Web users’ behavioural patterns of tourism information search: From online to offline

This paper presents a conceptual framework of Web users’ engagement in tourism information search for a comprehensive understanding of their integrated online and offline search behaviour. The information search experiences are characterised as a process constituting some common elements: prior know...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tourism management (1982) Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 1468 - 1482
Main Authors: Ho, Chaang-Iuan, Lin, Meng-Hui, Chen, Hui-Mei
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2012
Elsevier Science
Subjects:
Behavioural tourism information search model
Informationsverhalten
Internetnutzung
Online tourism information search
Tourism information search
Tourismus
Verhaltensökonomik
Behavioural tourism information search model
Online tourism information search
Tourism information search
ISSN:0261-5177, 1879-3193
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This paper presents a conceptual framework of Web users’ engagement in tourism information search for a comprehensive understanding of their integrated online and offline search behaviour. The information search experiences are characterised as a process constituting some common elements: prior knowledge and searching experiences, online searching strategies, processing and recording information, barriers to online searching, reasons for ending an online search, summarising information, exchanging information and searching for more information through other sources. Such behaviour goes beyond the scope of information searching and captures the other activities, including information processing, utilising and disseminating. The grounded theory research method is employed as an inductive investigative process in which the authors construct the framework by systematically collecting and analysing data. The aim of this research method is to build a theory. The data sets consist of both semi-structured in-depth interviews with subjects and their field observations based on online searching. A theoretical model incorporating 10 propositions is proposed for future testing. ► We propose a behavioural framework of Web users’ tourism information search. ► We provide an information search model across online and offline environments. ► We describe tourism information search as a process with related activities.
ISSN:0261-5177
1879-3193
DOI:10.1016/j.tourman.2012.01.016