Alecia C. Douglas a, Juline E. Mills a, Raphael R. Kavanaugh a, and SooCheong (Shawn) Jang a. Purdue University, USA {acdougla,

Transcription

1 Emotions in Online Destination Management: Towards the Development of a Destination Website Emotional Design (W.E.D.) Model For Romantic Travel Consumers Alecia C. Douglas a, Juline E. Mills a, Raphael R. Kavanaugh a, and SooCheong (Shawn) Jang a a Hospitality and Tourism Management Purdue University, USA {acdougla, millsje}@ .edu Abstract With the increased use of the internet for information search, entertainment and purchasing, electronic commerce has significantly altered the marketing environment for tourism products and services. As people spend more time online, emotional aspects of Website interfaces are becoming more important (Kim, Lee & Choi, 2003). The research will seek to promote the design of emotionally evocative Website interfaces as one strategy that could be used to curtail the decline in visitors but more importantly, to serve the emotional needs of the romantic travel market. Emotions have been identified as a major catalyst in the consumer decision making process. The proposed research will be geared towards the development of an e-motional scale and model for destination Website emotional design (W.E.D.) of tourism destinations. Keywords: Emotions, romantic destinations, online destination marketing, online travellers 1 Introduction The romantic travel consumer may be the quintessential target market in the United States for captivating destinations with high exotic appeal, charm, and incessant natural beauty. In 2004 more than 42 million or 20% of all American adults, took at least one romance-related vacation (TIA, 2004). Johnson (1999) describes the romantic market as the perfect travel segment because of their tendencies to pay the full price for their vacation package upfront. There is some evidence from the industry that online resources are being used by this market to plan romantic vacations (Grinnals, 2004). As online travellers continue to use the Internet for making travel decisions, destinations have taken their competitive drive online. Tourism organizations use of the Internet to provide information is being regarded an important destination marketing tool (Lee, Cai, & O Leary, 2006). However, research

2 on several tourism organization Websites in Australia, Greece, Taiwan, Turkey, and Russia revealed that these organizations were ineffective in their use of the Internet for Web-based marketing and E-commerce (Benckendorff & Black, 2000; Sigala, 2001; Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2006; Baloglu & Pekcan, 2006). Furthermore, according to a report by TIA (2005), the official destination sites managed by DMOs in the United States (U.S.) are the only travel Websites that have experienced consistent declines in its use over the last three years. Use of destination Websites by consumers have decreased from 55% in 2003 to 50% in 2004 and is now at 46% for 2005 (TIA, 2005). As the tourism product is hedonic by nature, destination Websites should strive to represent the richness of the physical experience (Govers & Go, 2004) by using multisensory, fantasy, and emotional cues to stimulate interest. Destination management organizations (DMO) Websites are possibly the first point of contact with the romantic travel consumer and it is more likely that they will make their purchase decisions on the basis of pure emotion. 2 Website Emotional Design (W.E.D.) Researh Emotions, though difficult to define, are usually activated by an individual s response to stimulus in his/her environment. Kleinginna and Kleinginna (1981) describe emotions as an intricate set of interactions that result in affective experiences such as feelings of arousal or differing degrees of pleasure. Emotions play a significant role in aiding decision making (Root-Bernstein, 1999), enhancing functionality, (Laugh, 2005) and influencing an individual s belief (Marsella & Gratch, 2002). Traditional marketing research indicates that an emotional connection on the part of the consumer with a particular product or service can stimulate buying interest, guide choices, arouse buying intentions, and influence future buying decisions (O Shaughnessy & O Shaugnessy, 2003). However, very rarely does information technology (IT) research investigate the emotional needs of online consumers (Lam & Lim, 2004) as it caters mostly to functionality design features (see Liang & Lai, 2002). In the online travel industry, most Websites are primarily designed around pricing and place (Gretzel & Fesenmaier, 2003). This characteristic of travel Websites reflects more of the supply side of the business as users execute simple online activities (Gretzel & Fesenmaier, 2003). 3 Problem Statement Not all online travel consumers are motivated by the functional and utilitarian aspects of a destination Website such as price and place. The extent to which a destination brand focuses on the emotional and hedonic aspects that connect with the romantic travel consumer through use of their Website is unclear as, travel Websites, in general, are heavily focused on the search-find-book process. Significant effort is

3 required to balance the functional and emotional content at the destination Websites. Empirical evidence exits in the marketing literature supporting the argument that distinct aspects of product differentiation are captured in both the utilitarian (functional) and hedonic (aesthetic/affect laden) dimensions (Chittrui, 2003). More specifically, product-induced emotions are the result of hedonic aspects such as design and aesthetic appeal whereas utility is concerned with functional, practical or useful aspects of the products. Less is known as to whether the emotional needs of travel consumers, in particular romantics, are being catered to by online destination brands. Research exploring the role of emotional design in the online branding of tourism destinations is also limited. There is a need to examine and measure how environmental cues with an emotional appeal experienced at DMO Websites influences judgments made by romantic travel consumers towards the destination brand. A need also exists to determine the influence of emotional design factors on romantic travel consumers emotions (pleasure and arousal) and their approach/avoidance behaviours. 4 Research Questions To guide the direction of the study, the following set of research questions were developed. 1. What is the profile of the online romantic travel market? 2. What, if any, environmental cues with an emotional appeal are being used online at destination Website brands? 3. Do romantic travel consumers prefer destination Websites that include environmental cues with an emotional appeal in their design? 4. Do destination Website that use environmental cues with an emotional appeal in their design influence the affective response of the romantic travel consumer? 5. Are the judgments of romantic travel consumers about destination Website influenced by environmental cues with an emotional appeal used in the Website design? 6. Will the behavior of romantic travel consumers towards the destination Website brand be influenced by environmental cues with an emotional appeal used in the Website design? 7. What is the likelihood that destination Website brands with an emotional design will increase the number of visitors to the online site? 5 Research Hypotheses Five research hypotheses were developed as followings: 1. Romantic travel consumers will prefer destination Websites that include environmental cues with an emotional appeal in their design. 2. Destination Websites that use environmental cues with an emotional appeal in their design will influence the affective response of the romantic travel consumer. 3. Destination Websites that use environmental cues with an emotional appeal in their design will influence the judgments of romantic travel consumers. 4. Destination Websites that use environmental cues with an emotional appeal in their design will influence the behavior of romantic travel consumers. 5. The number of romantic travel

4 consumers that visitors the destination Website will increase because of the emotional design of the site. 6 Proposed Methodology The proposed methodology will seek to develop a predictive model for Website Emotional Design (W.E.D.) based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) paradigm rooted in the psychology literature (Woodworth, 1928) and further developed by Mehrabian and Russell (1974) in their environmental psychology theory. The stimulus-organism-response paradigm posits that the effects of environmental cues or stimuli on the approach/avoidance behavior of organisms (response) are mediated by an individual's emotional state (organism) which is aroused by the environment. For this study, the S-O-R paradigm has been adapted in the context of online environments. Figure 1. The Stimulus-Organism-Response Paradigm in the Online Context Adapted from Mehrabian and Russell (1974) First, in order to create an emotion-measurement scheme, a broad list of emotions will be gathered from previous research literature. A focus group will then be conducted with a group of leisure travellers who use destination websites to plan romance related vacations. Using the Delphi technique, a questionnaire will be formulated for experts and/or leaders in hospitality internet marketing based on results of the focus group. The goal in this step is to further refine the list of emotions applicable to online destination brands. Suggestions for additional emotions will also be accommodated. The Delphi technique uses a highly structured and focused questionnaire approach in order to establish a consensus opinion from 'experts'. The results of the Delphi technique will be used to develop and administrate a survey instrument to a sample of romance-related leisure travellers who use online destination websites when planning their vacation. However, before conducting the full study, a pilot study will be conducted to test the validity of the instrument and an exploratory factor analysis will be conducted if sufficient results are obtained from the pilot study. The final version

5 of the survey instrument will then be administered to the sample. Structural Equation Modelling (S.E.M.) will be used to quantify model fit for Website Emotional Design (W.E.D.) based on the S-O-R paradigm. 7 Anticipated Results The study will determine the extent to which destination Website brands include environmental cues with an emotional appeal in their design that helps to forge deep enduring bonds with the romantic travel consumer. Results from the investigation should indicate whether or not romantic travel consumers have a strong preference for emotionally designed destination Website brands. Additionally, judgments and responses of romantic travel consumers towards the destination Website brand will be identified. Through the development of the Website Emotional Design (W.E.D.) model, the study results will also show how emotional features in the online environment may affect the romantic travel consumer s behaviour toward the destination Website brand. Finally, it is anticipated that the results will be used to promote an appropriate balance of environmental cues with an emotional appeal in destination Website design as an influential branding strategy for DMOs to adopt so as to curtail the decline of visitors to the site. References Baloglu, S., & Pekcan, A. (2006). The Website design and the Internet site marketing practices of upscale and luxury hotels in turkey. Tourism Management, 27, Benckendorff, P.J., & Black, N.L. (2000). Destination marketing on the Internet: a case study of Australian regional tourism authorities. Journal of Tourism Studies, 11(1), Govers, R., & Go, F. M. (2004). Cultural identities constructed, imagined and experienced: A 3-gap tourism destination image formation model. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 52(2), Gretzel, U., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2003). Experience-based Internet Marketing: An Exploratory Study of Sensory Experiences Associated with Pleasure Travel to the Midwest United States. Proceedings, Tenth International Conference on Information and Communication Technology in Tourism, Helsinki, Finland, pp Johnson, J. (1999). The lucrative honeymoon market. Travel Marketing Decisions. Available online at: Kleinginna, P., & Kleinginna, A. (1981). A categorized list of emotion definitions, with suggestions for a consensual definition. Motivation and Emotion, 5, Kim, J., Lee, J., & Choi, D. (2003). Designing emotionally evocative homepages: an empirical study of the quantitative relations between design factors and emotional dimensions. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 59(6), Lam, R. H. M. & Lim, K. H. (2004). Emotions in online shopping: fulfilling customer s needs through providing emotional features and customizing Website features. In proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual International Conference on Information Systems, Washington D. C., United States: December Laugh, W. (2005). Once more with feeling. Paper presented at the MX Design Conference 2005, Mexico City, Mexico. Available online at: Lee, G., Cai, L. A., O Leary, J. (2006). an analysis of brand-building elements in the US state tourism websites. Tourism Management, 27(5), Liang, T. P., & Lai, H. J. (2002). Effect of store design on consumer purchases: an empirical study of on-line bookstores. Information & Management, 39(6), 431. Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). An Approach to Environmental Psychology, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Marsella, S., & Gratch, J. (2002). A step toward irrationality: using emotion to change belief. Paper presented at the First International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, Bologna, Italy. O Shaughnessy, J. & O Shaughnessy, N. J. (2003). The marketing power of emotions. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press. Root-Bernstein, R. (1999). Sparks of Genius: the 13 Thinking Tools of the World s Most Creative People. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Russell, J. A. & Mehrabian, A. (1977). Evidence for a three-factor theory of emotions. Journal of Research in Personality, 11, Sigala M. (2001). The impact of multimedia on employment patterns in Small and Medium Hospitality and Tourism Enterprises (SMTHEs) in UK, Information Technology and Tourism, Vol. 4 (3/4), p Stepchenkova, S., & Morrison, A. M. (2006). The destination image of Russia: From the online induced perspective. Tourism Management, 27(5), Travel Industry Association (2004). Traveler s use of the Internet: 2004 Edition. Available online at: Travel Industry Association (2005). Travelers Use of the Internet, 2005 Edition. Available online at: