Web 2.0: A study of online travel community

Online communities have been increasingly recognised as important information sources for consumers and as an effective marketing channel for marketers. It is critical therefore to understand what actually makes members participate in online communities. Accordingly, the fundamental benefits of online community members and how those benefits influence the level of participation and attitudes in the online community were examined in this study. Using the data collected by an online survey, three main benefits were identified, namely: information acquisition, socio-psychological, and hedonic. It was found that online community members perceive functional benefits, including information acquisition and experience sharing, as the most influential element on level of participation and attitude. This study also provides managerial implications regarding how to utilise and operate an online travel community whilst providing significant inspirations for future study.

[1]  D. Fesenmaier,et al.  Modeling Participation in an Online Travel Community , 2004 .

[2]  John Hagel,et al.  The real value of on-line communities , 1999 .

[3]  K. Andereck,et al.  The Influence of Tourists' Characteristics on Ratings of Information Sources for an Attraction , 1994 .

[4]  A. Woodside,et al.  Building and testing theories of decision making by travellers , 2005 .

[5]  Guidebook use by Japanese tourists: a qualitative study of Australia inbound travellers. , 2006 .

[6]  J. Crotts,et al.  The effect of uncertainty avoidance on information search, planning, and purchases of international travel vacations , 2003 .

[7]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1991 .

[8]  P. Kollock,et al.  Communities in Cyberspace , 2002 .

[9]  P. Sheldon.  Tourism Information Technology , 1997 .

[10]  B. Wellman,et al.  Work, friendship, and media use for information exchange in a networked organization , 1998 .

[11]  J. C. Holloway,et al.  Marketing for Tourism , 1992 .

[12]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  An Improved Way To Characterize Internet Users , 2002, Journal of Advertising Research.

[13]  Y. Mansfeld.  From motivation to actual travel , 1992 .

[14]  R. Kozinets.  E-tribalized Marketing?: The Strategic Implications of Virtual Communities of Consumption , 1999 .

[15]  J. Hagel,et al.  Net gain: Expanding markets through virtual communities , 1999 .

[16]  Ulrike Gretzel,et al.  The transformation of consumer behaviour , 2006 .

[17]  David W. McMillan.  Sense of community , 1996 .

[18]  Dimitrios Buhalis,et al.  Tourism Business Frontiers , 2006 .

[19]  R. Gitelson,et al.  The Planning Horizons and Sources of Information Used by Pleasure Vacationers , 1983 .

[20]  N. Lin,et al.  Social structure and network analysis , 1985 .

[21]  M. Olsen,et al.  Experience-based Travel , 2000 .

[22]  Albert A. Angehrn.  Designing mature internet business strategies: The ICDT model , 1997 .

[23]  F. Reichheld,et al.  E-LOYALTY: YOUR SECRET WEAPON ON THE WEB , 2003 .

[24]  Dimitrios Buhalis.  Strategic use of information technologies in the tourism industry , 1998 .

[25]  Chris Werry,et al.  Imagined Electronic Community: Representations of Virtual Community in Contemporary Business Discourse , 1999, First Monday.

[26]  Howard Rheingold,et al.  Virtual Reality , 1991 .

[27]  Sara Kiesler.  Culture of the Internet , 1997 .

[28]  Jenny Preece,et al.  Online Communities: Designing Usability and Supporting Sociability , 2000 .

[29]  G. Stigler.  The Economics of Information , 1961, Journal of Political Economy.

[30]  J. Neulinger.  The psychology of leisure , 1981 .

[31]  Karla Shelton,et al.  Virtual communities companion , 1997 .

[32]  J. Urry.  The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies , 1990 .

[33]  D. Fesenmaier,et al.  Towards understanding members’ general participation in and active contribution to an online travel community , 2004 .

[34]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Intentional social action in virtual communities , 2002 .

[35]  A. Poon.  Tourism, Technology and Competitive Strategies , 1993 .

[36]  Dimitrios Buhalis,et al.  Consumer centric tourism marketing , 2006 .

[37]  Michael J. Powers,et al.  How to Program a Virtual Community , 1997 .

[38]  D. Fesenmaier,et al.  Defining the virtual tourist community: implications for tourism marketing , 2002 .

[39]  B. Smit.  Chemie in cyberspace , 1999 .

[40]  Dimitrios Buhalis,et al.  Tourism Management Dynamics: trends, management and tools , 2005 .

[41]  Binod Sundararajan,et al.  Multinational web uses and gratifications: Measuring the social impact of online community participation across national boundaries , 2006, Electron. Commer. Res..

[42]  B. Wellman.  An electronic group is virtually a social network. , 1997 .

[43]  A. Woodside.  Measuring Advertising Effectiveness In Destination Marketing Strategies , 1990 .

[44]  D. Fesenmaier,et al.  Expanding the functional information search model , 1998 .

[45]  Inquiry Conversion and Travel Advertising Effectiveness , 1993 .

[46]  Stacey E. Bressler,et al.  Communities of Commerce: Building Internet Business Communities to Accelerate Growth, Minimize Risk, and Increase Customer Loyalty , 2000 .

[47]  A. Morrison,et al.  The Tourism System , 2002 .

[48]  W. Kim,et al.  Effects of an online virtual community on customer loyalty and travel product purchases. , 2004 .