Price competition within and between airlines and high-speed trains: the case of the Milan–Rome route.

In the travel industry high-speed trains and airlines are increasingly competing for passengers, and the diffusion of price optimization based on real time demand fluctuations poses new challenges in the analysis of price competition between operators. This paper presents an analysis of how different competitors simultaneously adjust their prices in the short run. The empirical model accounts for dynamic price variations, exploring both intramodal and intermodal price competition. The results, based on 12,506 price observations, show that intermodal competition presents some kind of asymmetric behaviour, with airlines reacting more than trains to competitors' price changes. The paper concludes with the implications of this heterogeneous behaviour for the tourism and travel industries

Designing a hotel website: An empirical analysis for a classic destination using a conjoint experiment

Internet has become one of the most important channels for the promotion and sale of services related to tourism. As a result, producers and distributors alike are keen to resolve the question as to which factors will determine website choice by internet browsers. In this paper we develop an experiment to determine the factors that need to be taken into consideration when designing a website for a mature, familiar tourist destination. To this end, the basic factors shaping the architecture of a website are theoretically described and, based on the results of a conjoint experiment, the main factors influencing a website for a classic destination are extracted. Our results suggest that a website that includes objective information (e.g., price, activities of interest, number of rooms) and multiple photos has a positive influence on customer perceptions. The paper also makes an important methodological contribution, as it proposes a new design for calculating the weight of the factors, interactions of two factors and the factors squared

Comparative Analysis of American and Spanish Cruise Passenger's Behavioral Intentions

[EN] Earlier studies of cross-national differences in consumer behavior in different consumption sectors have verified that cultural differences have a strong influence on consumers. Despite the importance of cross-national analysis, no studies in the literature examine the moderating effects of nationality on the construction of behavioral intentions and their antecedents among cruise line passengers. This study investigates the moderating effects of nationality on the relationships between perceived value, satisfaction, trust and behavioral intentions among Spanish and (U.S.) American passengers of cruise lines that use Barcelona as home port and port-of-call. A theoretical model was tested with a total of 968 surveys. Structural equation models (SEMs) were used, by means of a multigroup analysis. Results of this study indicated that Spaniards showed stronger relationships between trust and behavioral intentions, and between emotional value and satisfaction. Americans presented stronger relations.[PT] Estudos em distintos setores de consumo verificaram que as diferenças culturais têm uma forte influência sobre os consumidores. Apesar da importância da análise transnacional, não há estudos na literatura que examinem os efeitos da nacionalidade na construção das intenções de comportamento e seus antecedentes entre os passageiros de cruzeiros. Esta pesquisa investiga os efeitos moderadores da nacionalidade nas relações entre valor percebido, satisfação, confiança e intenções de comportamento entre passageiros espanhóis e norte-americanos. Realizaram-se 968 enquetes para provar o modelo teórico, que foi analisado com modelos de equações estruturais, mediante uma análise multigrupo. Os resultados indicam que os espanhóis mostraram relações mais fortes entre confiança e intenções de comportamento, e entre valor emocional e satisfação. Ao contrário dos norte-americanos, que apresentaram relações mais fortes entre qualidade de serviço e satisfação, e entre qualidade de serviço e intenções de comportamento.[ES] Algunos estudios anteriores de diferencias observadas entre países respecto de las conductas de los consumidores de diferentes sectores de consumo verificaron que las diferencias culturales ejercen una poderosa influencia sobre los consumidores. A pesar de la importancia de los análisis transnacionales, no hay en la literatura estudios que analicen los efectos moderadores de la nacionalidad sobre la construcción de intenciones de conducta y sus antecedentes entre pasajeros de cruceros. Este estudio investiga los efectos moderadores de la nacionalidad sobre las relaciones entre el valor percibido, la satisfacción, la confianza y las intenciones de conducta entre los pasajeros españoles y norteamericanos (EE. UU.) de cruceros, que utilizan a Barcelona como puerto de origen y puerto de escala. Se probó un modelo teórico con un total de 968 encuestas. Se emplearon modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM por su sigla en inglés), a través de un análisis multigrupo. Los resultados de este estudio indicaron que los españoles mostraron relaciones más sólidas entre la confianza y las intenciones de comportamiento y entre el valor emocional y la satisfacción. Los americanos evidenciaron relaciones más sólidas entre la calidad del servicio y la satisfacción y entre la calidad del servicio y las intenciones de conducta.Forgas-Coll, S.; Palau-Saumell, R.; Sanchez-Garcia, J.; Garrigós Simón, FJ. (2016). Comparative Analysis of American and Spanish Cruise Passenger's Behavioral Intentions. RAE-Revista de Administração de Empresas. 56(1):87-100. doi:10.1590/S0034-759020160108S8710056