Theory: Online Consumer Behaviour in Tourism

This consists of a series of actions a buyer takes based on: 

• personal factors such as their interests, needs, values, logic etc. 

• interpersonal factors such as culture, social class, and other societal factors etc. 

Businesses predict this process by accounting for common buying behaviours.  

The Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) consumer behaviour model (1968) describes the process that helps to predict what consumers desire. Consumers follow a 5-step pattern when make purchasing decisions: 

1. Need recognition - starts with a need being triggered;  

2. Information search - the stage in which the customer (the tourist) starts to look at different sources of information; 

3. Pre-purchase evaluation - after researching all options available, the customer starts to evaluate by using objective criteria (e.g. price and location of supplier) or subjective criteria (e.g. a perceived status of the product/service); 

4. Purchase - the stage in which the customer intends to buy the product/service; 

5. Post-purchase evaluation - after making use of the product/service, the customer weighs the purchase against their expectations. The customer can either be dissatisfied or satisfied. exceeded). 

These steps were confirmed by Kotler et al. in 2003 customers go through 5 stages of the purchasing decision process when making a purchase decision:

Traditionally, these channels included: 

• Paper media e.g. brooks, brochures, flyers, and paper commercial advertisements (Rui & Bing, 2021).  

• Obtaining travel information also relied heavily on word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations e.g. asking friends and relatives or consulting with a travel agent pre-purchase.  

• Consumers were limited to either directly interacting with the tourism provider (e.g., booking a room directly with the hotel), or indirectly through a tourist services intermediary (e.g., booking accommodation through a travel agency). 

However, the advent of the Internet has drastically altered the behaviour of travellers and transformed the tourism industry. Consumers have now various channels available for obtaining travel information. 

The pandemic has also re-shaped consumers shopping habits – hence the consumer shift to digital channels, which is estimated to remain after the pandemic: 

• Before Covid-19, tourists choose travel destinations based on testimonies of other people, airline or booking websites and WOM. 

• After the pandemic, testimonies of other people remain the most used information source. However, the big difference is an increase in the use of official websites and social media, and the electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM). 

• Travellers have also become heavily influenced by perceived health risks when making travel decision. To restore confidence in destinations affected by COVID-19, tourism SMEs need to understand how people are affected by information related to the pandemic (Wörndl, et al.,2021):                                                                 

• Today, negative opinions or misconceptions regarding contagious diseases can have a negative impact on travel intentions.  

• If people perceive a high health risk associated with a destination, they are less likely to visit due to safety concerns. As such, positive online reviews highlighting hygiene on booking websites have become important when booking accommodation and increase people’s desire to travel to a destination.  

“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the purchasing behaviour of many people” 

(Slusarczyk, 2021)

• TDOC refers to online information quality and user-friendly accessibility of tourism information in the online environment. 

• The amount of user-generated content (digital content produced and shared by tourists in the online world) is increasing from year to year. 

• Social media plays a crucial role as the online platform to promote and market TDOC with consumers. 

• Communication strategies incorporating TDOC in social media marketing have proved to be highly effective with consumers. 

• Instagram was the most popular source of travel ideas (cited by 40% of the participants), 

• Facebook (33%), 

• TikTok (25%). 

A survey by YouGov noted that the popularity of social media-influenced travel is mostly concentrated in two segments – younger travellers and leisure travellers:  

• According to the survey, Generation Z travellers (people aged in their mid-20s or below) use social media platforms to plan their holidays much more than the older generations do.  

• Almost 40% of Generation Z travellers use social media platforms to plan their holidays, compared to the lower 29% of the older generations. 

Below are 2 examples of how tourism SMEs (hotels) are turning to Instagram marketing to promote their business. “Instagramability” has become a priority for today’s tech-savvy tourist when choosing a travel destination: 

It has become a trend for tourists to consult and read e-review websites prior to making a final purchase decision, be it for tour, accommodation, and restaurant bookings. 

The importance of ratings in TripAdvisor in the hospitality industry can be seen from the fact that 67% of potential customers are likely to cancel a booking if they see 1 to 3 bad reviews on TripAdvisor. 

Through social media networking sites and online review sites, tourism SMEs can develop effective and sustainable EWOM strategies on different online platforms (Reyes-Menendez, et al., 2020).  

The fundamental difference between EWOM and traditional WOM relies on the number of people who can be reached using the Internet:  

• Although WOM is still a popular consumer behaviour method, EWOM has the capacity to reach a vast audience via the Internet, and especially social media, which sets it apart from traditional methods (Black & Kelley, 2009); 

• In addition to this, EWOM influences more tourists because of its speed and convenience, as well as the absence of face-to-face human pressure; 

• EWOM is also seen as an information that does not “vanish as soon as it is uttered”; 

• From a consumer's viewpoint, EWOM offers a chance to share their opinion about a product or service through online reviews and influence the behaviour of other consumers (Batista Sánchez, et al., 2022); 

• From a firm’s viewpoint, EWOM, and namely, online reviews should be considered and monitored as part of a firm’s marketing strategy as they could have a positive influence on the sales. 

It is therefore imperative for tourism SMEs to pay greater attention to EWOM in their marketing campaigns and strategies if they want to influence consumer behaviour in the pre-purchase stage.  

Word of Mouth: 

Goldsmith and Horowitz (2006) found 8 reasons as to why consumers rely on EWOM – 

https://www.webku.net/word-of-mouth-marketing/           https://miainfluencer.com/how-your-business-can-       

1. To reduce risk; 

2. Because others are using it; 

3. To identify lower prices; 

4. To get information easily ; 

5. By accident (unplanned); 

6. Because it is “cool”;  

7. Because they are stimulated by off-line inputs such as television;  

8. To obtain pre-purchase information. 

Dealing with negative customer reviews 

Sometimes negative customer reviews are inevitable, and it is crucial to have the know-how how to best handle and respond to such reviews. Responding to negative reviews holds significant importance for 3 reasons:  

• It shows potential customers that their concerns matter to you. 

• It provides an opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings.  

• It may even allow the firm to persuade the customer to reconsider and revise their review.  

There are strategic and effective ways to handle negative customer reviews. Here are some steps to tactfully address them: 

1. Be polite 

Google Business Support advises that business owners remain polite and avoid getting personal when they respond to customer reviews.  

2. Thank reviewers and customise responses 

Despite the review’s negative nature, one must remain professional and polite by apologising to the customer and thanking them for taking the time to leave a review. This is an opportunity to transform a negative review into a positive one. 

3. Upload an image or video in the response 

By including photos or videos in the review response (where necessary), it shows that the brand takes the complaint seriously. 

4. Show that necessary action was taken 

Showing that the necessary actions and/or steps have been taken to resolve the issue, other customers can see that the business cares, reinforcing the brand image. 

Breaking down this journey into stages makes it easier for the tourism provider to visualise and understand the process – and potentially, grow conversions at every step. 

In turn, this ensures not only a happy customer but a returning one, and one who is more likely to recommend the business to others –  

1. Inspiration: this is the stage when the consumer seeks travel inspiration online. This inspiration can come from emails, WOM/EWOM, influencer marketing on social media platforms, Google Ads etc. Ensuring the business has the right marketing strategies in place to inspire and attract customers is key. 

2. Shop: the stage when the consumer is absorbing shopping trends through travel industry research.  

3. Booking: this stage is concerned with how customers book their holidays online. Ensuring online security, providing mobile-booking options, offering booking flexibility and free cancellation policies and an easy, straight-forward online booking process all contribute towards customer retention at this point in the journey. 

4. Pre-trip: the stage in which all purchase and travel decisions have been made, and customers await pre-trip guidance and information on insurance via for instance their email. 

5. In-trip: at this point, there is a wealth of decision-making in the consumer journey, from taking tours to booking restaurants. Providing the best customer service is imperative. 

6. Post-Trip: at this stage, customers’ online reviews are important sources of information. Tourism SMEs must use every tool at their disposal to increase its loyal brand following and increase future sales. Understanding customers’ feedback and taking it into consideration is imperative so that the business can better understand customer preferences and tailor services and products accordingly. 

Customer data and information purposely collected by tourism booking systems or customer-relations management (CRM) systems to re-invent customer engagement around service and convenience. 

Additionally, consumer behaviour tracking can be very useful to businesses in providing several insights into how consumers engage with the product and its competitors – this is known as customer analytics. 

Some popular tracking methods include: 

• Reviewing customer feedback; 

• Using artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, which can help the business plan the strategy and become proactive in the marketing efforts;