Carmine Sellitto

The role of user generated content in tourists' travel planning behavior

This article reports on research that investigates how websites containing user-generated content (UGC) are used by consumers and the role they have on their information search and travel behavior. The research, conducted via an online survey, represents the views of more than 12,000 hospitality and tourism consumers. The results suggest that although these sites are popular, they are not yet considered to be as credible or trustworthy as existing sources of travel information such as government-sponsored tourism websites. UGC (or Web 2.0 sites, as they are also known) appear to act as an additional source of information that travelers consider as part of their information search process, rather than as the only source of information. The study is significant in that it appears to be one of the few investigations that captures the perceptions of the travel consumer and the way they relate to the information value associated with Web 2.0 sites.

Information quality attributes associated with RFID‐derived benefits in the retail supply chain

Purpose – This paper aims to report on research that examined the recent scholarly literature to identify the information quality attributes associated with radio frequency identification (RFID)‐based benefits across sectors of the retail supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – Reflecting the recent interest in RFID technology, the literature review was limited to scholarly articles published since the late 1990s when there appears to have been a surge in research and publishing activity. Moreover, the paper uncouples RFID‐focused technology findings that are a feature of many previous publications and reports on the decision‐making attributes associated with the perceived benefits of adopting the technology.Findings – Many RFID‐based benefits were found to be associated with the distribution and transportation sectors of the supply chain, however, an emerging number are also apparent in the retail and post retail domains. The improved information value associated with RFID‐derived benefits was embodie...

Trust perceptions of online travel information by different content creators: Some social and legal implications

Consumers are increasingly turning to the online environment to provide information to assist them in making purchase decisions related to travel products. They often rely on travel recommendations from different sources, such as sellers, independent experts and, increasingly, other consumers. A new type of online content, user-generated content (UGC), provides a number of legal and social challenges to providers and users of that content, especially in relation to areas such as defamation, misrepresentation and social embarrassment. This paper reports research that examined the level of trustworthiness of online travel information from these different sources. The study used a survey of Australian travel consumers (n = 12,000) and results support the notion that there are differences in the level of trust for online travel information from different sources. Respondents ‘tended to agree’ that they trusted information provided by travel agents, information from commercial operators and comments made by travellers on third party websites. However, the highest level of trust was afforded to information provided on State government tourism websites. These results suggest that greater trust is placed in online travel comments when they are on a specific travel website than when they are on a more generic social networking website. However, respondents were ‘not sure’ that they trusted comments made by travellers on weblogs and on social networking sites. Some 88% of respondents that had not visited UGC websites (or were unsure if they had) indicated that they thought that UGC would be useful in the future – suggesting that they feel that any concerns they may have in relation to legal and social problems resulting from its use will be resolved.

The impact of impermanent web-located citations : A study of 123 scholarly conference publications

This paper reports on research that examined the viable nature of 1068 Web-located citations in 123 academic conference papers published between 1995 and 2003. The study appears to be one of the few but increasing number of investigations that examines the growing practice of authors citing URLs in their publications to support and argue their scholarly research. The research found that some 46% of all citations to Web-located sources could not be accessed- with the HTTP 404 message (61.5%) being the greatest cause of missing citations. Collectively, the missing citations accounted for 22.0% of all citations, which represents a significant reduction in the theoretical knowledge base underpinning many scholarly articles. Furthermore, this paper argues that the consequences of disappearing Web-located citations has led to diminished opportunities for future researchers to examination the underlaying foundations of discourse and argument in scholarly articles.

A Review of the Web Sites of Small Australian Wineries: Motivations, Goals and Success

Many Australian small and medium sized businesses have web sites that offer a range of facilities for the consumer: information provision, online ordering, and community participation. In a study carried out on Australian winery web sites, it was observed that the smaller the winery, the less likely it was that it had a web site. However, those small wineries that do have web sites seem to be more innovative and are more likely to offer a wider range of Internet facilities than other small business web sites. This is almost the opposite of the general trend where the smaller the business the less innovative it is likely to be. An e-mail interview conducted with owners of a sample of the wineries, indicated that the reason for this is the need for smaller wineries to attract a larger market, perhaps at a lower cost. This stage of the study indicated that there is also a lack of planning going into web site implementation and maintenance. Recommendations are made for governments and industry bodies to improve the level of understanding of the benefits of the Internet to small wineries in general, and to impress upon them the need for planning for their implementation and upkeep. These findings are important for the opportunities that they provide to the many small wineries that have not created a web site and may provide the catalyst for some of them to do so.

Improving winery survey response rates: lessons from the Australian wine industry

Purpose – The paper aims to document a set of important success factors that need to be considered when undertaking traditional surveys within the Australian wine industry.Design/methodology/approach – Reflecting on the relatively high rate of survey returns from research conducted within the Australian wineries, the author succinctly identifies a set of industry‐based values and operational conditions that appear to directly impact on improving survey response rates.Findings – Six success factors should be considered in order to improve winery survey response rates. The factors entail survey design (length, stakeholder engagement, return‐by‐date), preliminary testing (pilot survey testing) and implementation (survey timing, feedback of results).Research limitations/implications – As a viewpoint, the article needs to be considered from an Australian context with the proposed factors being a preliminary starting guide for researchers undertaking surveys.Practical implications – The identified factors assoc...

A Study of Missing Web-Cites in scholarly articles: Towards an Evaluation Framework

This paper reports on a study that examined citation practice in a set of scholarly papers. After evaluating 2162 bibliographic references it was found that 48.1% (1041) of all citations used in the papers referred to a Web-located resource. A significant number of references to URLs were found to be missing (45.8%) and an evaluation of these Weblocated citations allowed the average half-life (4.8 years) for these missing resources to be determined. The study also examined the composition of the top-level domains associated with resource loss as well as the proportional use of Web-located resources in individual articles. The proportional use of Web-located resources in individual articles and their corresponding evaluation for disappearance has not been previously documented. The paper utilized the proportional Web-citation aspect of articles in proposing a Webresource contribution index and a Web-citation use-loss grid that may aid future authors, editors and, in particular, researchers in investigating this growing aspect of citation behaviour.

Towards a weighted average framework for evaluating the quality of Web-located health information

This article proposes a framework for evaluating the quality of web-located health information. A set of affirmative response evaluation features are identified across four quality categories -currency/authority, accuracy, objectivity and privacy -and are used as the basis for determining the fundamental quality of web-located health information. Furthermore, the researchers add a value dimension to the framework by using a weighted average technique allowing information features to be scored proportionally -a feature that other assessment frameworks tend to overlook. The framework was used to access 56 health information documents published on the web, concluding that only four pages addressed all the core criteria proposed in the framework. The study also found that a relatively high number of commercial health sites intermixed health information with product promotion and advertising. The study was exploratory and because sampling was not probabilistic, it is difficult to claim generalizability at this stage. However, some notable results identified in this study may serve as the foundations for future research.

Maturity in the websites of Australian wineries: a study of varying website content

This paper examines the longitudinal development of 86 Australian winery websites over a two-year period. Wineries, like many Australian businesses, have websites that offer a range of facilities for the consumer: information provision, online ordering, and community participation. The 2002 study, when contrasted with a study conducted two years earlier, has unearthed some trends in the development of Australian winery websites. Other features have been introduced to encourage more visitors to the winery. More wineries offered the chance for customers to purchase their offerings over the internet. However, this was not generally accomplished by using an interactive sales feature; it was by providing a form to print out and fax to the winery. In general, it appeared that there was some maturity developing in the websites of Australian wineries over the period of the study.

Business Intelligence Strategy: A Utilities Company Case Study

Although Business Intelligence is seen as priority by many companies, the level of benefits achieved varies significantly between firms. Researchers have indicated that not having an effective Business Intelligence strategy is a significant issue in regards to trying to realize organizational benefits. This paper adopting a case study method investigates an Australian energy companys Business Intelligence adoption and the development of a Business Intelligence strategy that directly informed the firms information needs. The important elements of this strategy included using a set of guiding principles to ensure that there was a close alignment of Business Intelligence outcomes with the companys needs. The paper provides insights for researchers and practitioners on the important factors need to be considered to achieve effective Business Intelligence.