Empirical Study on Online Travel Products

Economic Management Journal November 2015, Volume 4, Issue 4, PP.57-66

Empirical Study on Online Travel Products Yuhua Cui 1, Ji shun Niu, Jing Lu School of Business, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, 100020, China

Abstract As the Economic Reform and Opening Up processes continue to develop intensively in China, the tourism industry has attained a considerable scale and has developed rapidly after nearly 20 years of progress. In recent years, leisure tourism has become a rapidly growing sunrise industry as a result of the gradual increase in Chinese income. Such increase became evident in the 80s and 90s, when consumption attitudes changed. Furthermore, the Internet and e-commerce have also grown very quickly.

Consequently, the natural integration of tourism and e-commerce occurred. From 2004 to 2014, e-commerce websites devoted to Chinese tourism emerged continuously, and the industry scale expanded unceasingly. Gradually, e-commerce captured the traditional offline travel agency's market share. The pattern of industrial upgrading in tourism has become the current trend.

However, some problems and contradictions also exist in the development of e-commerce in the tourism industry, and many tourism websites that once flourished had their ups and downs and even declined amidst the competition. This decline has been brought about by the failure of some tourism enterprises to grasp the purchase intention of customers and to enhance their core competitiveness according to the actual demands of their users. Thus, this empirical study aims to provide a better marketing strategy policy for online travel managers. To attain this aim, questionnaire survey methods were used in combination with the analysis of the related characteristics of online travel products.

Keywords: On-Line Shopping, On-Line Travel Products, Tourism

1 INTRODUCTION The Chinese tourism industry has been developing rapidly for the past thirty years since the implementation of the reform policy of the country. China has become one of the largest and the most rapidly expanding tourism market.

The World Tourism Organization estimated by 2020, China will rank first in receiving tourists and fourth in exporting tourists overseas (Analysis Report of the Chinese Tourism Industry, 2014). At the same time, the tourism industry has become an important sector in the state economy and a pillar, a leader, and the main industry in the local economy. Moreover, the electronic information technology (IT) has greatly influenced the process of supply and the consumption of tourism, changed the ideas of people about tourism consumption as well as the internal structure of tourist corporations, and provided means of division of labor of the tourist industry. IT and electronic commerce (ecommerce) based on the Internet has significantly influenced tourism corporations and the tourism industry. The combination of these two tools has brought about a brand new development.

Recently, e-commerce has entered the tourism industry with its very own universal convenience, cheap capital, and widespread participation. E-commerce in tourism indicates the formation of a new business model. The natural 1

Email: cuiyuhua@snu.ac.kr, corresponding author Foundation 1: Science and Technology Development Project of Beijing Education Commission, 2015 (Study on Consuming Behavior Data Mining and Application Key Technology under Fashion Electronic Commerce). Project Number: KYJH02150201/021/001 Foundation 2: Reform in Education Team Building Project of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, 2014 (Electronic Commerce Data Analyst Courses Team Building). Project Number: JXTD-1403 Foundation 3: The Project of Construction of Innovative Teams and Selection and Development of Excellent Talents for Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (PTTBIFT) - 57 www.emj-journal.org

compatibility of tourism with e-commerce allows e-commerce in tourism to lead the e-commerce industry because tourism is an information-concentrated and information-dependent industry (Liang, 2012).

The supply of broadband Internet and the continuous development of the Internet technology have provided a good opportunity for the development and expansion of the online market. With the growing demand for online shopping, a series of online tourism shopping brands has spread in Internet websites, such as Ctrip (携程), Qunaer (去哪网), Tuniu (途牛), eLong (艺龙), and others. They have become rapidly growing Chinese online booking brands for tourism. Furthermore, these sites imply that individual customization has won more clients and markets. Many tourism corporations have continued to establish their own websites. As a result, several of these websites that specialize in tourism products sales are developing rapidly. Moreover, a series of tourism products brands is rising and online shopping websites related to tourism products are growing. These websites have intensified market competition. Thus, winning the online tourism market has become one of the main concerns of tourism sellers.

Every online tourism service company is making an investment to improve the technology and to enhance the products to gain their share of the market. These companies are also investing to attain maturity in the e-commerce field in tourism.

With market competition intensifying, winning more consumers has become the main concern of every tourism company. Corporations must understand the needs of consumers and the factors influencing their intention to purchase based on the unique quality of the tourism products. Corporations can develop marketing strategies corresponding to these influencing factors to attract more consumers. Furthermore, these concerns of the sellers have also provided research topics to the academic field. By focusing on the purchase intention of tourism consumers, the analysis of influencing factors, and the corresponding marketing strategy, this study intends to provide a theoretical guide for the tourism industry and for sellers that would allow them to attract more consumers.

2 PAGE LAYOUT 2.1 Online Shopping Online shopping, an extremely important part of e-commerce, is a new mode of shopping that developed with ecommerce and the Internet. Ling Song and Wei-Dong Yang (1999) argued that the concept of online shopping denotes “the act of consumers purchasing goods using the Internet, as a typical purchasing act under the Internet environment” (Yu, 2011). The definition given by China’s Internet Technology Center is “goods and service exchange with Internet communication, including those that take place from Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer, (B2C), Consumer to Consumer (C2C), and Government to Business (G2B).” IResearch defines online shopping as “the process of transporting goods and service displayed online to online shoppers, and if any of the goods exchanges, money exchanges, and information exchanges during the entire process involves the use of the Internet, then it’s called online shopping” (Gronroos, 1988).

Based on the abovementioned definitions of online shopping and by considering the need of the research, this study defines online shopping as the act of consuming, without leaving a place, using the Internet to buy goods or services at online shops. Thus, the type of online shopping discussed in this paper is business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping. With the popularization and adoption of the Internet, online shopping and e-commerce have gradually changed from a shopping mode used only by a few to a mode accepted by many people. Generally, online shopping is a process where information on goods is searched, electronic purchase orders are sent, and personal bank accounts or credit card information are filled through the Internet, and the seller sends the goods to the doors of the customers through express mail.

2.2 Characteristics of the Internet According to the report of <Icon Online shopping> on online shopping behavior, 45% of consumers choose online shopping because of “price advantage.” In addition, the time and travel costs consumers spend on comparing prices have been drastically reduced (travel cost is almost zero) compared to offline shopping, allowing the price factor to be even more outstanding. Research also showed that 80% of online shoppers choose at least three websites to - 58 www.emj-journal.org

compare price information.

Kim et al. (2011) studied the effects of the individual characteristics of consumers on online shopping behavior and found that average income and online purchase intention are positively correlated.

Liao and Cheung (2001) assessed the influence of the overall qualities of online sellers on online purchasing behavior and discovered that the reputation of companies and the extent of the online purchase intention of consumers strongly affect purchase intention.

In terms of the overall gender composition of online shoppers, female netizens are active shoppers; they comprise 50.8% of online shoppers. This percentage exceeds that of male online shoppers, and the trend is continuing. The focus of women during shopping includes cosmetics, jewelry, toys, maternal supplies, and interior decorations.

However, in terms of highly priced products, specifically electronic devices, males comprise a higher percentage of online shoppers than females. The average purchasing price of a product for males is also higher than that of products for females. Rodgers and Harris (2003) discovered in their research that males shop online more frequently than females.

Chang et al. (2005) demonstrated that some characteristics of service, such as credibility, tangibility, and thoughtfulness, significantly influence purchase intention. Low-capital, formless products, frequently purchased items, and highly differentiated goods and services are more easily purchased by consumers online.

2.3 Online Travel Products No universally agreed definition of travel products has been established, but every travel process constitutes various activities such as eating, moving, lodging, traveling, shopping, playing, and others. Therefore, from this perspective, a travel product is defined as a comprehensive concept, as every travel process is a general product organically combined by a series of individual products and services. For the suppliers of travel products, a travel product is a service in which tourism managers borrow tourism resources and facilities to satisfy the needs of consumers throughout the traveling process. Similarly, a travel product is a combination of various travel products and services.

In this study, travel product means various services, such as tour routes and tour options, provided by travel agencies to satisfy the needs of tourists in the travel process as achieved by organizing a series of travel management enterprises. A travel product is a special product mainly composed of a formless service, and it is a combined product because it comprises various factors such as eating, lodging, moving, traveling, shopping, and playing.

With the rapid development of the online e-commerce industry encompassing the tourism industry, various online shopping and booking enterprises put forward travel products one after another. Many tourist attractions and hotels built their own online shopping websites, and the tourism industry has become one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest and fastest growing industries. An online travel product refers to a travel product purchased online through an e-commerce platform in tourism. For instance, XieCheng, TuNiu, and QuNar provide reservation services for train tickets, hotels, tourist attractions, as well as package travels. Online travel products are changing the operations of the traditional tourism industry at an unprecedented rate. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which appeared last century, is the beginning stage for tourism e-commerce, where simple services were dealt with. Tourism e-commerce at present uses advanced Internet technology in combination with the newly emerging mobile IT. In the information media age, tourism e-commerce has been expanding from airline and hotel bookings to the entire tourism industry, including tourist attractions, travel route products, restaurants, and others.

3 PRESEARCH DESIGN 3.1 Literature Review Literature review and survey are combined in this study. Many domestic and foreign studies are reviewed, including basic theories and study results of research on online shopping, tourism, tourism products, and e-commerce.

Firsthand data are acquired through online survey combined with traditional survey, and the significance of the sample drawn and the privacy of Internet users are considered to make the data more reliable.

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3.2 Questionnaire Design and Data Collection To survey the consumers, we develop a series of questionnaires. The sources of these questionnaires are mainly from two following areas: 1) Staff members and old customers of the 王府 international tourism agency (field work) 2) Netizens (questionnaire software on QQ, Weixin, and Weibo) Questionnaire URL: http://www.sojump.com/jq/4577196.aspx

3.3 Data Analysis After 300 responses are collected, the data are run through SPSS 2.0 to conduct theoretical analysis and descriptive analysis on the sample. The results of quantitative analysis are described and explained. In addition, a cross-field research is conducted. Tourism is a field that is related to various academic fields because online shopping involves many areas. Knowledge from various fields, such as psychology, business management, and sociology, are used to explain in detail the characteristics of online tourism products.

4 SAMPLE DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 Basic qualities of the sample and descriptive statistics First, a descriptive analysis and explanation are performed for the basic qualities, including age, gender, marital status, job, average household income, and address of the sample from the 300 survey responses. Details are presented in Table 1.

TABLE 1 BASIC QUALITIES OF THE SAMPLE

Variables

Age

Gender Marital Status

Job

Average Household Income

Address

Below 19 20-29 30 – 39 40 – 49 50 – 59 Over 60 Male Female Single Married Office worker Service worker Technician Professional Housewife Others Below 10,000 10,000 –20,000 20,000 –30,000 30,000 –40,000 40,000 -50,000 Above 50,000 North China (Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Jiangxi, and Inner Mongolia) Northeast China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning) East China (Shandong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian) Central China (Hubei, Hunan, and Henan) South China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macao) Southwest (Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Tibet) Northwest (Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Qinghai)

Number of People 12 241 27 17 2 1 93 207 269 31 52 36 29 16 8 159 133 85 28 25 12 17 54 33 94 33 57 21 8

Percentage (%) 4.0 80.3 9.0 5.7 0.7 0.3 31.0 69.0 89.7 10.3 17.3 12.0 9.7 5.3 2.7 53.0 44.3 28.3 9.3 8.3 4.0 5.7 18.0 11.0 31.3 11.0 19.0 7.0 2.7

In terms of age distribution, the largest proportion is the age group 20 to 29 years, which accounts for 80.3% of the - 60 www.emj-journal.org

whole sample. Following this age group is the group of 30 to 39 year-olds, which accounts for 9.0% of the sample.

The group of 40 to 49 year-olds accounts for 5.7% of the whole sample, and the groups of under 20 years and above 50 years account for 4.0% and 1.0% of the sample, respectively. The statistical results show that young people are the main users of the Internet, and the consumption of online travel products is generally common among young people.

The table also shows that the ratio of males to females is 93 to 207, accounting for 31.0% and 69.0% of the respondents, respectively. The values are a good representation of the situation in online shopping because the number of females is twice the number of males. The group of single people accounts for 89.7% of the whole sample, and those who are married account for 10.3% of the sample.

In terms of job distribution, office workers and service workers account for 17.3% and 12.0% of the whole sample, respectively. Technicians account for 9.7% of the sample, professionals account for 5.3% of the sample, and people with other jobs account for 53.0% of the sample. In terms of the addresses of the respondents, 31.3% of the sample comes from the East China region, 27.36% comes from South China, and 18.0% comes from North China. The table shows that more people consume online travel products in the Southeast region, which is a developed area, because of the convenience of the Internet and travel product consumption.

4.2 Statistics of online shopping features TABLE 2 FEATURES OF ONLINE SHOPPING

Variables Main reason for online shopping

Type of products

Factor of choice

Areas that need improvement

Advantage

Judgment standard

Influence of othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; evaluation Frequent usage

Type Fast and easy Cheaper than the market Variety of products Time-saving Fashion items such as clothes and shoes Academic products such as books, music, and online courses Vacation Cosmetics Electronics Furniture and decorations Food Others Credibility and guarantee Appearance Evaluation of consumers Others Provision of information Follow-up service Legal system Others Easy to find things Low price Time-saving Full variety Others Brand Sales promotion Reputation Quality Others Large Average Small None Yes No

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Number of People 150 91 44 15 218

Percentage (%) 50.0 30.3 14.7 5 72.7

160

53.3

51 106 91 82 85 27 99 25 166 10 67 104 121 8 128 181 149 187 9 33 26 124 116 1 184 82 29 5 232 68

17.0 35.3 30.3 27.3 28.3 9.0 33.0 8.3 55.3 3.4 22.3 34.7 40.3 2.7 42.7 60.3 49.7 62.3 3.0 11.0 8.7 41.3 38.7 0.3 61.3 27.3 9.7 1.7 77.3 22.7

1) Main reason for online shopping Table 2 shows that 50% of the people choose online shopping because it is fast and convenient, 30% of the respondents choose online shopping because it costs cheaper than engaging with the actual market, and 14.7% choose online shopping because it provides more varieties of products. These values explain that in this high-speed contemporary society, the time-saving and effort-saving online shopping method, which provides more options, is already set deep into the peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives.

2) Type of products Fashion items, such as clothes and shoes, are most common products bought (72.7%) followed by books and music (53.3%), cosmetics and electronics (35.3% and 30.3%, respectively) and vacation products (17.0%). The percentage of vacation products is the least. However, the proportion is large relative to other non-necessities. This finding highlights the major potential of the online travel product market.

3) Factor of choice Majority of the online consumers (55.3%) choose sellers based on the evaluations of previous buyers; 33.0% of the respondents value credibility and guarantees, which means that consumers pay significant attention to the provision of information.

4) Areas that need improvement For this question, 40.3% of the people think that the legal system needs to be improved; 34.7% suggest improving the follow-up service; and 22.35% expect to be provided with richer information on the products.

5) Advantage The table shows that 62.3% of the people believe that the variety of products is an advantage of online shopping, whereas 60.3% and 49.7% believe that low price and time-saving are advantages, respectively. These values mean that by saving time and money, consumers expect to have more choices to buy.

6) Judgment standard Among the respondents, 41.3% regard reputation as the standard of judgment, 38.7% are interested in quality, and 11.0% trust the brand of the product.

1)

Influence of the evaluation of others

Majority of the respondents (61.3%) think that the evaluation of others is significant. Therefore, the evaluation of previous buyers significantly affects potential online customers.

7) Frequency of online shopping The data show that 77.3% of the respondents generally shop online, whereas the remaining 22.7% do not.

4.3 Statistics of Travel Feature 1) Usual cost of travel Table 3 shows that 65.0% of the respondents spend below 5,000 RMB, 22.3% spend between 5,000 to 10,000 RMB, and 10.2% spend more than 10,000 RMB. 2) Period Among the respondents, 40.0% choose to travel for 3 days, 34.7% choose 2 days, 13.0% choose 4 days, and 12.3% choose 5 days to travel.

3) Travel company The data show that 79.3% of the respondents choose to travel with friends, 10.7% choose to travel by themselves, and 7.3% choose to go with colleagues.

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TABLE 3 FEATURES OF TRAVEL

Variables

Cost

Period

Company

Purpose

Route

Frequency

Major source of information

Type of online travel product

Type Below 5,000 5,000 – 10,000 10,000 – 30,000 30,000 – 60,000 Above 60,000 2 days 3 days 4 days Over 5 days Self Friends Colleagues Others Shopping Work Visit Sightseeing Relaxation and entertainment Others Regional Domestic Oversea Once a month Once a semester Once a year Not regular Never travelled Travel agencies Newspapers and magazines Friends TV commercials Internet Others Itinerary Transportation Entrance ticket Accommodation Guide service Others

Number of people 195 67 30 6 2 104 120 39 37 32 238 22 8 10 19 23 132 115 1 79 174 47 22 83 61 130 4 87 80 169 51 183 16 58 147 177 215 24 12

Percentage (%) 65.0 22.3 10.0 2.0 0.7 34.7 40.0 13.0 12.3 10.7 79.3 7.3 2.7 3.3 6.3 7.7 44.0 38.4 0.3 26.3 58.0 15.7 7.3 27.7 20.3 43.4 1.3 29 26.7 56.3 17.0 61.0 5.3 19.3 49.0 59.0 71.7 8.0 4.0

4) Purpose of travel Sightseeing accounts for 44.0%, whereas relaxation and entertainment, visiting friends and relatives, and work account for 38.3%, 7.6%, and 6.3%, respectively.

5) Destination The survey data show that 58.0% of the respondents choose domestic travel, 26.35% choose to go somewhere within the province, and 15.7% of the respondents choose overseas travel.

6) Frequency of travel The data show that 43.4% of the respondents travel irregularly, 27.75% travel every semester, and 20.3% travel every year.

7) Main source of information about travel The respondents find information from the Internet (61.0%), friends (56.3%), and from travel agencies (29.0%).

8) Type of travel product previously purchased The table shows that 71.3% of the respondents booked accommodations online, 59.0% booked entrance tickets online, and 49.0% booked transportation online. These items represent the top three purchases.

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4.3 Statistics of Online Travel Products TABLE 4 ONLINE TRAVEL PRODUCTS

Variable

Main reason

Advanced purchase in days

How much do you consider the distance of offline agency

Products that people care about

Website areas for improvement

Weakness

Size of online travel product market

Type More and reliable information Recommendation Fast and convenient Accustomed Low cost Others 10 days maximum 11 - 30 days 31 - 60 days More than 61 days Very much Enough Average Not enough Do not consider Awareness and reliability of website Website attractiveness Service quality of travel Itinerary Reasonable price On-time update of information User communication Service quality Booking procedure Price and upgrade of product Ratings Information not detailed Risky Fraud Others Big Average Small I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know

Number of people 92 72 221 103 147 6 165 122 40 12 53 141 86 16 4 179 68 212 150 189 99 31 108 54 91 47 64 126 103 7 133 138 17 12

Percentage (%) 30.7 24.0 73.7 34.3 49.0 2.0 55.0 40.7 13.3 4.0 17.7 47.0 28.7 5.3 1.3 59.7 22.7 70.7 50.0 63.0 33.0 10.3 36.0 18.0 30.3 15.7 21.3 42.0 34.3 2.3 44.3 46.0 5.7 4.0

1) Main reason for buying online travel products The data show that 73.7% of the respondents prefer online shopping because it is fast and easy. Moreover, 49.0% of the respondents choose online products because of the low cost, and 34.3% choose online shopping because they are already used to it.

2) Advanced purchase The data show that 55.0% of the respondents buy 10 days in advance, 40.7% buy 11 days to 30 days in advance, 13.3% purchase 31 days to 60 days in advance, and 4.0% purchase more than 61 days in advance. These values show that different times have various effects on the opinions of different people about online travel products.

3) Actual distance of an offline travel agency For this item, 64.7% of the respondents agree that distance is a prior consideration for online shopping. This value shows that psychological distance affects the choice of online shopping.

4) Important factors The table shows that 70.7% of the respondents care about the service quality of travels, 63.0% care about reasonable price, 59.7% care about the popularity and credibility of websites, 50.0% care about the itinerary arranged, and 33.0% care about the quantity and timeliness of the information.

5) Travel product of the websites that need improvement - 64 www.emj-journal.org

The survey shows that 36.0% of the people think that service quality needs to be improved. Furthermore, 30.3% think that price and update of products need to be improved, 18.0% think that the booking procedure needs to be improved, and 15.7% of the respondents hope for an improvement in the evaluation system.

6) Weaknesses of online travel products Among the respondents, 42.0% indicate that online products are risky. Additionally, 34.3% think that real products are different from online products, and 21.3% think that the information about the products is not detailed enough.

7) Size of online travel market The survey shows that 44.3% of the respondents think that the market is large, 46.0% think that it is average, 5.7% think that it is small, and 4.0% are not aware of the size.

5 CONCLUSIONS 5.1 Results At present, the sales channels for travel products are increasing, and these online sales channels will further expand because of further development of e-commerce in tourism. Expanding the online market, increasing the sales volume of online travel products, and making the online travel products more attractive to consumers have become the main concerns of the sellers. Therefore, the use of theory and real-world guidelines to analyze consumer psychology and understand the factors that affect the purchase intention of consumers of online travel products is important.

Although the academic field has put forward theoretical studies on the purchase intention of consumers of online products, not many specialized studies have focused on travel products; thus, further exploration should be conducted. Based on the empirical results, this study provides effective marketing strategy suggestions for tourism enterprises and related tourism websites regarding the specificities of the buying behavior of consumers of online travel product.

This study uses document exploration and questionnaire survey as research methods. First, the perspectives and the results of the studies of both domestic and worldwide scholars on online travel products are analyzed in an integrated manner through comparison and comprehensive summaries. Thereafter, the questionnaire survey is performed.

Subsequently, the statistically analyzed results are presented.

1)

Characteristics of online shopping

The hectic pace of a modern lifestyle has motivated a large group of people to choose online shopping for its convenient and time-saving qualities. By contrast, some choose online shopping for the complete product selection and the reasonable prices, which are difficult to find in traditional shopping. According to the data analysis of the sample, fashion items (e.g., clothes and shoes) are the most frequently shopped products online, followed by study tools (e.g., books and audio materials). Among the non-necessities, online travel products are purchased the most, which demonstrates that e-commerce in tourism is indeed rising.

Online shoppers pay attention to the public reviews of the product brands. Among the respondents, 60% choose products according to the comments posted by experienced consumers. In addition, many people think that online shopping laws should be amended, a sentiment that highlights the need to strengthen consumer trust toward sellers.

2)

Characteristics of tourism

Sixty five percent (65.0%) of the samples control their typical travel cost below 5,000 RMB. Moreover, 22.3% control the cost between 5,000 and 10,000 RMB. Most of respondents travel for 3 days to 4 days, with relatives or friends during official holidays to go sightseeing. Most of the information is acquired through relatives and friends.

These findings show that family and couple trips are relatively common. Moreover, compared with traveling within the province or abroad, domestic travel has the highest percentage.

3)

Characteristics of online travel products

As the online penetration rate continues to rise, online travel enterprises expand into offline services, and a simultaneous expansion of the traditional travel agencies into online agencies seems inevitable. Online products are - 65 www.emj-journal.org

becoming more diverse, and hotels and airline bookings are the first products sold online owing to the hotel and airline companies adopting IT relatively early. Therefore, among online travel products, accommodation booking and travel tickets comprise a large percentage. Online shoppers consider service quality as the most important characteristic of service because travel products belong to the service industry. The price of the products and the reputation and credibility of the websites follow service quality in terms of level of importance. Moreover, consumers are repulsed when products do not match the information and when sellers exaggerate the qualities of the products.

5.2 Limitations of the Research One, in terms of sample collection, the research is limited in terms of time–space; most survey answers are collected online. Therefore, gender, job, and age percentages are not even. Two, studies on the development of online travel products in China are few. This situation affected this study considering that it relies on experimental analysis. Thus, insufficient parts should be further discussed. Three, the survey is facilitated through a professional program, but the questionnaire lacks traditional survey data. The traditional survey objects are considered to be less effective for this research because of the unique qualities of the research objects. However, one thing has been ascertained: online survey objects are experienced online users, and an online survey is more likely to be effective. However, whether this statement can be considered as truthful requires validation.

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Information & Management, 42(4). 543-559

AUTHORS Yuhua Cui is a Lecture in the School of

Jishun Niu is professor of Information

Business at Beijing Institute of Fashion

Management and Information System

Technology. Her current research interests

since 2005. Her course teaching was

include understanding E-commerce and

Electronic

Commerce,

consumer behavior

Information

System,

Retrieval.

Jing Lu graduated from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. At present she is working in China palace international travel service Co Ltd.

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and

Management Information