Il ruolo del sito web nell’esperienza turistica: Il caso delle agenzie viaggi in Italia (The role of the website in the tourist experience: The case of the travel agencies in Italy)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s92.2013.04Keywords:
tourist demand, tourist offer, web communication in tourism, tourist experience, italian travel agencies, website analysisAbstract
Purpose of the paper: The objective of this paper is to analyze the utilization of the Italian travel agencies’ online communication and understand, therefore, if the tourist intermediaries par excellence use rarely update websites, only to be found in the digital universe or on the contrary, if they have web pages that exploit, consciously, the opportunities offered by the internet.
Methodology: After outlining an overview of the main methods used by the contemporary economic literature, in order to evaluate the websites’ effective quality, the second part of this work presents an analysis model built to study the effectiveness of the online communication of 400 Italian travel agencies. The model is based on the decomposition of the tourist purchase process in three phases: dream, emotion and memory.
Findings: The outcomes of the survey highlight a situation of under-utilization of the online communication and a limited interest in the creation of stable and loyal relationships with customers.
Managerial Implications: This model could be used as a tool able to evaluate the effectiveness of the travel agencies’ web communication and as a useful support to define operative interventions, fundamental to fill up the criticalities of the tourist operators’ websites.
Research limitations: The main limitation is represented by the lack of an analysis of the effective use of the websites by the side of tourists.
Originality: The utilization of a detailed database of 400 agencies and the creation of an evaluation model of the online communication effectiveness may represent interesting elements of originality.
References
ALADWANI A. M., PRASHANT C. P. (2002), “Developing and validating an instrument for measuring user-perceived web quality”, Information & Management, vol. 39, n. 6, pp. 467-476.
BELANCHE D., CASALO L. V., GUINALIU M., (2012), “Website usability, consumer satisfaction and the intention to use a website: the moderating effect of perceived risk”, Journal of retailing and consumer services, vol. 19, n. 1, pp. 124-132.
BIELLA A., BORZINI G. (2004), L’evoluzione del sistema agenziale verso la vendita online, Franco Angeli, Milano.
BRUNETTI F., TESTA F., UGOLINI M. (2005), “Il cliente nell’agenzia viaggi”, Sinergie, n. 66, pp. 181-211.
CASALO L., FLAVIAN C., GUINALIU M. (2008), “The role of perceived usability, reputation, satisfaction and consumer familiarity on the website loyalty formation process”, Computers in Human behavior, vol. 24, n. 2, pp. 325-345.
CEBI S. (2013), “A quality evaluation model for the design quality of online shopping websites”, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, vol. 12, n. 2, pp. 124-135.
CHEN Q., RODGERS S., HE Y. (2008), “A critical review of the e-satisfaction literature”, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 52, n. 1, pp. 38-59.
CHIOU W., LIN C., PERNG C. (2010), “A strategic framework for website evaluation based on a review of the literature from 1995-2006”, Information & Management, vol. 47, n. 5-6, pp. 282-290.
CHIOU W., LIN C., PERNG C. (2011), “A strategic website evaluation of online travel agencies”, Tourism Management, vol. 32, n. 6, pp. 1463-1473.
CHUAN-CHUAN LIN J., LU H. (2000), “Towards an understanding of the behavioral intention to use a Website”, vol. 20, n. 3, pp. 197-208.
CHUNG J., TAN F. B. (2004), “Antecedents of perceived playfulness: an exploratory study on user acceptance of general information searching websites”, Information & Management, vol. 41, n. 7, pp. 869-881.
COLLESEI U., CASARIN F., VESCOVI T. (2001), “Internet e i cambiamenti nei comportamenti d’acquisto del consumatore”, Micro & Macro marketing, n.1, pp. 33-50
COSTABILE M., RICOTTA F., MICELI G. (2004), La personalizzazione dell’offerta in ambienti digitali: un modello per il dynamic profiling dei clienti online, working paper, Università della Calabria, (Campus di Arcavacata - Cosenza), Dipartimento di scienze aziendali, anche in Economia & Management, n.1, 2005, pp. 1-31).
DICKINGER A., STANGL B. (2013), “Website performance and behavioral consequences: A formative measurement approach”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, n. 6, pp. 771-777.
FORLANI F. (2005), Marketing, esperienze e territorio, Tesi di dottorato in “Impresa e mercato”, Università degli studi di Genova, non pubblicata disponibile all’indirizzo: http://www.uniurb.it/lingue/ matdid/forlani/2006-07/.
GENTILE R. (2007), Vendere viaggi in Italia, Hoepli Editore, Milano.
GILMORE J.H., PINE II B.J. (1999), The experience economy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
GOLINELLI G. (2000), L’approccio sistemico al governo dell’impresa - L’impresa sistema vitale, Cedam, Padova.
HERNANDEZ B., JIMENEZ J., MARTIN M. (2009), “Key website factors in e-business strategy”, International Journal of information management, vol. 29, n. 5, pp. 362-371.
HU Y.C. (2009), “Fuzzy multiple-criteria decision making in the determination of critical criteria for assessing service quality of travel websites”, Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 36, n. 3, pp. 6439-6445.
INVERNIZZI E. (2003), “Introduzione a P. Kotler in Kotler, P., Bowen J., Makens J.”, Marketing nel turismo, McGraw-Hill, Milano.
KIM J., JIN B., SWINNEY J. L. (2009), “The role of retail quality, e-satisfaction and e-trust in online loyalty development process”, Journal of retailing and Consumer services, vol. 16, n. 4, pp. 239-247.
KIYAVITSKAYA N., ZENI N., MICH L. (2011), “Semantic annotation for assessing website communicative efficacy”, Information Technology & Tourism, vol. 12, n. 4, pp. 331-344.
LAW R., QI S., BUHALIS D. (2010), “Progress in tourism management: a review of website evaluation in tourism research”, Tourism Management, vol. 31, n. 3, pp. 297-313.
LEE Y., KOZAR K. (2012), “Understanding of website usability: specifying and measuring constructs and their relationships”, Decision Support System, vol. 52, n. 2, pp. 450-463.
LI F. (2011), “Usability evaluation of e-commerce on B2C websites in China”, Proceeding of the The sixth Wuhan International Conference on E-business. China, Zhengzhou. Institute of Aeronautical Industry management, 2007, pp. 53-59.
LOIACONO E., WATSON R., GOODHUE D. L. (2007), “WebQual: An instrument for consumer evaluation of web sites”, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, vol. 11, n. 3, pp. 51-87.
MICH L., FRANCH M., GAIO L. (2003), “Evaluating and designing web site quality”, Multimedia IEEE, vol. 10, n. 1, pp. 34-43.
MICH L., MARTINI U., MENAPACE M. (2004), “Un approccio modulare alla valutazione della qualità dei siti web delle destinazioni turistiche”, Università di Trento, Quaderno DISA, vol. 18, n. 35, pp. 87-103.
MICH L., FRANCH M., MARTINI U. (2005), “A modular approach to quality evaluation of tourist destination web sites: The quality model factory”, Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2005, n. 17, pp. 555-565.
MICH L. (2007), “La valutazione della qualità dei siti web”, in La comunicazione turistica. Viaggi reali e virtuali fra storia e turismo, Edizioni Kappa, Roma, pp. 403-414.
MICH L., FRANCH M. (2007), “Un approccio multi-step per la valutazione dell’usabilità del sito web di una destinazione turistica”, in Atti di: SIMKTG Il marketing dei talenti: Marketing e Tecnologia,24-25 Novembre 2007, Parma, pp. 1-28.
NASRUL M. A., NOR K., MASROM M., SYARIEF A. (2012), “Website Fit: an overview”, Procedia - Social and behavioral Sciences, n. 40, pp. 315-325.
O' CASS, A., CARLSON, J., (2012), “An empirical assessment of consumers’ evaluations of web site service quality: conceptualizing and testing a formative model”, Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 26, n. 6, pp. 419-434.
OLSINA L., LAFUENTE G., ROSSI G. (2001), “Specifying quality characteristics and attributes for websites”, Lecture notes in Computer Science 2016, Web Engineering: Managing University and Complexity of web application development, S. Murugesan and Y. Deshpande, eds., Springer-Verlang, pp. 266-277.
OLSINA L., ROSSI G. (2002), “Measuring Web application quality with WebQEM”, MultiMedia IEEE, vol. 9, n. 4, pp. 20-29.
PARK Y.A., GRETZEL U. (2007), “Success factors for destination marketing websites: a qualitative meta-analysis”, Journal of Travel Research, vol. 46, n. 1, pp. 46-63.
PENCARELLI T. (2003), Letture di economia e management delle organizzazioni turistiche, Edizioni Goliardiche, Udine.
PENCARELLI T., CIOPPI M. (2008), “La comunicazione di marketing nelle piccole e medie imprese: alcune evidenze empiriche”, paper presentato al convegno Marketing Trends, Venezia.
POLIZZI G. (2010), La comunicazione della destinazione turistica al tempo di Internet, McGraw-Hill, Milano.
SANCHEZ-FRANCO M. J. (2010), “Virtual travel communities and customer loyalty: customer purchase involvement and website design”, Electronic commerce research and applications, vol. 9, n. 2, pp. 171-182.
SCAGLIONE M., SCHEGG R., MURPHY J. (2009), “Website adoption and sales performance in Valais’ hospitality industry”, Technovation, vol. 29, n. 9, pp. 625-631.
SCHMIDT S. CANTALLOPS A.S., DOS SANTOS C.P. (2008), “The characteristics of hotel websites and their implications for website effectiveness”, International Journal of hospitality management, vol. 27, n. 2, pp. 504-516.
SIGALA M. (2011), “Evaluating Website design and structure in tourism: dimensions, stakeholders and marketing issues”, Journal of hospitality marketing & management, vol. 20, n. 7, pp. 691-694.
WHITE C., RAMAN N. (1999), “The world wide web as a public relations medium: the use of research, planning and evaluation in website development”, Public Relations review, vol. 25, n. 4, pp. 405-419.
YEN B., HU P.J. H., WANG M. (2007), “Toward an analytical approach for effective web site design: A framework for modeling, evaluation and enhancement”, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, vol. 6, n. 2, pp. 159-170.
BELANCHE D., CASALO L. V., GUINALIU M., (2012), “Website usability, consumer satisfaction and the intention to use a website: the moderating effect of perceived risk”, Journal of retailing and consumer services, vol. 19, n. 1, pp. 124-132.
BIELLA A., BORZINI G. (2004), L’evoluzione del sistema agenziale verso la vendita online, Franco Angeli, Milano.
BRUNETTI F., TESTA F., UGOLINI M. (2005), “Il cliente nell’agenzia viaggi”, Sinergie, n. 66, pp. 181-211.
CASALO L., FLAVIAN C., GUINALIU M. (2008), “The role of perceived usability, reputation, satisfaction and consumer familiarity on the website loyalty formation process”, Computers in Human behavior, vol. 24, n. 2, pp. 325-345.
CEBI S. (2013), “A quality evaluation model for the design quality of online shopping websites”, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, vol. 12, n. 2, pp. 124-135.
CHEN Q., RODGERS S., HE Y. (2008), “A critical review of the e-satisfaction literature”, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 52, n. 1, pp. 38-59.
CHIOU W., LIN C., PERNG C. (2010), “A strategic framework for website evaluation based on a review of the literature from 1995-2006”, Information & Management, vol. 47, n. 5-6, pp. 282-290.
CHIOU W., LIN C., PERNG C. (2011), “A strategic website evaluation of online travel agencies”, Tourism Management, vol. 32, n. 6, pp. 1463-1473.
CHUAN-CHUAN LIN J., LU H. (2000), “Towards an understanding of the behavioral intention to use a Website”, vol. 20, n. 3, pp. 197-208.
CHUNG J., TAN F. B. (2004), “Antecedents of perceived playfulness: an exploratory study on user acceptance of general information searching websites”, Information & Management, vol. 41, n. 7, pp. 869-881.
COLLESEI U., CASARIN F., VESCOVI T. (2001), “Internet e i cambiamenti nei comportamenti d’acquisto del consumatore”, Micro & Macro marketing, n.1, pp. 33-50
COSTABILE M., RICOTTA F., MICELI G. (2004), La personalizzazione dell’offerta in ambienti digitali: un modello per il dynamic profiling dei clienti online, working paper, Università della Calabria, (Campus di Arcavacata - Cosenza), Dipartimento di scienze aziendali, anche in Economia & Management, n.1, 2005, pp. 1-31).
DICKINGER A., STANGL B. (2013), “Website performance and behavioral consequences: A formative measurement approach”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, n. 6, pp. 771-777.
FORLANI F. (2005), Marketing, esperienze e territorio, Tesi di dottorato in “Impresa e mercato”, Università degli studi di Genova, non pubblicata disponibile all’indirizzo: http://www.uniurb.it/lingue/ matdid/forlani/2006-07/.
GENTILE R. (2007), Vendere viaggi in Italia, Hoepli Editore, Milano.
GILMORE J.H., PINE II B.J. (1999), The experience economy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
GOLINELLI G. (2000), L’approccio sistemico al governo dell’impresa - L’impresa sistema vitale, Cedam, Padova.
HERNANDEZ B., JIMENEZ J., MARTIN M. (2009), “Key website factors in e-business strategy”, International Journal of information management, vol. 29, n. 5, pp. 362-371.
HU Y.C. (2009), “Fuzzy multiple-criteria decision making in the determination of critical criteria for assessing service quality of travel websites”, Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 36, n. 3, pp. 6439-6445.
INVERNIZZI E. (2003), “Introduzione a P. Kotler in Kotler, P., Bowen J., Makens J.”, Marketing nel turismo, McGraw-Hill, Milano.
KIM J., JIN B., SWINNEY J. L. (2009), “The role of retail quality, e-satisfaction and e-trust in online loyalty development process”, Journal of retailing and Consumer services, vol. 16, n. 4, pp. 239-247.
KIYAVITSKAYA N., ZENI N., MICH L. (2011), “Semantic annotation for assessing website communicative efficacy”, Information Technology & Tourism, vol. 12, n. 4, pp. 331-344.
LAW R., QI S., BUHALIS D. (2010), “Progress in tourism management: a review of website evaluation in tourism research”, Tourism Management, vol. 31, n. 3, pp. 297-313.
LEE Y., KOZAR K. (2012), “Understanding of website usability: specifying and measuring constructs and their relationships”, Decision Support System, vol. 52, n. 2, pp. 450-463.
LI F. (2011), “Usability evaluation of e-commerce on B2C websites in China”, Proceeding of the The sixth Wuhan International Conference on E-business. China, Zhengzhou. Institute of Aeronautical Industry management, 2007, pp. 53-59.
LOIACONO E., WATSON R., GOODHUE D. L. (2007), “WebQual: An instrument for consumer evaluation of web sites”, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, vol. 11, n. 3, pp. 51-87.
MICH L., FRANCH M., GAIO L. (2003), “Evaluating and designing web site quality”, Multimedia IEEE, vol. 10, n. 1, pp. 34-43.
MICH L., MARTINI U., MENAPACE M. (2004), “Un approccio modulare alla valutazione della qualità dei siti web delle destinazioni turistiche”, Università di Trento, Quaderno DISA, vol. 18, n. 35, pp. 87-103.
MICH L., FRANCH M., MARTINI U. (2005), “A modular approach to quality evaluation of tourist destination web sites: The quality model factory”, Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2005, n. 17, pp. 555-565.
MICH L. (2007), “La valutazione della qualità dei siti web”, in La comunicazione turistica. Viaggi reali e virtuali fra storia e turismo, Edizioni Kappa, Roma, pp. 403-414.
MICH L., FRANCH M. (2007), “Un approccio multi-step per la valutazione dell’usabilità del sito web di una destinazione turistica”, in Atti di: SIMKTG Il marketing dei talenti: Marketing e Tecnologia,24-25 Novembre 2007, Parma, pp. 1-28.
NASRUL M. A., NOR K., MASROM M., SYARIEF A. (2012), “Website Fit: an overview”, Procedia - Social and behavioral Sciences, n. 40, pp. 315-325.
O' CASS, A., CARLSON, J., (2012), “An empirical assessment of consumers’ evaluations of web site service quality: conceptualizing and testing a formative model”, Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 26, n. 6, pp. 419-434.
OLSINA L., LAFUENTE G., ROSSI G. (2001), “Specifying quality characteristics and attributes for websites”, Lecture notes in Computer Science 2016, Web Engineering: Managing University and Complexity of web application development, S. Murugesan and Y. Deshpande, eds., Springer-Verlang, pp. 266-277.
OLSINA L., ROSSI G. (2002), “Measuring Web application quality with WebQEM”, MultiMedia IEEE, vol. 9, n. 4, pp. 20-29.
PARK Y.A., GRETZEL U. (2007), “Success factors for destination marketing websites: a qualitative meta-analysis”, Journal of Travel Research, vol. 46, n. 1, pp. 46-63.
PENCARELLI T. (2003), Letture di economia e management delle organizzazioni turistiche, Edizioni Goliardiche, Udine.
PENCARELLI T., CIOPPI M. (2008), “La comunicazione di marketing nelle piccole e medie imprese: alcune evidenze empiriche”, paper presentato al convegno Marketing Trends, Venezia.
POLIZZI G. (2010), La comunicazione della destinazione turistica al tempo di Internet, McGraw-Hill, Milano.
SANCHEZ-FRANCO M. J. (2010), “Virtual travel communities and customer loyalty: customer purchase involvement and website design”, Electronic commerce research and applications, vol. 9, n. 2, pp. 171-182.
SCAGLIONE M., SCHEGG R., MURPHY J. (2009), “Website adoption and sales performance in Valais’ hospitality industry”, Technovation, vol. 29, n. 9, pp. 625-631.
SCHMIDT S. CANTALLOPS A.S., DOS SANTOS C.P. (2008), “The characteristics of hotel websites and their implications for website effectiveness”, International Journal of hospitality management, vol. 27, n. 2, pp. 504-516.
SIGALA M. (2011), “Evaluating Website design and structure in tourism: dimensions, stakeholders and marketing issues”, Journal of hospitality marketing & management, vol. 20, n. 7, pp. 691-694.
WHITE C., RAMAN N. (1999), “The world wide web as a public relations medium: the use of research, planning and evaluation in website development”, Public Relations review, vol. 25, n. 4, pp. 405-419.
YEN B., HU P.J. H., WANG M. (2007), “Toward an analytical approach for effective web site design: A framework for modeling, evaluation and enhancement”, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, vol. 6, n. 2, pp. 159-170.
Downloads
Published
2018-10-28
Issue
Section
Articoli
