Assessing structure in American online purchase of travel products

Abstract

The Internet has become the primary channel for the purchase of a number of travel-related products including airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rental, tickets to events and attractions, etc. This study examines the pattern of travel-related products purchased online by American travelers. The results of this study indicate that there is a strong hierarchical structure in the purchasing of eight travel-related products. In addition, it appears that American travelers can be roughly classified into three travel product groups, ranging from the ‘Core Internet Traveler’ and ‘Advanced Internet Traveler’ to the ‘Comprehensive Internet (or Complete) Traveler.’ Finally, an analysis of the travelers indicates that they differ significantly in terms of demographic characteristics, information search behavior, and travel planning activities. These findings offer a number of important implications for destination marketing.

Keywords:

• online purchase
• travel and hospitality products
• destination marketing
• Guttman scalogram analysis