Preferring Offline Bookings: An Empirical Study of Channel Choice Motives of Online Information Seekers

Gaining revenues from e-commerce has proven to be far trickier that could have been expected from the hype in the late 1990's. The majority of online customers are still information seekers, who make their purchases offline. The tourism industry has achieved a competitive advantage over other sectors, since it has been able to transfer more customers online. Therefore, we should examine and learn from the companies in travel business. This paper reports the findings from a study exploring motives behind booking channel choice. For testing eight hypotheses based on media choice theories, a questionnaire was designed and implemented in a Web survey for customers visiting the Web site of a passenger cruise company. The primary reasons for not using the Internet for travel reservations were: perceiving the booking so complex that discussion with customer service was required, having many special arrangements included in the booking, and distrust in finding the cheapest alternative in the online booking system. Online booking was found to be quick, easy, and especially suitable for simple bookings with no special arrangements. The probability of making a reservation online increased when a customer gained more experience of online shopping.