Inter-channel Effects in Multichannel Travel Services

Abstract

Travel agents continue to offer traditional services, but as customers migrate to online sales channels, many traditional agencies have added their own online distribution channels. This study of the attitudes of 114 university students finds that excellence in offline service is associated with a favorable view of an agent’s online presence. Moderating this relationship is the effect of social presence (SP) on the website. That is, the respondents’ view of the website was improved by the availability of live chat or video chat interactions. The effect of SP also interacted with some respondents’ need for human interaction (NHI), although that effect was not strong. The study used a novel comic-strip format to depict the process of purchasing airline tickets and hotel accommodations with three treatments: offline, online with weak SP, and online with strong SP. The study compared the attitudes toward an agency’s online channel based on its in-person service quality, as moderated by the website’s SP and the respondents’ NHI.

How live chat assistants drive travel consumers’ attitudes, trust and purchase intentions

“…However, according to Gefen and Straub (2003), the integration of personalised, humancontact cues and synchronicity, may encourage the perception of a higher level of social presence. For instance, Aslanzadeh and Keating (2014) showed how the integration of video chat interactions into a travel provider's website enhances the perceived level of social presence and, as a result, affects consumers' channel preferences.…”

“…This study offers several theoretical contributions. First, by building on previous research (e.g., Aslanzadeh and Keating, 2014;Kang et al, 2015;, the study presents the consequences of online human live chat communication and the intervening effects of human elements through the lens of social presence theory. In this sense, it offers a unique contribution to the travel literature by providing empirical insights and conceptual clarity into the usefulness of human operated live chat communication on travellers' attitudes, trust towards the website and purchase intentions.…”

“…They also provide real-time support for service-related enquiries, including questions about products, account information, payment and technical support (McLean and Wilson, 2016;Rajaobelina et al, 2019;. Live chat facilities are often considered a cost-effective form of customer assistance while having the ability to enhance the customer experience and perceptions of control (McLean and Wilson, 2016;McLean and Osei-Frimpong, 2017), by conveying a sense of social presence (Aslanzadeh and Keating, 2014).…”

Social Media Marketing in Tourism and Hospitality

“…In practice, the ease of connection with the company could increase the intention to have a direct relationship with a corporate customer care office, chatting or phoning with Skype. A recent study by Aslanzadeh and Keating (2014) found that live-chat and video-chat satisfy the need for human interaction during all the steps of the decision making process.…”

Self-service technology recovery: the importance of psychological need support

“…Following this question, participants were asked to answer seven questions about their continuance intentions (e.g. “I would make an effort to use the service provider”) (Aslanzadeh and Keating, 2014). All measures used 7-point Likert scales (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree).…”