Understanding tourists' collaborative information retrieval behavior to inform design

With the rapid development of information and communication technologies, people are increasingly referring to web information to assist in their travel planning and decision making. Research shows that people conduct collaborative information searches while planning their travel activities online. However, little is known in depth about tourists' online collaborative search. This study examines tourists' collaborative information search behavior in detail, including their search stages, online search strategies, and information flow breakdowns. The data for analysis included pre‐ and postsearch questionnaires, web search and chat logs, and postsearch interviews. A model of tourist collaborative information retrieval was developed. The model identified collaborative planning, collaborative information searching, sharing of information, and collaborative decision making as four stages of tourists' collaborative search. The results show that tourists collaborated by planning their search strategies, dividing search tasks into subtasks and allocating workload, using search queries and URL links recommended by teammates, and discussing search results together. Related personal knowledge and experiences appeared important in trip planning and collaborative information search. During the collaborative search, tourists also encountered various information flow breakdowns in different search stages. These were classified and their effects on collaborative information search were reported. Implications for system design in support of collaborative information retrieval in travel contexts are also discussed.

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

[2]  Paolo Traverso,et al.  Automated Planning: Theory & Practice , 2004 .

[3]  Li Chen,et al.  Survey of Preference Elicitation Methods , 2004 .

[4]  Susan T. Dumais,et al.  A comparison of the collaborative information retrieval behaviour of two design teams , 2003 .

[5]  Raya Fidel,et al.  A multidimensional approach to the study of human-information interaction: A case study of collaborative information retrieval , 2004, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[6]  Nicole Mitsche,et al.  Understanding the Information Search Process within a Tourism Domain-specific Search Engine , 2005, ENTER.

[7]  Bob McKercher,et al.  The Effect of Market Access on Destination Choice , 1998 .

[8]  Alan F. Blackwell,et al.  Tangible interface for collaborative information retrieval , 2004, CHI EA '04.

[9]  Sanna Talja,et al.  Information sharing in academic communities: Types and levels of collaboration in information seeking and use. , 2002 .

[10]  John Adcock,et al.  Cerchiamo : a collaborative exploratory search tool , 2008 .

[11]  Meredith Ringel Morris.  Interfaces for Collaborative Exploratory Web Search: Motivations and Directions for Multi-User Designs , 2016 .

[12]  Chirag Shah,et al.  Effects of awareness on coordination in collaborative information seeking , 2013, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[13]  Ivan Lee,et al.  Towards a model of collaborative information retrieval in tourism , 2012, IIiX.

[14]  Werner Retschitzegger,et al.  Discovering Next Generation Tourism Information Systems: A Tour on TIScover , 2000 .

[15]  Diane H. Sonnenwald,et al.  Information behavior in dynamic group work contexts: interwoven situational awareness, dense social networks and contested collaboration in command and control , 2000, Inf. Process. Manag..

[16]  David M. Levy,et al.  A Look at Assumptions Underlying Digital Libraries , 1995 .

[17]  Mohammad Nazim,et al.  Information searching behavior in the Internet age: A users’ study of Aligarh Muslim University , 2008 .

[18]  Hassan Naderi,et al.  PERCIRS: a system to combine personalized and collaborative information retrieval , 2010, J. Documentation.

[19]  Raya Fidel,et al.  A Visit to the Information Mall: Web Searching Behavior of High School Students , 1999, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[20]  A. Correia.  How do tourists choose? A conceptual framework. , 2002 .

[21]  Srikanth Beldona.  Cohort Analysis of Online Travel Information Search Behavior: 1995-2000 , 2005 .

[22]  Klaus Krippendorff,et al.  Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology , 1980 .

[23]  Stephanie M. Wilson,et al.  A method for determining information flow breakdown in clinical systems , 2007, Int. J. Medical Informatics.

[24]  Eric Horvitz,et al.  SearchTogether: an interface for collaborative web search , 2007, UIST.

[25]  Meredith Ringel Morris,et al.  A survey of collaborative web search practices , 2008, CHI.

[26]  Joaquin Delgado,et al.  Knowledge Bases and User Profiling in Travel and Hospitality Recommender Systems , 2002, ENTER.

[27]  Chaang-Iuan Ho,et al.  Web users' behavioural patterns of tourism information search: from online to offline. , 2012 .

[28]  D. Gursoy,et al.  AN INTEGRATIVE MODEL OF TOURISTS’ INFORMATION SEARCH BEHAVIOR , 2004 .

[29]  Peter J. Denning,et al.  Getting to "we" , 2008, CACM.

[30]  Amanda Spink,et al.  Toward a web search model: Integrating multitasking, cognitive coordination, and cognitive shifts , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[31]  D. Nichols,et al.  Collaborative browsing and visualization of the search process , 1996 .

[32]  Shan-Ju L. Chang.  Information Research in Leisure: Implications from an Empirical Study of Backpackers , 2009, Libr. Trends.

[33]  Allen Foster,et al.  A nonlinear model of information-seeking behavior , 2004, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[34]  Bernard J. Jansen,et al.  The role of communication in collaborative information searching , 2008, ASIST.

[35]  D. Hoffman,et al.  Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments: Conceptual Foundations , 1996 .

[36]  D. Fesenmaier,et al.  Representation of the Online Tourism Domain in Search Engines , 2008 .

[37]  Cathy H. C. Hsu,et al.  Travel motivation : a critical review of the concept's development , 2008 .

[38]  Madhu C. Reddy,et al.  A finger on the pulse: temporal rhythms and information seeking in medical work , 2002, CSCW '02.

[39]  Dennis L. Hoffman,et al.  Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments : Conceptual Foundations 1 ) , 1998 .

[40]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Portholes: supporting awareness in a distributed work group , 1992, CHI.

[41]  Morten Hertzum,et al.  Breakdowns in collaborative information seeking: A study of the medication process , 2010, Inf. Process. Manag..

[42]  Susan T. Dumais,et al.  Collaborative information retrieval (CIR) , 2000, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[43]  Heinz Ulrich Hoppe,et al.  C-TORI: An Interface for Cooperative Database Retrieval , 1994, DEXA.

[44]  Meredith Ringel Morris.  Collaborating Alone and Together: Investigating Persistent and Multi-User Web Search Activities , 2007 .

[45]  Daniel R. Fesenmaier,et al.  Conceptualizing the travel decision-making hierarchy: a review of recent developments. , 2002 .

[46]  Iis P. Tussyadiah,et al.  Travelers' use of the internet , 2009 .

[47]  Chaang-Iuan Ho,et al.  An exploratory investigation of web-based tourist information search behavior , 2005 .

[48]  Thomas Bieger,et al.  Information Sources for Travel Decisions: Toward a Source Process Model , 2004 .

[49]  Preben Hansen,et al.  Collaborative Information Retrieval in an information-intensive domain , 2005, Inf. Process. Manag..

[50]  Brian Murray,et al.  Tourist information search , 1997 .

[51]  Myung-Soo Lee,et al.  A Model of Consumer Choice of the Internet as an Information Source , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[52]  Bernard J. Jansen,et al.  Collaborative information behavior: Exploring collaboration and coordination during information seeking and retrieval activities , 2010 .

[53]  Jonathan Trevor,et al.  Supporting collaborative learning during information searching , 1995, CSCL.

[54]  Tom Rodden,et al.  A Survey of CSCW Systems , 1991, Interact. Comput..

[55]  Ivan Lee,et al.  Exploring Tourists' Collaborative Web Search: Implications for System Design , 2013, AWC.

[56]  Linda Schamber,et al.  Time-line interviews and inductive content analysis: their effectiveness for exploring cognitive behaviors , 2000 .

[57]  Chirag Shah,et al.  Awareness in collaborative information seeking , 2010, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[58]  Marco Prestipino,et al.  Supporting Collaborative Information Spaces for Tourists , 2004, MuC.

[59]  Brian T. Ratchford,et al.  The Economics of Consumer Knowledge , 2001 .

[60]  B. Murray,et al.  A Typology of Tourist Information Search Strategies , 1998 .

[61]  David M. Nichols,et al.  Browsing is a collaborative process , 1997, Inf. Process. Manag..

[62]  Linda Schamber,et al.  Time-line interviews and inductive content analysis: their effectiveness for exploring cognitive behaviors , 2000, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[63]  Jette Hyldegård,et al.  Collaborative information behaviour--exploring Kuhlthau's Information Search Process model in a group-based educational setting , 2006, Inf. Process. Manag..

[64]  B. Murray,et al.  A Model of Tourist Information Search Behavior , 1999 .

[65]  Madhu C. Reddy,et al.  Barriers to collaborative information seeking in organizations , 2012, ASIST.

[66]  Jia Tina Du,et al.  The information journey of marketing professionals: Incorporating work task‐driven information seeking, information judgments, information use, and information sharing , 2014, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[67]  Madhu C. Reddy,et al.  Collaborative information seeking: A field study of a multidisciplinary patient care team , 2008, Inf. Process. Manag..

[68]  Bing Pan,et al.  Online information search: vacation planning process. , 2006 .

[69]  Anselm L. Strauss,et al.  Basics of qualitative research : techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory , 1998 .

[70]  Michael J. Baker,et al.  The role of grounding in collaborative learning tasks , 1999 .

[71]  Abdigani Diriye,et al.  Session-based search with Querium , 2011 .

[72]  Qinghua Zhu,et al.  Modelling marketing professionals' information behaviour in the workplace: towards a holistic understanding , 2013, Inf. Res..

[73]  Andreas Paepcke,et al.  TeamSearch: comparing techniques for co-present collaborative search of digital media , 2006, First IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-Computer Systems (TABLETOP '06).