Information key feature for tourism social networking

June 25, 2009 | Online Travel

New research, aimed at enhancing tourism-related organisations’ understanding of social networking and overseen by Bournemouth University academics, has identified information acquisition as the main reason for why tourists participate in online communities.

The research, recently published in the Information Technology & Tourism Journal, also identified Social-Psychological and Hedonic (enjoyment) benefits as key influencers in the participation and attitude towards sites such as Tripadvisor.com, VirtualTourist.com and LonelyPlanet.com.

eTourism expert Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, from BU’s International Centre for Tourism & Hospitality Research, and Jin Young Chung from the Texas A&M University, USA, examined the perceived benefits and participation in online travel communities to help tourism-related organisations utilise online communities for their marketing strategies.

Results showed that Information Acquisition – obtaining up-to date information – was found to be the most influential factor for users of tourist social networks, followed by Social-Psychological factors such as seeking identity, forming relationships and seeking a sense of belonging, and Hedonic benefits including having fun with content, entertainment and being amused.

The research was carried out on internet users in South Korea, which has one of the largest populations of internet users in the world. A questionnaire, posted on the Korean online survey website World Survey Inc, was divided into five sections: benefits from online community activities; level of participation in an online travel community; attitude toward an online travel community; frequently used information sources and demographic information.

Out of 419 internet users who completed the survey, 217 were found to be online travel community users. The majority of these users were students or full-time employed groups in their 20s to 30s.

The authors write: “Tourism is one of the highest involvement industries, which means potential tourists want to get as much knowledge as they can to reduce risk. Sufficient information and up-to-date content might help the online travel community to attract Internet users, including potential tourists, and allow community users to make a repeat visit.

“This study provides marketing organisations with useful information on how to utilise an online social network as a marketing channel, and inspires tourism marketers to understand an online community. “

BU’s Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, who oversaw the study, said: “Increasingly organisations should be able to interact dynamically with their stakeholders in public and they should be able to understand the impact of Consumer Generated Public to their online presence, brand, competitiveness and profitability.

“This study helps organisations towards understanding the information requirements of their clientele and building their skills towards a better future. “