Soojin Choi

Structure of Travel Planning Processes and Information Use Patterns

Based on an empirical data set collected from Chinese tourists visiting Macau SAR, this study attempts to decompose the travel decision-making process into a multistage sequence (before purchase, at time of purchase, after purchase, after arriving at destination) with multiple decision choices for a vacation trip. The study results demonstrate that travel decision making follows a multidimensional, ongoing sequence and is a hierarchical process. This study further attempts to expand the framework for describing the travel decision-making structure by incorporating information use patterns across the overall course of the travel planning process. The contingent nature of decision making is partially validated by tracing the sequence of decision making and information use along the travel planning horizon. Furthermore, given the lack of studies based on Chinese tourists’ decision-making behavior, the study results provide new insights for many tourism destinations and businesses eyeing the burgeoning Chinese tourists’ market.

The many faces of Macau: A correspondence analysis of the images communicated by online tourism information sources in English and Chinese

This research aimed to compare Macaus tourism image in English- and Chinese-language websites from five sets of online information sources. It systematically identified Macaus online tourism image by content analyzing its official Macau Government Tourist Office website (MGTO), travel agency, guidebook and magazine websites, and blogs of tourists. This study revealed that the overall Macau images projected on English and Chinese websites are quite different. Cultural differences, when combined with other salient factors (such as distance from Macau), seem to influence destination image. The variations are not surprising, considering different communication objectives and targets of destination marketers, travel agencies, publishers and tourists. Macau destination marketers undoubtedly need to keep these deviations in mind when proposing communication strategies. While adequate communication about the governments intended Macau image becomes essential among destination marketers and other industry practitioners, it is also important to be aware of the various other communicated images online and harmonize the efforts as much as possible.

Family Vacation Activities and Family Cohesion

ABSTRACT Family is an important unit of individuals seeking experiences together during vacation. This consumptive unit deserves explicit attention not only because of its market size but also because of ramifications of family vacation on family functioning. This study explores the interplay of vacation activity patterns and family cohesion. It reveals a taxonomy of four types of family travelers with respect to their patterns of activities and needs for cohesion. They are “bonded and nature seeking”; “attached and enthusiastic”; “self-directed and recreation oriented”; and “sociable but static” family travelers. This research provides empirical evidences for the proposition that vacation activities are valuable contributors to family cohesion. Implications are provided pertaining to the development of quality family vacation programs and enhancement of family life satisfaction.

Website Effectiveness for Bricks and Mortar Travel Retailers

ABSTRACT This exploratory study was designed to evaluate the website performance of brick-and-mortar travel retailers (BMTRs) in the US and investigate the present situation in their website marketing. A website evaluation instrument was developed based on the Modified Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach, and four evaluation perspectives were considered: 1) technical, 2) customer, 3) marketing effectiveness, and 4) travel agency. Most BMTR websites were being used as “electronic brochures” rather than being presented as “integrative distribution and marketing channel.” They had weaknesses in attracting customers and were not designed to generate substantial online profits. Implications for improved performance of Web marketing by BMTRs were identified.

Effect of Experience on Cognition, Affect and Satisfaction: The Case of Japanese Visitors to Macau

The aim of the paper was to test the effect of experience on two key antecedents of destination satisfaction, cognition and affect. The analysis utilized the Macau Visitor Experience Survey (2005). The results indicate that both cognition and affect are pre-determinants of satisfaction and that cognition positively influences affective reactions to a destination. While the effect of cognition on destination satisfaction judgments increases as an individuals experience accumulates and the effect of affect decreases with experience, in both cases the influence of experience is limited. Prior experience was not found to have statistically significant moderating effect on cognition and affects relationship with satisfaction. The results bear important implications for destination visitor experience management and planning.

Application of social media analytics in tourism crisis communication

ABSTRACT Given the newly established communication environment of social media and highly unpredictable crisis situations, this study questioned how tourists facing an unexpected crisis situation use social media to communicate and search for information. To this end, this study developed a multi-phased social media analytic framework (data crawling, data processing and text mining, social network analysis, semantic network analysis, and network visualization) to assess the structure of information exchanges between the members of a tourism organization’s social network community and identified influential actors and information content within the social network. This study’s findings suggest genuine ways of relating with and utilizing opinion leaders and influencers in social media marketing communication as well as crisis communication. The authors expect this proposed methodological framework of social media analytics to help other scholars scientifically identify and implement the proper methodologies for utilizing social media data.

Internet use as a Leisure Pastime : Older Adults' Subjective Well-Being and its Correlates

Abstract This study examines older adult’s subjective well-being (SWB) as a measure of Quality of Life (QOL) and its relationship with other SWB correlates. It investigates whether the Internet plays a significant role in assessing the life quality of older adults. It is proposed that spending time online helps fulfill leisure, interaction with the outer world, and socializing needs of older adults, and thereby promotes physical and mental health in older age. The interplay of these factors was tested through a structural equation model using secondary data of a nationally representative sample of older individuals over 50 years old in the U. S. The results show that older adults’ interactional activities on the Internet through information seeking and communication have positive associations with all three SWB correlates and consequently exert impacts on their subjective health and subjective well-being. While considerable research has examined the structure of SWB, or the impact of leisure activities and social interaction on SWB, this study expands the SWB framework by including not only leisure and social interaction variables but also the Internet influences on them.