Examining the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Web-Based Ticketing: Etix and its Adopters

Abstract

This paper examines the case of the consumer adoption of an air travel service innovation, namely delivering electronic tickets (Etix) for air travel, which may be viewed as an innovation in service delivery. The qualitative study reported here adopted Rogers' model of perceived innovation attributes and was augmented by Bauer's framework of perceived risk. Participants in focus groups were categorised according to their attitudes towards buying electronic tickets for air travel through the Internet. The perceived innovation attributes were identified to be significant determinants of consumers' adoption decisions and practices. In addition, two more dimensions were found to influence consumers' adoption decisions, stressing the high complexity of the adoption decisions for Internet-based air travel ticketing innovations. The findings have practical value for organisations in the air travel sector as well as for traditional travel agents and Global Distribution Systems (GDSs).

Online travel purchasing: A literature review

“…Convenience has been recognized as one of the main advantages of online travel shopping in numerous studies (e.g., Bai et al, 2004;Bogdanovych et al, 2006;Christou & Kassianidis, 2003;Heung, 2003) and as a dimension affecting intention to book hotels online (Kim & Kim, 2004; as well as intentions to purchase overall travel online (Jensen, 2009). Furthermore, convenience has been found to be strongly associated with e-satisfaction Kolsaker et al, 2004), which in turn will affect the willingness to make future purchases (Kolsaker et al, 2004).…”

“…For instance, perceiving online travel shopping as a complex task has been pointed out in numerous studies as negatively affecting intentions to purchase travel online (Christou & Kassianidis, 2003;Klein, Kohne, & Oorni, 2004;Li & Buhalis, 2005;Morrison et al, 2001;Powley et al, 2004). Jensen (2009) argues that travelers who feel they have to give up hedonic aspects by not shopping at a travel agency, will be less likely to purchase online.…”

“…Jensen (2009) argues that travelers who feel they have to give up hedonic aspects by not shopping at a travel agency, will be less likely to purchase online. Other reasons for not purchasing online are as follows: being uncomfortable with the Internet (Christou, Avdimiotis, Kassianidis, & Sigala, 2004), the lack of experience (Wolfe et al, 2004), price discrepancies among travel websites (Klein et al, 2004), lack of personal service (Wolfe et al, 2004), and the preference for other alternatives (Heung, 2003;Kolsaker et al, 2004).…”

“…Other factors identified as being associated with the online shopping experience affecting consumers' likelihood of purchasing travel online were: service performance and reputation , feeling confident with online shopping (Powley et al, 2004), perceiving it as enjoyable and entertaining (Morosan & Jeong, 2006;Powley et al, 2004), and being compatible with consumers' lifestyle (Christou & Kassianidis, 2003;Li & Buhalis, 2006).…”

“…Christou & Kassianidis (2003) The larger the perceived time pressure, the larger the perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility of purchasing travel online. Easy to order Morrison et al (2001) No relationship with intention to purchase travel online.…”