مدل سازی نقش های هنجارهای ذهنی و تجارت الکترونیک در پذیرش مشتریان از وب سایت های تجارت الکترونیک B2C در شرکت هواپیمایی
کد مقاله | سال انتشار | تعداد صفحات مقاله انگلیسی |
---|---|---|
24010 | 2009 | 12 صفحه PDF |
Publisher : Elsevier - Science Direct (الزویر - ساینس دایرکت)
Journal : Tourism Management, Volume 30, Issue 2, April 2009, Pages 266–277
چکیده انگلیسی
Airline companies have increasingly employed electronic commerce (eCommerce) for strategic purposes, most notably in order to achieve long-term competitive advantage and global competitiveness by enhancing customer satisfaction as well as marketing efficacy and managerial efficiency. eCommerce has now emerged as possibly the most representative distribution channel in the airline industry. In this study, we describe an extended technology acceptance model (TAM), which integrates subjective norms and electronic trust (eTrust) into the model, in order to determine their relevance to the acceptance of airline business-to-customer (B2C) eCommerce websites (AB2CEWS). The proposed research model was tested empirically using data collected from a survey of customers who had utilized B2C eCommerce websites of two representative airline companies in South Korea (i.e., KAL and ASIANA) for the purpose of purchasing air tickets. Path analysis was employed in order to assess the significance and strength of the hypothesized causal relationships between subjective norms, eTrust, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude toward use, and intention to reuse. Our results provide general support for an extended TAM, and also confirmed its robustness in predicting customers' intention to reuse AB2CEWS. Valuable information was found from our results regarding the management of AB2CEWS in the formulation of airlines' Internet marketing strategies.
مقدمه انگلیسی
Traditionally, travel products have largely been handled in the distribution network activated by travel agencies (Buttle & Bok, 1996). The same customer needs are currently satisfied via a variety of distribution systems, including the computerized reservation system (CRS), the global distribution system (GDS),3 or videotext and teletex systems utilized in in-house mode for their own operations (Copeland, 1991; Copeland & McKenney, 1988). The emergence of the Internet and the increasing growth of electronic commerce (eCommerce) in the mid-1990s rendered business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) relationships more interactive and applicable for travel-related businesses. This facilitated alterations in customer behaviors and attitude regarding travel products via integrative and mutually supportive means for information exchange (O'Connor and Frew, 2000 and Werthner and Klein, 1999). The first appearance of eCommerce between the airline companies and the customers was in the dissemination of frequent flyer programs (FFPs), beginning in the mid-1980s. This performed a crucial function in providing airlines with detailed customer information. The data from FFPs developed from the modification and completion of initial customer records was an important determinant in successful relationship marketing and customer relations management (CRM) for airline companies, which provided a foundation for today's eCommerce (Chen, Gillenson, & Sherrell, 2002). The development of the Internet, which significantly increased the use of eCommerce by airline companies during the mid-1990s, performed a crucial function in reducing distribution costs, in that it helped lower the ratio of fixed costs in the cost structure. The strategic application of eCommerce became necessary for airline companies in order to achieve long-term competitive advantage, global competitiveness, customer satisfaction, and to enhance marketing efficacy and managerial efficiency (Tsai, Huang, & Lin, 2005). Nowadays, eCommerce conducted over the Internet has become not only the most representative distribution channel for airline industries, but it is also one of the most important factors in determining firms' competitive advantage. eCommerce conducted through websites can be understood in the context of conventional customer behavior theories, as well as a variety of customer behavioral characteristics in utilizing and applying computer hardware and software. Taking into account that customers partake voluntarily in Internet shopping, Davis' (1986)technology acceptance model (TAM) can prove to be a useful research model to explain the internal and external motivations that initiate shopping behavior on websites. Although a great deal of research has been conducted concerning Internet marketing in the airline industry (e.g., Jarach, 2002), electronic tickets (eTickets; e.g., Shon, Chen, & Chang, 2003), and the application of new technology (e.g., Buhalis, 2004), only a minimal number of studies have utilized the concept of eCommerce for airline companies on the basis of customers' voluntary involvement. Another purchasing behavior issue associated with eCommerce websites for the airline industry is online transaction security, which may persuade customers to stay with traditional tour agents, primarily for purchase safety concerns (Shon et al., 2003). This implies that customers may be reluctant to purchase airline B2C eCommerce websites (AB2CEWS) if they are dubious about the security of eCommerce, specifically on the AB2CEWS. That is, a definite belief regarding the security of the websites may significantly affect customer's purchasing behavior, whereas a possible perceived risk may increase a customer's intention to postpone or avoid the decision to purchase. The parent companies of the South Korean airlines are relatively large companies, and therefore the majority of customers may feel safe about their transactions with these companies, as they have modest reputations as big enterprises. This study operationalized customers' security perceptions on the AB2CEWS as a construct of electronic trust (eTrust), in order to determine the manner in which customers' security concerns, and lack thereof, could influence their acceptance of AB2CEWS. Traditionally, customer behavior theory has suggested that customers may be influenced significantly by their perceived opinions of referents, including family, friends, and colleagues, and the degree of this influence varies among products and brands. In the airline industry, customers are capable of adjusting their purchase intention on the basis of other individuals' negativism or positivism regarding website transactions. In this study, we have employed subjective norms (i.e., others' influence on a person's behavior) of independent individuals in voluntary environments as another construct by which customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS could be assessed. The principal objective of this study is to assess the causal determinants of customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS, on the basis of the TAM and the corresponding surveys administered to South Korean users of AB2CEWS. Our results demonstrated the acceptance of AB2CEWS from the perspective of eCommerce users through subjective norms and eTrust, which are the external variables in the TAM. In this study, Davis' (1986) TAM was adopted as the underlying theoretical framework, due to its position as one of the most influential extant research models designed to explain user's technology acceptance behavior ( Cheng et al., 2006, Huh et al., in press, Kim et al., 2008 and Lee et al., 2006). The objectives of this study, in more detail, are as follows: (1) to examine the casual relationships of the TAM's variables (i.e., perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude toward use, and intention to reuse) in the customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS; (2) to assess the impacts of subjective norms and eTrust as external variables of the TAM on the variables of the TAM in customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS; and (3) to provide practical implications for the marketing managers and the practitioners who prepare strategic plans and implement effective tools to enhance the productivity or performance of airline B2C eCommerce through AB2CEWS.
نتیجه گیری انگلیسی
Traditionally, travel products have largely been handled in the distribution network activated by travel agencies (Buttle & Bok, 1996). The same customer needs are currently satisfied via a variety of distribution systems, including the computerized reservation system (CRS), the global distribution system (GDS),3 or videotext and teletex systems utilized in in-house mode for their own operations (Copeland, 1991; Copeland & McKenney, 1988). The emergence of the Internet and the increasing growth of electronic commerce (eCommerce) in the mid-1990s rendered business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) relationships more interactive and applicable for travel-related businesses. This facilitated alterations in customer behaviors and attitude regarding travel products via integrative and mutually supportive means for information exchange (O'Connor and Frew, 2000 and Werthner and Klein, 1999). The first appearance of eCommerce between the airline companies and the customers was in the dissemination of frequent flyer programs (FFPs), beginning in the mid-1980s. This performed a crucial function in providing airlines with detailed customer information. The data from FFPs developed from the modification and completion of initial customer records was an important determinant in successful relationship marketing and customer relations management (CRM) for airline companies, which provided a foundation for today's eCommerce (Chen, Gillenson, & Sherrell, 2002). The development of the Internet, which significantly increased the use of eCommerce by airline companies during the mid-1990s, performed a crucial function in reducing distribution costs, in that it helped lower the ratio of fixed costs in the cost structure. The strategic application of eCommerce became necessary for airline companies in order to achieve long-term competitive advantage, global competitiveness, customer satisfaction, and to enhance marketing efficacy and managerial efficiency (Tsai, Huang, & Lin, 2005). Nowadays, eCommerce conducted over the Internet has become not only the most representative distribution channel for airline industries, but it is also one of the most important factors in determining firms' competitive advantage. eCommerce conducted through websites can be understood in the context of conventional customer behavior theories, as well as a variety of customer behavioral characteristics in utilizing and applying computer hardware and software. Taking into account that customers partake voluntarily in Internet shopping, Davis' (1986)technology acceptance model (TAM) can prove to be a useful research model to explain the internal and external motivations that initiate shopping behavior on websites. Although a great deal of research has been conducted concerning Internet marketing in the airline industry (e.g., Jarach, 2002), electronic tickets (eTickets; e.g., Shon, Chen, & Chang, 2003), and the application of new technology (e.g., Buhalis, 2004), only a minimal number of studies have utilized the concept of eCommerce for airline companies on the basis of customers' voluntary involvement. Another purchasing behavior issue associated with eCommerce websites for the airline industry is online transaction security, which may persuade customers to stay with traditional tour agents, primarily for purchase safety concerns (Shon et al., 2003). This implies that customers may be reluctant to purchase airline B2C eCommerce websites (AB2CEWS) if they are dubious about the security of eCommerce, specifically on the AB2CEWS. That is, a definite belief regarding the security of the websites may significantly affect customer's purchasing behavior, whereas a possible perceived risk may increase a customer's intention to postpone or avoid the decision to purchase. The parent companies of the South Korean airlines are relatively large companies, and therefore the majority of customers may feel safe about their transactions with these companies, as they have modest reputations as big enterprises. This study operationalized customers' security perceptions on the AB2CEWS as a construct of electronic trust (eTrust), in order to determine the manner in which customers' security concerns, and lack thereof, could influence their acceptance of AB2CEWS. Traditionally, customer behavior theory has suggested that customers may be influenced significantly by their perceived opinions of referents, including family, friends, and colleagues, and the degree of this influence varies among products and brands. In the airline industry, customers are capable of adjusting their purchase intention on the basis of other individuals' negativism or positivism regarding website transactions. In this study, we have employed subjective norms (i.e., others' influence on a person's behavior) of independent individuals in voluntary environments as another construct by which customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS could be assessed. The principal objective of this study is to assess the causal determinants of customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS, on the basis of the TAM and the corresponding surveys administered to South Korean users of AB2CEWS. Our results demonstrated the acceptance of AB2CEWS from the perspective of eCommerce users through subjective norms and eTrust, which are the external variables in the TAM. In this study, Davis' (1986) TAM was adopted as the underlying theoretical framework, due to its position as one of the most influential extant research models designed to explain user's technology acceptance behavior ( Cheng et al., 2006, Huh et al., in press, Kim et al., 2008 and Lee et al., 2006). The objectives of this study, in more detail, are as follows: (1) to examine the casual relationships of the TAM's variables (i.e., perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude toward use, and intention to reuse) in the customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS; (2) to assess the impacts of subjective norms and eTrust as external variables of the TAM on the variables of the TAM in customers' acceptance of AB2CEWS; and (3) to provide practical implications for the marketing managers and the practitioners who prepare strategic plans and implement effective tools to enhance the productivity or performance of airline B2C eCommerce through AB2CEWS.