Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

Understanding the factors that attract travellers to buy tickets online in Saudi Arabia

Despite widespread discussions of online consumer behaviour and the effect of web quality on online user’s actions, there is still a lack of research in the area of consumer attitude towards the services provided by airline companies due to the specific nature of travellers. – being using the internet for different motivations and buying specific kind of product (e-tickets). This study aims to measure consumers’ electronic satisfaction and intention to purchase tickets from Airlines websites. The results provide better understanding on the factors that attract travellers to adopt the most cost effective distribution channel for Airlines (own website) for ticketing needs. To obtain the study objective, a conceptual framework is developed based on literature pertaining to e-consumer behaviour, web quality, and travel and tourism streams. A detective quantitative methodology was chosen to examine the constructs and the relations within the framework. An online survey targeting actual airline online users (travellers) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is suggested with items covering 9 constructs: Information Quality (IQ), System Quality (SQ), Perceived usefulness (PU), Perceived ease of use (PEOU),e-Trust (ET), Airline reputation (AR), Price Perception (PP), e-Satisfaction (ES), and Intention to Purchase (IP). Findings would help decision makers within airline companies to understand their customers’ online behaviour and enable enhancements and modifications to be made to their airline storefront, hence ensuring the satisfaction of potential customers and conversion of visitors into buyers

A Meta Analysis on Adoption of Mobile Financial Services

During the last decade, there has been tremendous growth in mobile penetration in many countries across the globe including a number of developing countries. The total number of mobile subscription 5 billion by the end of 2010 and is further expected to grow multi-folds. On the other hand, around 2.5 billion adults worldwide do not have a savings or credit account with either a regulated bank or alternative financial institution (such as a microfinance institution). Around one billion people in emerging markets have a mobile phone but no access to banking services. This scenario has opened immense opportunities for organizations including banks, insurance companies and telecom operators to strengthen their customer base and increase revenue by providing various financial services to the consumers through mobile technology. Hence, it becomes very important to understand the factors that would act as drivers or inhibitors towards the adoption of mobile financial services (MFS). Quite a few studies have been conducted across the globe to determine the factors affecting adoption of MFS. This paper provides a Meta analysis of the existing academic literature on MFS and determines the strength of the factors and their linkages through a scoring model based on the type of publication. The findings of the study would be beneficial for further research in understanding the dimensions to be considered for developing adoption model for MFS. The findings can also be used by the practitioners involved in MFS in understanding the factors affecting demand for such services.

Matching Portuguese retail e-businesses to online consumers

E-commerce is being rapidly diffused geographically and is shaping all sort of industries that seek solutions to meet increasing society demands. Due to its growing importance, researchers are finding ways to track the impacts and variations of this technology all over the world. Some approaches focus on specific industries including e-grocery shopping that function as a branch for e-retail with a large number of product categories. With so many variables, there are still gaps on the research of certain product categories and countries. This research fills the gap of the online grocery retailing literature in Portugal. The research contributes to a clarification of what consumers are valuing online, for grocery shopping, in comparison to what retailers are offering. Through an extensive literature review, it was developed a tool that combines the 41 most important attributes for online consumers into 5 different dimensions: Shopping Experience, Accessibility, Security, Interactions and Customer Service. This study allows to conclude that there are three different maturity stages regarding the online supply of groceries. On a more mature phase it can be found Continente and Jumbo e-retailers that greatly exceed customer expectations. Secondly it can be found El Corte Ingles that is not as mature as the previous competitors but demonstrates a clear vision and strategy for development. Finally, with the least mature offer, it can be found Intermarché, which does not meet customer expectations. Matching Portuguese retail ebusinesses to online consumers is a starting point to understand and predict the potential of the online grocery retail market in Portugal.O comércio eletrónico está a ser rapidamente difundido em termos geográficos e está a moldar vários tipos de indústrias que procuram soluções para fazer face às necessidades da sociedade. Devido à crescente importância, investigadores procuram formas de acompanhar os impactos desta tecnologia a nível mundial. Algumas abordagens centramse em indústrias específicas como o mercado alimentar online, que funciona como uma ramificação do retalho online mais abrangente, que engloba um número grande de categorias. Com tantas variáveis, existem ainda lacunas na pesquisa de determinadas categorias de produtos e países. Este trabalho preenche a lacuna sobre o mercado alimentar online em Portugal. Visa clarificar o que os consumidores valorizam no mercado alimentar online, por comparação com a oferta dos retalhistas online. Através de uma extensa revisão de literatura, desenvolveu-se uma ferramenta que agrega os 41 atributos mais importantes para os consumidores online em 5 dimensões: Experiência de Compra, Acessibilidade, Segurança, Interações e Apoio ao Cliente. Este estudo permite concluir que existem três diferentes estádios de maturação no mercado alimentar online. Numa fase mais madura encontram-se o Continente e o Jumbo que excedem as expectativas dos consumidores. Em seguida, o El Corte Inglês cuja oferta não se encontra tão amadurecida como a dos seus concorrentes anteriormente mencionados, mas demonstra uma visão e estratégia claras para o seu desenvolvimento. Finalmente, a oferta menos madura do mercado provém do Intermarché, que não vai ao encontro das expectativas dos consumidores. Comparar os modelos de negócio retalhistas existentes com os consumidores online é um ponto de partida para compreender e prever a potencialidade do mercado alimentar online em Portugal

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Exploring the relationships between antecedents of online purchasing behaviour

Abstract: Technological advances have acted as a catalyst, increasing the number of consumers shopping online. This is caused primarily by the increased adoption and accessibility of the internet. This study examined consumer’s perceptions of shopping online. A convenience sampling approach was adopted, and descriptive statistics were outlined. The relationships between the various perceptions were examined by conducting a correlation analysis. Trust plays a critical role in the perceived benefit sought by consumers who seek this online method of shopping. Online trust allows consumers to mitigate vulnerabilities concerning security and privacy issues when shopping online (Beldad, de Jong, and Steehouder, 2010). Trust showed a positive and significant relationship with all the other variables, which is makes it a significant role player in perceptions of online shopping. Recommendations for future research are outlined as well as implications for literature and managerial support

Factors Influencing People’s Intention to Adopt E-Banking: An Empirical Study of Consumers in Shandong Province, China

E-Banking is growing at an unprecedented rate and has become a truly worldwide phenomenon, offering convenience, flexibility and interactivity for those that can, and know how to access it. This is clearly evidence in China. However, despite such growth and popularity, some users still have reservations about using Information and communication technology (ICT) in their daily banking activities, perhaps due to deep routed cultural factors that cause consumers to question the efficacy of such changes. Through the application of a technology acceptance framework, and empirical evidence from 52 E-Banking user questionnaires and four key market segment interviews, the research explores the factors that influence consumers’ intention to adopt E-Banking in Shandong Province of China. The findings highlight that perceived usefulness and perceived credibility are significant factors which have a positive influence on consumers’ intention to utilise E-Banking, while perceived ease of use and perceived cost are less significant. Unpacking the reasons for resistance to the use of E-Banking highlighted that “difficult to operate”, “unnecessary to use it” and “worry about the security” are key drivers and therefore challenges for the service providers. Based on the results, recommendations are drawn for banks, involving focusing on the significant factors, avoiding weaknesses and optimising strengths of E-Banking and ultimately developing more accurate market positioning strategies to align and manage consumer expectations and maximise potential acceptance

Managing Trust of E-customers in Online Shopping – A Case Study of Saudi Arabia

Purpose: Developing countries are still dealing with basic issues in promoting online shopping. One such issue faced by ecommerce since inception is the lack of trust of the e-customers about the overall online shopping concept. Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the middle east going through huge reforms in economic and social areas. The main aim of the current study was to explore the level of importance a Saudi e-customer puts on trust in online shopping to motivate them to adopt it. Methodology: The study is descriptive and quantitative based on primary data collected from respondents including Saudis and non-Saudis living in Saudi Arabia. Data was collected by close-ended structured questionnaire. The intensity of response on importance of trust was taken on five point Likert scale. To encourage high response rate and reliable data the English questionnaire was translated into Arabic language as it is the spoken language of the country. To get the results to satisfy the objectives of the study, following statistics analyzed the primary data namely mean, frequency, percentage, and t-test to measure the difference between the Saudis and Non-Saudis. Implications: The results will be useful for the e-retailers especially in Saudi Arabia and middle-east and also outside the region. The e-retailers can understand the concern area of e-customers and thus plan to minimize it to build e-customers trust. Limitations: The study is based on data from Saudi Arabia, therefore for generalization of the findings the same study may be conducted in other regions. Keyword: E-retailer, E-consumer, Trust, online shopping, Saudi Arabia DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-6-0

Considerations Regarding the Security and Protection of E-Banking Services Consumers’ Interests

A significant number of breaches in the security of electronic banking (e-Banking) system is reported each year, drawing attention to the need to protect and inform customers about the risk of exposure to malicious actions initiated by cyber-criminals. Financial institutions and consumers recognize the fact that attacks and financial frauds are becoming more complex and are perpetrated by a different class of criminal. This class is increasingly sophisticated and uses technology as part of their strategy. Furthermore, the specialists forecast that the current global recession is likely to increase the frequency of internal fraud and security breaches. The present research tries: (1) to analyze the potential dangers threatening the security of e- Banking services through a comprehensive investigation of the relevant literature; (2) to identify the tools and methods that can ensure the consumers’ protection in E-Banking, (3) to present the results of a pilot study regarding the Romanian consumer perception on the protection and security related to E-Banking servicesE-Banking services, security, consumer protection, cyber-attack

Exploring value co-creation within buyer-seller relationship in mobile applications services : a model development

Mobile phones have become an indispensable part of consumers’ life where they access core and supporting services via mobile applications services (m-applications). The focus of the present study is to explore dyadic buyer-seller roles in m-applications services’ value creation taking mobile banking applications services (MB-applications) as a case study. While prior research on value co-creation in service dominant logic (S-d logic) serves as a foundation for this study, it does not provide adequate guidance on how buyer and seller co-create value in m-applications services.To address this shortcoming, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 banks’ officials in banks’ headquarters of Saudi Arabia. Also, six focus groups were conducted; three with MB-application services users and three with non-users which were held in Riyadh College of Technology (RCT). In addition, a content analysis of MB-applications services was conducted to support suppliers’ perspectives regarding value propositions (service offering). A conceptual framework is developed for managing co-creation to illustrate practical application of the framework.The findings pointed to six factors that shape shape service suppliers’ ability to offer and deliver value via MB-applications, namely; brand image building, bank’s business vision, customer culture-orientation, bank’s internal environment, information technology system and positioning strategy. These factors combine to establish a value proposition for banks’ customers in the MB-applications services domain.Customer’s value creation as value in-use during usage emerged in different usage situations. A value framework incorporating value consumptions (Sheth et al., 1991a) is proposed. It identifies the main value-adding elements in m-applications and the primary drivers for adopting m-applications. Findings revealed that bank managers attempted to support customers’ value creation, which was reflected in MB-application content. However, support was constrained by some insufficient assumptions about customers and the m-commerce architecture. Factors that impede MB-applications use include consumers’ banking habits, perceived risk (security and privacy); usability hindrance, marketing and promotion, technical problems, and socio-cultural barriers. Implications are drawn for service delivery value perception and mobile marketing theory, and recommendations are made to service suppliers and commercial banks to achieve sustained returns of investment from MB-applications services