The effect of uncertainty in online information search for travel planning: A segmentation study
(2015) SMMM20 20151Department of Service Studies
- Abstract (Swedish)
- The present quantitative research focuses on studying the effect of uncertainty in online information search related mainly to travel planning. The main emphasis is in the individual and combined effect of these variables towards different demographic segments of international travelers. In order to do so it draws insights from Uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 2001) and information foraging theory (Pirolli, 2007). Furthermore it addresses the issue of overlapping concepts of uncertainty and risk and provides a clearer picture of the influence uncertainty has in online information search for travel planning. The study uses two sources for data collection. The first method is an online survey which gathered 236 respondents over a period of... (More)
- The present quantitative research focuses on studying the effect of uncertainty in online information search related mainly to travel planning. The main emphasis is in the individual and combined effect of these variables towards different demographic segments of international travelers. In order to do so it draws insights from Uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 2001) and information foraging theory (Pirolli, 2007). Furthermore it addresses the issue of overlapping concepts of uncertainty and risk and provides a clearer picture of the influence uncertainty has in online information search for travel planning. The study uses two sources for data collection. The first method is an online survey which gathered 236 respondents over a period of 15 days. The second method consists of a travel planning exercise which was carried out by 6 participants. The main findings of the study suggest that uncertainty avoidance holds a positive correlation with online information search style from the sample of participants. This means that the higher the uncertainty levels, the more intensive an information search becomes. In addition, demographic segments such as age, gender, income and childbearing status present interesting variations related to online information search style. These results contribute to the existing knowledge on online information search and demographic segments and attempts to close the gap resulting from the contradictory results found in academic literature. The practical implications of this research are related to the foundation of a more effective communication strategy that focuses on bringing service providers closer to their potential customers. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/5468859
- author
- Baeza, Gabriela LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SMMM20 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Uncertainty avoidance, online information search, travel planning, international tourists, demographic segmentation
- language
- English
- id
- 5468859
- date added to LUP
- 2016-02-04 13:19:03
- date last changed
- 2016-02-04 13:19:03
@misc{5468859,
abstract = {{The present quantitative research focuses on studying the effect of uncertainty in online information search related mainly to travel planning. The main emphasis is in the individual and combined effect of these variables towards different demographic segments of international travelers. In order to do so it draws insights from Uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 2001) and information foraging theory (Pirolli, 2007). Furthermore it addresses the issue of overlapping concepts of uncertainty and risk and provides a clearer picture of the influence uncertainty has in online information search for travel planning. The study uses two sources for data collection. The first method is an online survey which gathered 236 respondents over a period of 15 days. The second method consists of a travel planning exercise which was carried out by 6 participants. The main findings of the study suggest that uncertainty avoidance holds a positive correlation with online information search style from the sample of participants. This means that the higher the uncertainty levels, the more intensive an information search becomes. In addition, demographic segments such as age, gender, income and childbearing status present interesting variations related to online information search style. These results contribute to the existing knowledge on online information search and demographic segments and attempts to close the gap resulting from the contradictory results found in academic literature. The practical implications of this research are related to the foundation of a more effective communication strategy that focuses on bringing service providers closer to their potential customers.}},
author = {{Baeza, Gabriela}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The effect of uncertainty in online information search for travel planning: A segmentation study}},
year = {{2015}},
}