تفاوت های جنسیتی در جستجوی آنلاین اطلاعات سفر: مفاهیم برای ارتباطات بازاریابی در اینترنت

Gender has been and continues to be one of the most common forms of segmentation used by marketers in general and advertisers in particular. In general, males and females are likely to differ in information processes and decision making. The growing predominance of Internet use has further highlighted the need for understanding online users’ attitudes and behaviors from a gender perspective. Reflecting this research need, the purpose of this study was to examine gender differences within the context of online travel Website functionality and content preferences as well as search behavior. The data used for this study were obtained from the Internet Tourism & Travel 2001 Study conducted for the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC). There was a usable sample of 1334 qualified respondents in this study. The results indicated that there were substantial gender differences both in terms of attitudes to information channels and travel Website functionality preferences. The implications of such differences for online tourism Website message design were discussed.

The revolutionary development of information technology has dramatically changed society and people's everyday lives, including the way travelers search for information and plan trips. Recent studies by NFO Plog Research show that the Internet has become one of the most important information sources for travel information acquisition (Lake, 2001). Tourism by nature is an information-oriented phenomenon due to structural reasons (Schertler, Schmid, Tjoa, & Werthner, 1995). For consumers, decision-making and consumption are separated in time and space. These distances can only be overcome by the information about the product, which is available in advance and which can be gathered by the consumer (Werthner & Klein, 1999). As a result, information quality has emerged as a major research topic and providing relevant and meaningful information search experiences is perceived as essential for the success of tourism organizations. Acknowledging gender differences arising from factors such as “biological factors” (Buss, 1995; Everhart, Shucard, Quatrin, & Shucard, 2001; Hall, 1984; Saucier & Elias, 2001) “gender identity” (Bem, 1974; Fischer & Arnold, 1994; Spence & Helmreich, 1978), and “gender role attitudes”(Buss & Schaninger, 1987; Douglas, 1976; Eagly, 1987; Fisher & Arnold (1990) and Fisher & Arnold (1994); Schaninger & Buss, 1985), gender has been frequently used as a basis for segmentation for a significant proportion of products and services (Putrevu, 2001). The fact that men and women are different is commonly acknowledged in most societies. The prevalent research question, however, has focused on whether biological make-up or social factors drive these gender differences. That is, the study of gender differences encompasses several unexplored dimensions that lately have attracted research attention. Within the context of information search processes, relatively little research has been done on gender differences. An intriguing question facing consumer researchers is whether gender differences can be translated into consistent differential patterns in information-processing and judgment. In order to deliver products and services that cater to the unique needs and aspirations of each gender, marketers need to understand the origins and psychological differences between the two genders. Accordingly, the purpose of this research was to provide a review of the literature on the information-processing differences between females and males, empirically examine the gender differences in online information attitudes, preferences and behaviors within the domain of travel-related information, and discuss the major implications of such differences for more effective marketing and advertising strategies.

This research demonstrates that there are significant differences between females and males in terms of attitudes toward travel Website functionality and scope as well as actual online information search behavior. The results are consistent with the gender difference arguments from previous research regarding how females and males process information in different ways. For instance, it was observed that females attached higher values to a wider variety of both online and offline information sources while choosing travel destinations. More specifically, this result supports the gender difference argument that females are more exhaustive and elaborative in external information search (Meyers-Levy, 1988). Compared to their male counterparts, females are more likely to have favorable attitudes towards different types of Website functionalities and scope of contents. Moreover, based on “item means per unit cost,” it was observed that females are also more involved in online information search, visiting more travel websites and visiting them more frequently. This is also consistent with previous computer mediated communication (CMC) studies. A number of studies have empirically assessed gender differences in CMC as a main research focus (independent variable) (Allen, 1995; Hiltz & Johnson, 1990). Hiltz and Johnson (1990) found that females viewed CMC more favorably than males and that they had stronger online information needs for women than for men. Coupled with the fact that females do not have as much experience in online searching as males, it seems that the need for user-friendly functionalities and a wider scope of information contents are more important issues of concern for women. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project (2004b), women have reached parity with men in the Internet population. In the year 2000, about 60 percent of Internet population was men and about 40 percent was women. In February 2004, the gender ratio among Internet users has shifted to 50 percent men and 50 percent women. In this sense, the findings of this research have practical implications for women's participation in Web-based marketing communications, and their use of the Internet in general. The findings of this research also seem to suggest that while most Websites may be gender-neutrally designed both in terms of functionality and content, women may actually be likely to use them more than men do, since men in general do not resort to external information as much. Consequently, females’ more positive attitudes to Website functions require marketers to have more appropriate Web marketing strategies. In today's competitive e-environment, the placement of appropriate messages on a Website in an appropriate manner is paramount to success. The appropriateness of the content as well as the presentation of the message, however, hinges upon having a good understanding of the characteristics of the audiences. Thus, marketers may benefit by creating gender-sensitive Website content and presentation. Based on the findings of this research, tourism marketers should develop gender-sensitive online communication strategies. For example, Website contents targeting men should highlight the distinctive nature of selected attributes, and the contents targeting women should focus on more affective themes underlying the various attributes identified in messages. That is, Websites targeting men should not emphasize features common to the product category, but instead focus on one or two features that are unique to the advertised product or brand. In contrast, women, as relational processors, would value category-based messages that focus on the common themes of the claim rather than the unique features. In sum, the different gender attitudes towards destination Website design and contents empirically supported in this study represent valuable inputs in designing tourism Websites, communicating with potential visitors, and defining the most appropriate messages to deliver in the online environment.