Exploring Ways to Improve Personalisation: The Influence of Tourist Context on Service Perception

Authors

  • Katerina Volchek School of Hotel and Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Rob Law School of Hotel and Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Dimitrios Buhalis Faculty of Management Bournemouth University
  • Haiyan Song School of Hotel and Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Keywords:

personalisation, information service, travel context, multi-group analysis

Abstract

The heterogeneity and dynamic nature of tourist needs requires an advanced understanding of their context. This study aims to investigate the effects of observable factors of internal and external contexts on tourist perceptions towards personalised information services performance. An exploratory approach is used to test measurement invariance and the moderating effects of personal, travel, technical and social parameters of the tourist context, when applicable. The findings demonstrate that contextual factors motivate tourists to attribute different meanings to the parameters of the service, that have already been personalised for them. Individually developed personalisation design solutions are required for each travel context.

Author Biographies

Katerina Volchek, School of Hotel and Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Katerina Volchek is a PhD candidate of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her expertise is related to strategic management and marketing in ICTs for tourism and technology-enabled experience design. Her current research focuses on the influence of personalisation on tourist experience.

Rob Law, School of Hotel and Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Rob Law is a professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with expertise in information technology, the Internet and e-commerce, modelling and forecasting, artificial intelligence, software engineering and computer assisted education.

Dimitrios Buhalis, Faculty of Management Bournemouth University

Dimitrios Buhalis is a professor at Bournemouth University, with expertise in strategic management and marketing in technology innovation for tourism and hospitality. His current research focuses on smart tourism and value co-creation.

Haiyan Song, School of Hotel and Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Haiyan Song is Mr. and Mrs. Chan Chak Fu Professor in international tourism and the associate dean of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with expertise in tourism demand modelling and forecasting, tourism impact assessment, tourism satellite account, the Chinese economy under transition and wine economics.

Downloads

Published

2020-01-01

How to Cite

Volchek, K., Law, R., Buhalis, D. and Song, H. (2020) “Exploring Ways to Improve Personalisation: The Influence of Tourist Context on Service Perception”, e-Review of Tourism Research, 17(5). Available at: https://ertr-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/ertr/article/view/557 (Accessed: 16 April 2024).

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 5 (2020)

Section

Articles

License

e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR) is an international electronic bulletin for tourism research (ISSN:1941-5842). It comprises current tourism research articles, commentaries and reviews by industry professionals. The materials are provided for the personal noncommercial use of registered users of the eRTR, free to individuals and institutions. Copies of articles may be distributed for research or educational purpose, free of charge and without permission. However, commercial use of the eRTR or the articles contained herein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the publisher.

In consideration for publication of your work, if published on behalf of the eRTR, the author agrees to transfer the work to the eRTR, Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University, USA, including full and exclusive rights to publication in all media now known or later developed, including but not limited to electronic databases.

The authors represents and warrants:

  • That the manuscript submitted is his/her own work;
  • That the work submitted to the eRTR has not been previously published.

Most read articles by the same author(s)