Eds.) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2000 (58-67). Wien: Springer-Verlag.

Bitner M.J., Brown S.W. and Meuter M.L. (2000) Technology infusion in service encounters. Academy of Marketing Science Journal, Vol. 28(1), 138-149.

Chami, M. & Kaminyoge, G. (2019). Closed house of wonders museum: Implications to the tourism of Zanzibar Stone Town, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 5(1), 31–36. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2641253.

Chatzigeorgiou, C. (2017). Modelling the impact of social media influencers on behavioural intentions of millennials: The case of tourism in rural areas in Greece. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 3(2), 25–29. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1209125

Chatzigeorgiou, C. & Christou, E. (2016). Destination branding and visitor brand loyalty: Evidence from mature tourism destinations in Greece. Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 102-123.

Chatzigeorgiou, C. & Simeli, I. (2017). Perception of service quality in agrotourism accommodations: Impact on guest loyalty and re-visit intentions. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 3(1), 33–41. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.401375.

Chatzigeorgiou, C., Christou, E. & Simeli, I. (2019) Confidence and loyalty for agrotourism brands: The Lesvos paradigm. Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 151-166.

Christou, E. (2002). Examining the impact of tourism destination image and reputation on visitor loyalty likelihood. Tourism Today, 2(1), 34-46.

Christou, E. (2003) On-line buyers’ trust in a brand and the relationship with brand loyalty: the case of virtual travel agents. Tourism Today, Vol. 3, No.1, pp.95-106.

Christou, E. (2005). Promotional Pricing in the Electronic Commerce of Holiday Packages: A Model of Purchase Behavior. In Frew, A. J. (Ed.) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2005: Proceedings of the ENTER International Conference in Innsbruck Austria. (pp. 463–473.) Wien, New York: Springer Computer Science doi: 10.1007/3-211-27283-6_42.

Christou, E. (2006) A qualitative analysis of consumer attitudes on adoption of online travel services. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 54 (4), 323-332.

Christou, E. (2010). Relationship Marketing Practices for Retention of Corporate Customers in Hospitality Contract Catering. Tourism & Hospitality Management, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.1-10. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2066590

Christou, E. (2011). Exploring the impact of visitor satisfaction on loyalty towards a specific destination. Acta Turistica, Vol.23, No.1, pp.1-25.

Christou, E. (2013). Exploring brand confusion through hotel adverts. Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, Vol.8, No.3, pp.151-163.

Christou, E. (2015). Branding social media in the travel industry. Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 175, pp 607-614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.12

Christou, E., Avdimiotis, S., Kassianidis, P., & Sigala, M. (2004). Examining the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Web-Based Ticketing: Etix and its Adopters. Information and communication technologies in tourism 2004, the 11th ENTER International Conference in Cairo, Egypt, 2004, pp. 129-138.

Christou, E. and Kassianidis, P. (2002a) Consumer’s perceptions and adoption of online buying for travel products. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Vol. 12(4), 93-108.

Christou, E. & Kassianidis, P. (2002b). Examining the Adoption of E-shopping for Travel Services: Determinants of Consumers’ Perceptions. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2002. A. Wober, A. Frew, and M. Hitz., (eds.), Springer-Verlag, Wien.

Christou, E. & Nella, A. (2010). A review of wine tourism research from 1995 to 2010: Analysis of 110 contributions. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 8(1), 112-123.

Christou, E. and Nella, A. (2012). Web 2.0 and networks in wine tourism: The case studies of greatwinecapitals.com and wineandhospitalitynetwork.com. In Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality: Theory, Practice and Cases. M. Sigala, E. Christou and Gretzel, U. (Eds). Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing, pp.11-24.

Dabholkar P.A. (1994) Incorporating choice into an attitudinal framework: Analysing models of mental comparison processes. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 21(2), 100-116.

Dabholkar P.A. (1996) Consumer evaluations of new technology-based self-service options: An investigation to alternative models of service quality. International Journal of Research In Marketing, Vol. 13(2), 29-51.

Denzin N. and Lincoln Y.S. (1994) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Dover P.A. (1988) The effect of technology selection on consumer adoption on in-home computerised banking. International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 6(2), 3-17.

Fjermestad J. and Romano N. (2003) Electronic customer relationship management: revisiting the general principles of usability and resistance – an integrative implementation framework. Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 9(3), 572 -591.

Fontana A. and Frey J.H. (1994) Interviewing: The Art of Science. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Forman A.M. and Sriram V. (1991) The depersonalisation of retailing: Its impact on the lonely customer. Journal of Retailing, Vol. 67(2), 226-243.

Fotiadis, A. & Williams, R.B. (2018). "TiCoSa" a 3d matrix conceptual model to investigate visitors' perceptions in an athletic event. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 4(2), 32–36. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1490450.

Frambach R., Barkema H., and Wedel M. (1998) Adoption of a service innovation in the business market: testing variables. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 41(1), 161-174.

Gilbert D. and Powell-Perry G. (2003) Exploring developments in web-based relationship marketing within the hotel industry. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, Vol. 10(3/4), 5-24.

Go F., J. Van Rekom and Teunissen W. (1999) Improving the position of business travel agencies: coping with the information challenge. Information Technology & Tourism, Vol. 2(1), 32-41.

Gretzel, U., Sigala, M. and Christou, E. (2012). Social Media Change the Name of the Game in the Tourism and Hospitality Industries, The European Financial Review, 20 October, available at: http://www.europeanfinancialreview.com/?p=1340.

Gronroos C. (1984) A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 18(4) 327-342.

Gronroos C. (1998) Marketing services: The case of a missing product. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 13(4/5), 461-477.

Huang T. and Law R. (2003) Modelling and Comparing Internet Marketing. In Frew A. (Ed.) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2003 (77-86). Wien: Springer-Verlag.

Huberman A. and Miles M.B. (1994) Qualitative Data Management and Analysis Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Kidder L.H., Judd C.M. and Smith E.R. (1986) Research Methods in Social Relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Legoherel P., Fischer-Lokou J., and Gueguen N. (2000) Selling tourism on the Internet: analysis of the balance of power between seller and consumer during information exchange and negotiation. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Vol. 9(3), 49-64.

Lehtinen U. and Lehtinen J.R. (1982) Service Quality: A Study of Quality Dimension. Helsinki, Finland: Helsinki Service Management Institute.

Long M. and Mellon C. (2004) Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet. Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 18(1), 78 – 90

Marcusen C.H. (2001) Internet sales of travel and tourism services in the European market 1998-2000 - a method of tracking trends by focusing on major on-line marketers. Information Technology & Tourism, Vol. 4(1), 23-31.

Mavragani, E., Nikolaidou, P. & Theodoraki, E. (2019). Traveler segmentation through Social Media for intercultural marketing purposes: The case of Halkidiki. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 5(1), 15–23. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2641011.

Mick G.D. and Fournier S. (1998) Paradoxes of technology: consumer cognizances emotions and coping strategies. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 25(3), 123-142.

Miles M.B. and Huberman A.M. (1984) Qualitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods. London: Sage Publications.

Minichiello V., Aroni R., Timewell E. and Alexander L. (1995) In-Depth Interviewing. Melbourne: Longman.

Misirlis, M., Lekakos, G. & Vlachopoulou, M. (2018). Associating Facebook Measurable Activities with Personality Traits: A Fuzzy Sets Approach. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 4(2), 10–16. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1490360

Murphy, D. (2019). Increasing clicks through advanced targeting: Applying the third-party seal model to airline advertising. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 5(1), 24–30. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2641244.

Nair, R. & George, B.P. (2016). E-learning adoption in hospitality education: An analysis with special focus on Singapore. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 2(1), 3–13. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.376329.

Nella, A. & Christou, E. (2014) Linking Service Quality at the Cellar Door with Brand Equity Building, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 23:7, 699-721, DOI: 10.1080/19368623.2014.891959.

Parasuraman A., Zeithaml V.A. and Berry L.L. (1988) SERVQUAL; A multiple item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, Vol. 64(1), 24-45.

Pirnar, I., Kurtural, S. & Tutuncuoglu, M. (2019). Festivals and destination marketing: An application from Izmir City. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 5(1), 9–14. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2640987.

Revilla Hernández, M., Santana Talavera, A. & Parra López, E. (2016). Effects of co-creation in a tourism destination brand image through twitter. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 2(2), 3–10. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.376341.

Rowley J. (2002) Reflections on customer knowledge management in e-business. Quantitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 5(2), 268 – 280. Sarantakos S. (1998) Social Research. South Yarra: Macmillan Education.

Schneider B. and Bowen D.E. (1985) Employee and customer perceptions of service in banks: Replication and extension. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 70(3), 423-433.

Schneider L.G. and I.S. Currim (2001) Consumer purchase behaviors associated with active and passive deal proneness. International Journal of Research in Marketing Vol. 18(2), 205-222.

Sigala M. (2003) Competing in the virtual marketspace: a strategic model for developing e-commerce in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Information Technology, Vol. 3(1), 43-60.

Sigala, M. & Christou, E. (2002). The transformative power of e-commerce on hotel brands. Proceedings of the Annual European Council for Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (Euro-CHRIE) Conference, Cross-cultural Challenges in the Tourism Industry, Barcelona, Spain.

Sigala, M. & Christou, E. (2003). Enhancing and Complementing the Instruction of Tourism and Hospitality Courses Through the Use of On-line Educational Tools, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 15:1, 6-15, DOI: 10.1080/10963758.2003.10696755

Sigala, M. & Christou, E. (2006) Investigating the impact of e-customer relationship management on hotels’ website service quality. ECIS 2006 Proceedings. http://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2006/118.

Sigala, M., & Christou, E. (2014). Social computing in travel, tourism and hospitality. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, 771-772. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.11.003.

Spyridou, A. (2017). Perceived Service Quality and Customer Revisiting Intention: The Case of "all you can eat" Asian Restaurants in Southern Taiwan. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 3(2), 30–38. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1209129.

Stangor C. (1998) Research Methods for the Behavioural Sciences. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Publications.

Strauss A. and Corbin J. (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. London: Sage Publications.

Swanson C.E., Kopecky K.J. and Tucker A. (1997) Technology adoption over the lifecycle and the aggregate technological process. Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 63(4), 872-887.

Vlasic, D., Poldrugovac, K. & Jankovic, S. (2019). The Competitive pricing in marina business: Exploring relative price position and price fluctuation. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 5(1), 3–8. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2640935.

Weitzman E.A. and Miles M.B. (1995) Computer Programs for Qualitative Data Analysis: A Software Resource Book. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Wiefels P. (1997) Change marketing tactics as buyer attitudes shift. Marketing News, Vol. 31(12), 10-12.

Wilkie W.C. (1994) Consumer Behaviour. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Williams L. and Tan K. (1998) Information technology adoption models to predict AE1 software implementation. Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 19(l), 5-16.

Yang Z. and Jun M. (2002) Consumer perception of e-service quality: from Internet purchaser and non-purchaser perspectives, Journal of Business Strategies, Vol. 19(1), 19-41.

Yang Z. and Fang X. (2004) Online service quality dimensions and their relations with satisfaction. International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 15(3), 302-326.

Zafiropoulos, K., Vrana, V. & Antoniadis, K. (2015). Use of twitter and Facebook by top European museums. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, 1(1), 16–24. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.376326.

Zeithaml V. (2002) Service quality in e-channels. Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12(3), 135-138.

Zeithaml V.A., Parasuraman A. and Berry L.L. (1990) Delivering Quality Services. New York: The Free Press.