The Importance of Information for Tourist Service Users in Travel Decision Making
Značaj informacija za korinsike turističkih usluga u odlučivanju o putovanju
Abstract
In modern conditions of operation, the provision of right information to customers is one of the key factors of marketing communication success. When making the decision on the selection of travel, customers in tourism (tourists) have the need for greater number of different information compared to the selection of other products and services. The need for more information is conditioned by the specificity of travel as a product. The tourists gather different information in the travel decision-making process on destinations, activities at destinations, hotels and services they offer, travel programs, etc. Likewise, the information on the brand and image of tourist destination they are travelling to and the brand of tourist service provider (hotel, tour-operator, travel agency, etc.) are also relevant. Brands present a kind of quality guarantee and reduce the need for additional information. The aim of this paper is to determine the significance of different information for various segments of customers in tourism on the basis of empirical research. The paper will test whether various tourist segments, towards which the different communication strategies focused on travel promotion would be formulated, can be identified based on the type of infor-mation the tourists gather in the decision-making process. The paper will also consider whether the segmentation of the tourism market, based on the relevance of different information in the decision-making process of tourists, is more efficient compared to the segmentation based on the traditional criteria.
Apstrakt
U savremenim uslovima poslovanja pružanje pravih informacija potrošačima jedan je od ključnih faktora uspeha marketinških komunikacija. Potrošači u turizmu (tuiristi) u donošenju odluka o izboru putovanja imaju potrebu za većim brojem različitih informacija u odnosu na druge proizvode i usluge. Potreba za više informacija uslovljena je specifičnošću putovanja kao proizvoda. Turisti u procesu donošenja odluka o putovanjima prikupljaju različite informacije o destinacijama, aktivnostima u destinacijama, hotelima i uslugama koji se nude, programima putovanja i sl. Takođe informacije o brendu i imidžu turističke destinacije u koju putuju i brendu pružaoca turističkih usluga (hotel, turoperator, turistička agencija i dr.) su značajne. Brendovi predstavljaju svojevrsnu garanciju kvaliteta i umanjuju potrebu za dodatnim informacijama. Cilj rada je da se na osnovu empirijskog istraživanja utvrdi značaj različitih informacija za različite segmente potrošača u turizmu. U radu će biti testirano da li na osnovu vrste informacija koje turisti prikupljaju i analiziraju u procesu donošenja odluka mogu da se identifikuju različiti segmenti turista prema kojima bi se formulisale različite komunikacione strategije usmerene na promociju putovanja. U radu će biti sagledano i da li je segmentacija turističkog tržišta na osnovu značaja različitih informacija u donošenju odluka turista efikasnija u odnosu na segmentaciju na osnovu tradicionalnih kriterijuma.
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