ognizant Communication Corporation

Information Technology & Tourism, Vol. 8, pp. 3-13
1098-3058/06 $60.00 + .00
Copyright © 2006 Cognizant Comm. Corp.
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

¹School of Business, University of Western Australia
²Department of Marketing, Florida State University
³Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne

This research uses online experiments and consumer behavior literature to investigate how location and copy on a web page influence the rate of clicks on a link. As in other media, the results support these effects on web page clicking behavior. Two experiments demonstrate how to more than double the number of clicks on a web page as well as the value of web-based experiments. The results also illustrate how tourism managers and academics can combine principles of menu engineering and web page management to improve performance in both media. The article closes with proposals for future research of layouts: offline with restaurant menus and online with web pages.

Key words: Position effects; Copy testing; Web page layout; Online experiments

Address correspondence to Jamie Murphy, UWA Business School, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Tel: +61 8 6488 1979; E-mail: jmurphy@biz.uwa.edu.au

Master in Tourism and Economics, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

School of Tourism and Leisure Management, The University of Queensland, Australia
There is a growing interest in complexity science as a framework for understanding social and economic systems. This article aims at presenting this approach giving a brief overview of the complexity framework and illustrating some of the methods in order to allow the reader to gain a deeper appreciation of this perspective. The role of information management and information technology in tourism, emphasized on numerous occasions, is examined in this context. It is argued that this framework can offer tools and techniques able not only to better understand the general state from a theoretical point of view, but can also provide practical guidance in specific situations. As an example, the structure of the community of websites belonging to Italian travel agencies is analyzed.

Key words: Information technology; Tourism; Network structure; Complex systems; Web structure

Address correspondence to Rodolfo Baggio, Master in Tourism and Economics, Bocconi University, via Sarfatti, 25, 20136 Milan, Italy. Tel: +39 02 5836 5447; Fax: +39 02 5836 5439; E-mail: rodolfo.baggio@uni-bocconi.it

Transport Operations Research Group, School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

This article describes a product (the "Mobility Agent") that delivers Internet-based travel and tourism-related services through fixed and mobile devices. Intelligent agent technology was used to provide European residents and visitors with dynamic, mobile, personalized, location-based information and services, specifically related to travel and tourism in complex urban environments. The article describes the Mobility Agent and its testing and evaluation, most notably issues surrounding user acceptance, and the demand for and willingness to pay for such a product. Findings show high levels of acceptance of the Mobility Agent. Willingness to pay, especially in unfamiliar environments, is also seen to exist.

Key words: Travel and tourism information; Intelligent agents; Location-based services; User acceptance; Willingness to pay

Address correspondence to Simon J. Edwards, Transport Operations Research Group, School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU. Tel: +44 (0191) 222 8117; Fax: +44 (0191) 222 6502; E-mail: simon.edwards@ncl.ac.uk

Tourism, Hospitality & Events School, Leeds Metropolitan University, 1st Claverly Street, Leeds, LS1 3HE

Despite the growing attention given to web usability, little is understood as to what usability problems threaten the e-marketing initiatives of hotels. This research extends existing web usability literature by discovering problems that might impede the fostering of relationships with online leisure customers. Three four-person groups of frequent Internet shoppers tested three UK-based hotel sites via a protocol analysis methodology. Severe usability problems related to the interface quality, information quality, and service quality negatively affected the purchase and revisit intentions of most participants. Results suggested that exchanging links with local points of interest, simplifying the pathways to different sorts of leisure breaks, increasing the depth of information related to in room facilities and pricing, providing proactive interactions, and avoiding third-party reservation systems will have positive effects on users' perceived satisfaction, purchase intention, and potential relationship building. Implications for hotel marketers and avenues for future research are also discussed.

Key words: Usability; Protocol analysis; Hotel websites; Relationship marketing

Address correspondence to Mohamed Essawy, 79 Burley Lodge Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK LS6 1QP. E-mail: essawym@hotmail.com