| Description |
Since individuals began utilizing the Internet to purchase travel, travel agencies have suffered financially and in many cases went out of business. It has been suggested that Internet technology has contributed to the demise of these agencies. Travel agencies may have been unprepared for technological growth or failed to complete the necessary research; regardless, it is evident that travel agencies are confused about what Internet travel purchasers expect when a travel purchase is made. Utilizing desire for control theory, individual control characteristics were measured and examined in Internet travel purchasers. The instrument for the study employed several combinations of measurement to assist in predicting a person's probable Internet purchasing method and its relationship to desire for control: (a) 17 questions regarding demographics and purchasing behaviors, and (b) 20 questions regarding desire for control. Questionnaire invitations were distributed to 1,034 current email-address holders from a local Internet travel company/agency. Four hundred individuals responded to the questionnaire, resulting in a 38.6% response rate. The demographic portion of the questionnaire revealed that a majority of participants were female (57.1%), had completed a college education (55.6%), and earned $30,000 or more annually (83.7%). When making a travel-purchase selection over the Internet, 77.8% of the participants felt that price was extremely important to very important, participants indicated that the amount of control over the actual purchasing decision was extremely important to very important (78.8%). Logistic regression was utilized to determine a predictive set of variables to predict the respondents' preferred method of purchasing travel over the Internet, but the predictive set of variables never developed from the identified list. The study failed to support the research hypothesis and indicated that desire for control was not a significant variable in determining Internet purchasing decisions. Therefore, travel agency marketers need not focus on one's desire for control in developing websites for travel purchasing. Further research may shed more light on Internet travel-purchase decision making and assist travel agencies in their quest to further develop needed Internet services for their clients and hopefully maintain their place within the travel marketplace. |
