Travel 2.0 Offerings Influence Purchase Decisions of Active Travel Shoppers
The majority of travelers visit between two and five Web sites when shopping for travel online, and the number one reason for doing this is to compare prices. At the same time, nearly 20% of travelers visit six or more sites—and this group of active shoppers possesses some distinctive characteristics that should pique the interest of commoditization-weary travel companies.
According to The PhoCusWright Travel 2.0 Consumer Technology Survey, while active shoppers visit multiple sites to compare prices, they are also motivated by a desire to read traveler reviews, research destinations and purchase tickets to events and attractions. This group is more likely to visit non-transactional travel sites, including travel search engines, review sites and sites that offer rate analytics (e.g., Farecast). Compared to the 75% of travelers who visit two to five sites, active shoppers are more familiar with Web 2.0 technologies overall and are more likely to find Travel 2.0 offerings, including podcasts, traveler reviews and videos, influential in making travel purchasing decisions.
The PhoCusWright Travel 2.0 Consumer Technology Survey assesses a range of technologies, including social networks, rich media, blogs, RSS, podcasting, mobile technology, tagging and online maps. The report's analysis identifies technology adoption rates, overall trends associated with various demographic factors and patterns of influence during the travel shopping and buying process.
Also among its findings:
- More Americans have used Web 2.0 technologies overall than have used them in the process of shopping for travel.
- Rich media has a greater influence on purchasing decisions than traveler reviews.
- Nearly everyone is familiar with online maps, but RSS and tagging go largely unnoticed. Fifty-nine percent of Americans are unfamiliar with RSS and 55% are unfamiliar with tagging.
- Half of people who read blogs read travel blogs.
Five Data Point publications have been produced that highlight the findings from the larger research initiative of The PhoCusWright Travel 2.0 Consumer Technology Survey. Read the abstracts here.
The PhoCusWright Travel 2.0 Consumer Technology Survey is one highlight of PhoCusWright's Research Subscription: Technology Edition. The Technology Edition is a syndicated information service focused on technology for the travel business. The annual subscription features ongoing research that allows travel executives to dig deeper into the innovations and applications that impact the growth of their businesses and their ability to connect with customers. The Technology Edition leverages PhoCusWright's unique travel intelligence to illuminate the technologies, products and companies that are driving change in our industry. Learn more at www.phocuswright.com.
