2001
DOI: 10.1177/004728750104000205
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Distribution Channels in the Travel Industry: Using Mystery Shoppers to Understand the Influence of Travel Agency Recommendations

Abstract: The objectives of this study were to understand the factors that influence travel agency recommendations in the U.K. The objectives were achieved using a mixture of focus groups, interviews and Mystery Shoppers. Exploration into the process of choosing a holiday showed that the brochure plays an important role for many consumers.However, for the travel agent the brochure is low priority, and even when the brochure is used, the travel agent often has a considerable amount of influence. Whether or not the agency… Show more

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Cited by 31 publications
(24 citation statements)
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“…The potential of observational methods for investigating service provision is increasingly acknowledged (Grove and Fisk, 1992;Wilson, 1998), and mystery shopping has been used extensively in the services industry to investigate service quality. However, it has rarely been used in academic research on tourism to date (see Hudson et al, 2001). …”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The potential of observational methods for investigating service provision is increasingly acknowledged (Grove and Fisk, 1992;Wilson, 1998), and mystery shopping has been used extensively in the services industry to investigate service quality. However, it has rarely been used in academic research on tourism to date (see Hudson et al, 2001). …”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Typically the goal of commercial mystery shopping is to reduce the impact of the shopper"s personal characteristics and subjectivity on the assessment of a service encounter (Hudson et al, 2001;Morrison, Colman, and Preston, 1997;Wilson, 1998), but in the current context the differences in perceptions and expectations of the mystery shoppers based on individual characteristics, particularly as they related to generational groupings, were of central importance. Consequently, the research sought to explore both the supply and the demand sides of the service encounter, using a modified mystery shopping approach that returns the methodology to its qualitative origins, brings a phenomenological emphasis on the consumer"s experience, and prioritises the subjective and affective components of the visitor experience of the winery cellar door (Charters, Fountain, and Fish, forthcoming).…”
Section: Exploring Generation Y Wine Tourists: a Modified Mystery Shomentioning
confidence: 97%
“…Most significantly, this approach enables the researcher to get first-hand knowledge of the service environment as it unfolds in a natural and uncontrived setting (Grove and Fisk, 1992;Wilson, 1998). The potential of observational methods, including mystery shopping, for investigating service provision is increasingly acknowledged and has been used extensively in the services industry to investigate service quality (Grove and Fisk, 1992;Jorgensen, 1989;Wilson, 1998), yet it has rarely been used in tourism research to date (Hudson, Snaith, Miller, and Hudson, 2001;Thach, Mason, and Amspacher, 2007).…”
Section: Exploring Generation Y Wine Tourists: a Modified Mystery Shomentioning
confidence: 99%
“…W literaturze światowej spotkamy przykłady stosowania tej metody w procesie zarządzania zasobami ludzkimi w sektorze HORECA (Anderson, Groves, Lengfelder, 2001; Erstadt, Możliwości zastosowania metody mystery shopping w ocenie jakości usług turystycznych. studium przypadku -termy w Białce Tatrzańskiej 1998; Hudson, Snaith, Miller, Hudson, 2001), transporcie -np. londyńskiego metra (Wilson, Gutman, 1998) oraz przedsiębiorstwach turystycznych -np.…”
Section: Badanie Jakości Usług Turystycznychunclassified