The Influence of Electronic Word of Mouth in an Online Travel Community on Travel Decisions: A Case Study

As a result of embracing the Internet, online travel communities have become an important information source for travelers. The members of these communities communicate through postings called electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) the act of sharing information on a particular topic. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is informal communications among consumers regarding the usage or characteristics of goods and services on the Internet (Litvin, Goldsmith, and Pan, 2008). Furthermore, the influence of eWOM has been found to be influential on consumer purchasing behavior (Guernsey, 2000). Thus, an understanding of the potential of eWOM in online travel communities on travel decisions has implications for tourism marketers as well as researchers. The purpose of this research is to examine a single online travel community in order to conduct an in depth analysis of the influence of eWOM on travel decisions. The study uses online travel community postings (eWOM) to explore the types of travel decisions that are discussed, influence of eWOM on these decisions, the types of members and their specific influence on types of travel decisions, the information types provided by the members, the activity level of members and their influence on travel decisions of other members. Thorn Tree Forum, part of Lonely Planet website is the online travel community studied for this research. In an effort to select a sample that would yield maximum variation, treemaps, and purposeful sampling is used to select eight country forums to use as the framework for collecting community member postings. Postings are collected for an eight month period. Data collection and analysis used a multistep process that included thematic networks, coding for influence and details of information shared among members. The results suggest that eWOM in this online travel community influence travel decisions including accommodation choice, food and beverage recommendations, transportation options, safety of the destination, monetary issues, destination information, and itinerary refinements. Residents were influential in accommodations, food and beverages, and destination information, whereas experienced travelers influenced all types of travel decisions except accommodations. Information types identified include warnings, advice/tips, recommendations, and clarifications. Clarifications were the most influential postings, followed by recommendations and advice/tips. The members were categorized into three types low, medium, and high activity level members. Medium activity level members were the most influential members followed by low and high activity level members. The results of this study provide direction for theoretical development of using online travel communities for travel decision making and provide managerial guidance for utilization of online travel communities for enhancing travel products and destination

ANALISIS PENGARUH IKLAN ONLINE, KUALITAS WEBSITE DAN KEPERCAYAAN TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN PEMBELIAN MELALUI MINAT BELI (Studi pada Konsumen Situs Online Travel Agent Tiket.com)

This research was conducted based on the problems seen in the community related to the problem of competition between two large online travel agent companies in Indonesia through the eyes of consumers, namely Traveloka and Tiketcom. This research was made with the aim to find out how the factors to be analyzed include Online Advertising, Website Quality, and Trust as an independent variable capable of influencing consumer buying interest as a mediating variable until consumers decide to make a purchase on the Tiketcom site. The sampling method in this study is non probability sampling, by distributing questionnaires to respondents and using purposive sampling technique. The sample used in this study amounted to 150 respondents who had made purchases on the Tiketcom site at least 1 time. This study uses a multiple linear regression analysis tool with a significance level of 0.05. The analytical method used is quantitative methods including validity and reliability test, classical assumption test, multiple regression test, determination coefficient, F test, t test with SPSS 23.0 analysis tool. The results showed that online advertising, website quality, and trust have a simultaneous effect on buying interest, and buying interest has a simultaneous influence on purchasing decisions. Online advertising and website quality have a positive and significant influence on buying interest. Trust has a positive and insignificant influence on buying interest. Buying interest has a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions

Word of Mouth, the Importance of Reviews and Ratings in Tourism Marketing

The Internet and social media have given place to what is commonly known as the democratization of content and this phenomenon is changing the way that consumers and companies interact. Business strategies are shifting from influencing consumers directly and induce sales to mediating the influence that Internet users have on each other. A consumer review is “a mixture of fact and opinion, impression and sentiment, found and unfound tidbits, experiences, and even rumor” (Blackshaw & Nazarro, 2006). Consumers' comments are seen as honest and transparent, but it is their subjective perception what shapes the behavior of other potential consumers. With the emergence of the Internet, tourists search for information and reviews of destinations, hotels or services. Several studies have highlighted the great influence of online reputation through reviews and ratings and how it affects purchasing decisions by others (Schuckert, Liu, & Law, 2015). These reviews are seen as unbiased and trustworthy, and considered to reduce uncertainty and perceived risks (Gretzel & Yoo, 2008; Park & Nicolau, 2015). Before choosing a destination, tourists are likely to spend a significant amount of time searching for information including reviews of other tourists posted on the Internet. The average traveler browses 38 websites prior to purchasing vacation packages (Schaal, 2013), which may include tourism forums, online reviews in booking sites and other generic social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

A Seat at the Table: Including the Poor in Decisions for Development and Environment

Presents case studies of the access to information, public participation, and justice for the poor in environmental decision-making processes and barriers, including issues of literacy, costs, risk, and cultural context. Makes policy recommendations

Digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce context: A focus on entrepreneurial digital competencies

Purpose – Thepurpose of this paper is to criticallyexplorehow context asan antecedent to entrepreneurial digital competencies (EDCs) influences digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce environment. Design/methodology/approach – The data comprises semi-structured interviews with 16 digital entrepreneurs, as owner-managers of small digital businesses in Cameroon. Findings – The results reveal the ways in which EDCs shape the entry (or start-up) choices and post-entry strategic decisions of digital entrepreneurs in response to context-specific opportunities and challenges associated with digital entrepreneurship. Research limitations/implications – The data comes from one African country and 16 digital businesses thus the research setting limits the generalisability of the results. Practical implications – This paper highlights important implications for encouraging digital entrepreneurship by focussing on institutional, technology and local dimensions of context and measures to develop the entrepreneurial and digital competencies. This includes policy interventions to develop the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, transport and local distribution infrastructure, and training opportunities to develop the EDCs of digital entrepreneurs. Originality/value – Whereas the capabilities to adopt and use ICTs and the internet by small businesses have been examined, this is among the first theoretically sensitised study linking context, EDCs and digital entrepreneurship

Understanding the impact of volunteering on pro-environmental behavioural change

This article examines whether there is an association between engaging in environmental volunteering activities and pro-environmental behavioural change. Utilising self-reported surveys, the article explores the potential impact that environmental volunteering has on people's pro-environmental behaviours over time, using The Conservation Volunteers' two volunteering programmes – Green Gyms® and Action Teams – as a comparative case study. The findings show a positive association between environmental volunteering activities and a person's self-reported pro-environmental behaviours over time. Further, volunteers presented improved impact across almost all of the eight pro-environmental behaviours measured, with differences observed between the two volunteering programmes as well as sociodemographic groupings

Animating and sustaining niche social networks

Within the communicative space online Social Network Sites (SNS) afford, Niche Social Networks Sites (NSNS) have emerged around particular geographic, demographic or topic-based communities to provide what broader SNS do not: specified and targeted content for an engaged and interested community. Drawing on a research project developed at the Queensland University of Technology in conjunction with the Australian Smart Services Cooperative Research Centre that produced an NSNS based around Adventure Travel, this paper outlines the main drivers for community creation and sustainability within NSNS. The paper asks what factors motivate users to join and stay with these sites and what, if any, common patterns can be noted in their formation. It also outlines the main barriers to online participation and content creation in NSNS, and the similarities and differences in SNS and NSNS business models. Having built a community of 100 registered members, the staywild.com.au project was a living laboratory, enabling us to document the steps taken in producing a NSNS and cultivating and retaining active contributors. The paper incorporates observational analysis of user-generated content (UGC) and user profile submissions, statistical analysis of site usage, and findings from a survey of our membership pool in noting areas of success and of failure. In drawing on our project in this way we provide a template for future iterations of NSNS initiation and development across various other social settings: not only niche communities, but also the media and advertising with which they engage and interact. Positioned within the context of online user participation and UGC research, our paper concludes with a discussion of the ways in which the tools afforded by NSNS extend earlier understandings of online ‘communities of interest’. It also outlines the relevance of our research to larger questions about the diversity of the social media ecology

A Summary Report Prepared for the Office of the Governor, Boards and Commissions

This research project was undertaken by the author in partial fulfillment of a Master of Judicial Studies degree awarded December 2012 by the University of Nevada Reno and the National Judicial College. Although the project was funded by the author, the preparation of this report was funded by the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Justice Center staff and faculty, especially André Rosay, Ph.D., Justice Center Director, Sharon Chamard, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Justice, and Barbara Armstrong, M.A., Research Associate. Points of view in this publication are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the Justice Center, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Nevada Reno, the National Judicial College, or the State of Alaska, Office of the Governor, Boards and Commissions and its staff.This report presents results of a survey of lay adjudicators in mixed-administrative tribunals in Alaska. Mixed administrative tribunals are appointed boards or commissions in which lay members decide legal issues with the involvement of a professional administrative law judge. This involvement varies in degree and methods, depending on the tribunal’s rules and statutes. The report describes reported participation, role perception, attitudes toward law, recruitment, and satisfaction with experience.List of Tables / The Purpose of this Research / The Participants / Respondents' Understanding of Member Duties / Participation in Decision-Making / Respondent Attitudes toward Law / Recruitment / Member Satisfaction / Maintaining the Strengths of Alaska's Mixed Tribunal

Disappearing Act(ions): College Perceptions of Climate Change and its Impacts on Tourism

Various locations around the world are considered to be ‘disappearing’ due to the impacts of climate change on their natural attributes. This disappearance raises the question of how travel to those destinations will change in the future, and whether or not awareness of climate change might limit tourism. This study examines the presence of the last-chance tourism theory in college students, and hypothesizes that willingness to travel or engage in environmentally responsible behaviors will not change with increased awareness because of a desire to visit places before they disappear. A survey is used to gauge awareness and concern, as well as willingness to travel after being presented with a fact sheet on climate change and the impacts of tourism. Our results show that a large majority of students would still travel to a threatened location, but that they would also be willing to engage in environmentally responsible behaviors. Even though climate change awareness may not deter tourism, it may still increase concern and allow for the root issue of climate change to be addressed

Transport and Older People: Integrating Transport Planning Tools with User Needs

This study was funded through a pump-priming grant from the Strategic Promotion of Ageing Research Capacity (SPARC) programme. The purpose of the project was to bring together transport and public health research in order to demonstrate how the involvement of older people can help improve tools for transport planning. The study was unique in that it brought together public health and transport planning and engineering with older people to consider how services can be more responsive to older people’s transport needs. The project had five research objectives: 1. To investigate how accessibility problems impact on older people’s independence 2. To determine the extent to which currently available data sources and modelling tools reflect older people’s stated accessibility needs 3. To understand how the gap between expected and perceived accessibility problems varies across different categories of older people 4. To pilot techniques that could be applied to provide a more robust measure of accessibility for older people. 5. To build new research capacity across disciplines to develop a national focus on the interactions between ageing and transport planning. The methods were determined on the basis of ‘appropriate tools with maximum output’. Focus group interviews were selected as a useful tool for reaching a large number of older people within a limited time span, for providing an arena for discussion and debate about a topical subject and for generating ideas for improving transport planning. Following the interviews accompanied walks were undertaken with older people in a range of road environments and traffic situations. The purpose of these walks was to observe and explore the way older people interact with their environment. Data from the focus group interviews and the observations were compared with the outputs from an accessibility planning tool used by local authorities to plan accessible and acceptable transport routes (Accession™). The purpose of this exercise was to investigate whether or not such tools are able to take into account the varying needs of older people. The study was undertaken over eight months. Eighty one older people living in the Leeds district took part in the focus groups. They covered a broad range of mobility levels and used a variety of transport types, as such a reasonably rounded perspective on the issues concerned was offered. In addition six walks were undertaken with older people in their community