Information search behavior among Chinese self-drive tourists in the smartphone era
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IDD-05-2020-0054 |
| Published date | 06 September 2021 |
| Date | 06 September 2021 |
| Pages | 285-296 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Library & information services,Lending,Document delivery,Collection building & management,Stock revision,Consortia |
| Author | Jiaye Ni,Anthony Hae Ryong Rhim,Dickson K.W. Chiu,Kevin K.W. Ho |
Information search behavior among Chinese
self-drive tourists in the smartphone era
Jiaye Ni, Anthony Hae Ryong Rhim and Dickson K.W. Chiu
Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, and
Kevin K.W. Ho
School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam
Abstract
Purpose –The Chinese economy has grown rapidly over the past decade, making self-drive tours more affordable among Chinese tourists. Thus,
self-driving tours using online tourism-related information have also been popular. This study aims to investigate information search beha viors
among different segments of Chinese self-drive tourists under the influence of contemporary mobile internet technologies and compares the results
with prior related studies from a global standpoint.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper investigates the relationships between tourist demographics and information search behavior in
Mainland China based on a quantitative method. This study collected 228 surveys from users with self-drive tour experience. This study also
conducted a series of online interviews to explore the potential barriers when self-drive tourists search for information.
Findings –The results showed variances within pre-decision and post-decision stages between different age groups, social classes and experience
levels. Preference for up-to-date information and contemporary platforms were also observed.
Originality/value –Research paucity exists on self-drive tourists’information search behavior, using data collected from Mainland Chinese tourists
using mobile devices. The findings offer insights to industry practitioners, such as travel agencies and liaison websites, for refining their services to
meet the information needs of Chinese self-drive tourists through more comprehensive marketing strategies.
Keywords Self-drive tourist, Information search behavior, Chinese tourists, China, Quantitative research, Demographics, Travel apps,
Information-seeking behavior, Self-drive tourist
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The internet is a pivotal means for tourists’information
acquisition and destinationchoices. It dramatically impacts the
way tourists acquire and use online information. In China, the
middle class has developed a penchant for inland and overseas
traveling as their purchasing power has significantly increased
with recent economic growthand education levels (Gong et al.,
2017). The ubiquity of mobile internet and improved
information literacy in the population at large have helped
tourists reach higher levels of independence and changed their
information-seeking behaviors (Chiu et al., 2009a;Ho et al.,
2016;Hsu et al., 2017;Liang et al.,2017;Dorcic et al.,2019).
The dynamics of online communicationsare changing as social
media keeps evolving (Sigala et al.,2016) and augment
platforms to maintain offline relationships. Moreover,
accelerated development in mobile computing, particularly
with the adoption of apps for traveling, has created new locales
for information search and use (Wang et al.,2011;Gong et al.,
2017;Chen, 2019;Fanet al.,2020).
Prior research indicated that the rapid development of the
internet and social media changes the tourism industry’s
landscape. For example, compared between North Americans
and the Chinese, there has been grounded cross-cultural
evidence in information search behavior. This observation is
supported by the findings of Jordan (2008) that online travel
information search behaviors differ among tourists from
different countries, with noticeable differences between the
information search behaviorof Chinese tourists and those from
other countries. The Chinese tend to spend more time
searching for a product, waiting for the purchase to proceed
and having more expectations of how long the product would
endure than the Americans (Doran, 2002). Also, the Chinese
use lengthier queries (n= 3.38 words) when compared to the
English-speakingpopulation according to Excite (n= 2.16) and
AltaVista (n= 2.35), whereas the number of unique Chinese
words (n= 7303) is lower than that of unique English queries
(Chau et al., 2007).
Taking advantage of people’s lifestyle changes can benefit
both tourists and related service providers. For service
providers, such as tourism companies and local governments,
tourism-related products and services are well suited for
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2398-6247.htm
Information Discovery and Delivery
50/3 (2022) 285–296
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2398-6247]
[DOI 10.1108/IDD-05-2020-0054]
Received 15 May 2020
Revised 8 August 2020
15 October 2020
11 December 2020
11 June 2021
5 August 2021
Accepted 10 August 2021
285
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