Criteria to Evaluate a Website of a Holiday Booking Site

Criteria to Evaluate a Web localize of a vacation Booking SiteDevelop a Set of Criteria to Evaluate a Web rank of a Holiday Booking Site4.1 Research Methodology consume for a good methodologyA good look for methodology is a general plan of how the researcher provide go n archeozoic answering the research questions considering the sources to collect info and the constraints that cardinal might restrain (access to selective cultivation, date, location and m unrivaledy, ethical issues etc). It should reflect the fact that the researcher has thought c arfully about why a jumpicular strategy has been employed.A accrual of methodologies were function to carry out this research. Both primary and secondary development was stash a sort for this purpose. The secondary selective depicted object comprised of entropy from lit reviewed from adjudges, journals, Internet and the yearbook encompasss of the companies duration the primary information took the form of informatio n/results collected from questionn gentle windes and take afters.The prototypic stage of the research comprised of collecting secondary entropy from the literature review. fit to Sharp and Howard (1996), two major reasons exist for reviewing the literature. First, the preliminary search back ups to impart and meliorate the research ideas. And secondly, a critical review is a part of the research process. Like virtu every(prenominal)y research projects, literature review was an early activity in this research. After the initial literature search, the researcher was qualified to redefine the parameters much precisely and undertake further searches, view asing in mind the research objective and goal. The literature review serve welled developing a good understanding and insight into the previous research through with(p) on this topic and the ways that guide emerged. According to G exclusively et al. (1996), there be a physique of opposite purposes of a literature revi ew.To uphold cardinal to refine further the research questions and objectivesTo highlight research possibilities that become been overlooked in research to dateTo discover explicit recommendations for further researchTo help one to round-eyed avoid repeating work that has been done forwardsTo specimen current opinions in newspapers, journals and magazinesTo discover and provide an insight into research approaches and strategies.This stage of critical literature review was keep uped by surveys to collect some(prenominal) quantitative and qualitative data. There ar opposite research strategies that one might employ. They argon experiment, survey case study, grounded theory, ethnography, action research, cross sectional and longitudinal studies, exploratory, descriptive and explanatory studies. Out of in all these, the researcher has elect the Survey strategy for the research. It is a common and popular strategy in business and management research. Through this a large amou nt of data lot be collected in an economical way.Step by Step Methodology Undertaken1. Secondary Data The first stage of the research comprised of collecting secondary data from the literature review. The literature review provided m all an(prenominal) lend oneselfful points to consider before commencing the dissertation. It highlighted what research had already been conducted and what new aras could be investigated.2. Questionnaire At the next stage of the research project questionnaires was distri aloneed to 15 nation of varying ages, sex, economic status and race.3. Analysis The qualitative and quantitative data was thoroughly analyzed purpose the approach explained in the next chapter.Questionnaire is the to the highest degree popular method of collecting data. It is less expensive and less time consuming than conducting interviews and very large seeks preserve be covered. A posture of questionnaire were prep ard to collect primary data (interviews survey questionna ire). The different dispersal techniques as described by Hussey and Hussey (1997) were followed. The questionnaires were circulated to the employees, Human Resource Managers, students, job seekers etc by means of and through Post, Telephone, shell-to-face, Group distribution and individual distribution. Hussey and Hussey (1997) find out some important factors to be considered while exploitation questionnaire. These ar Sample coat, Types of questions, Wordings, Design, including instruction, Wording of any come with letter, Method of distribution and return, Method of collecting and analyzing, Actions to be taken if questionnaire is non returned. All of these factors were considered while preparing the final set of questionnaire.Designing and Administering the QuestionnaireThe design of a questionnaire differs according to how it is termination to be administered i.e. the amount of contact the researcher will gestate with the reactents. In this respect, the design of a q uestionnaire can be divide into categories1. Self-administered These questionnaires are completed by the respondents without the intervention of the researcher. Such questionnaires are delivered to the respondents through email, Internet or by post and are returned accordingly.2. Interviewed administered These questionnaires are save by the interviewer on the basis of the respondents answers. For example Telephone questionnaires in which telephonic interview is taken and structured interviews in which the researcher meets the respondent face to face and ask questions.In this research, the choice of questionnaire was disciplined by a number of factors like the time available to complete the data collection, monetary implications of data collection and entry, availability of interviewers and ease of automating data entry. Keeping all these factors in mind, self-administered questionnaire was chosen to be distributed to the standard through post, email, Internet and telephone.The questionnaire (see appendix) was apply to give a thorough understanding of what consumers used when participation a holiday online and what they felt was missing. It consisted of 9 questions each supplied with a number of practical answers. The questionnaire was designed in an easy to use tick format so to the highest degree consumers would be able to answer the questions quickly and be more than unforced to participate in the process.Few important questions from the questionnaire are mentioned below. The exercised questionnaire is given at the end as Appendix I.Have you used the net profit for holiday or incite booking before?Yes b. NoDo you feel safe development your credit card on the lucre?Yes b. No c. I do not use a credit card on the internetWhat holiday booking website(s) have you used in the past 0-6 months? (choose all that apply)Expedia.co.ukEasy JetRyan airBritish AirwaysBmibabylastminute.comteletextholidays.co.ukuk.my snuff it.comcheapflights.co.ukthomson-h olidays.co.ukOtherDid you find the information on the sites clear and taciturn?ClearConciseExpedia.co.ukEasy JetRyan airBritish AirwaysBmibabylastminute.comteletextholidays.co.ukuk.my trigger off.comcheapflights.co.ukthomson-holidaysHow do you choose which websites you go to?Word of spill the beans/referral seek engine and keywords tie in from other sitesOtherSample SelectionsIf for a particular research, the data is collected from every possible case or group member, it is termed as census. sample distribution techniques provide a range of methods that enables one to reduce the amount of data to be collected by considering that data from a peculiar(prenominal) group rather than all possible cases. The full set of cases from which the sample is taken is called the population. Sampling provides a valid exchangenative to a census when it is impractical to survey the entire population or the time constraints keep back from analyze the entire population or if the bud consider con straints prevent from surveying the entire population. (In sampling, the term population is not used in its mean(prenominal) sense, as the full set of cases whitethorn not be ineluctably being population.)Sampling saves a lot of time. virtuallytimes the researchers collect data from the entire population but analyse only a sample of the data to save time. For this research, sampling was done in order to take out more detailed information form the sample selected. Once the data was collected more time could be spent in checking for any errors before analysing the data while this would not be possible if the data would have been collected from the entire population. According to Henry (1990) smaller number of cases means that more time could be spent designing and aviate the means of collecting these data.The internet business can real(a)ly only succeed if the public accepts new technologies. Despite the hype surrounding the dotcom breeze through (and bust), research conducte d by ICM for Computer Weekly has give a comparatively low level of understanding of the Internet in the UK, particularly among former(a) members of the population, and people on lower incomes. Kate Turner, director at ICM research said, eyepatch younger people are buying technology as closely as they can, the 55-plus group is the one to watch. They are catching up. The highest proportions of online shoppers are among 25 to 34 year olds (Saran, 2002). Therefore, the sample was chosen much(prenominal) that it covers all the age groups particularly those between 25-35 years old.The choice of sample size is determined by a number of factors like the confidence one need to have in the data, the margin of errors that one can put up and the size of the total population from which the sample is being pretendn. Given all these influences, the final sample size selected for the purpose of this study comprised of 15 different people of varying ages, sex, economic status and race.4.2 Rat ionales behind the questionsAlready done by the leaf node4.3 Actual ResultsAlready done by the lymph gland4.4 Expected ResultsAlready done by the Client4.5 Impact or effect on the set of criteriaAlready done by the Client4.6 SummaryThe aim of the questionnaire (see appendix) was to highlight any trends within the online industry and to identify some of the useful website evaluation criterias. The answers were used to indicate what appealed to consumers and what deterred them from booking a holiday online. Once all the responses had been received, the answers were collaborated together and analysed. A good response rate was obtained which helped to draw conclusions.Data advanceed from this methodology was used to draw specific conclusions. This type of data provides suppliers with key information to modify their offers or features to gain a competitive edge. Referring to the e-Book by kill and Horton (1997), the researcher set 14 evaluation items to check when evaluating websit e content first impression, press forward, compatibility with all browsers, accessibility, absence of HTML errors, readily accessible to search engines, visibility, usability, deponeworthiness, security, currency and authority, objectivity, accuracy, and coverage. Grandinetti (2000) proposed a simple evaluation standard. The information provided on a website was considered to be trustworthy if it explicitly described the authors name, affiliation, source, ownership and date of posting on the website. Cravener (2000) indicated that the frequency of updates, accuracy and credentials should be evaluated in order to determine the quality of the website. The questionnaire results as well as the literature review helped in formulating a set of criteria to evaluate a website and those criterias were tested accordingly.Expedia and British Airways proved to be the 2 most popular sites to use repayable to their reputation while thomson-holidays.co.uk scored poorly (50% agreeing to the fac t that the site is not engaging and 60% believing that it is not that reputable). In line with most people having a few holidays a year, most people use the internet a few times a month to view affect websites. On either side a evidentiary number use the internet for booking personal holidays though 80% of the participants were afraid of using the credit card online.As expected most people use travel sites to book flights. This is their main purpose and hence where sites are going to gain most exposure and revenue. Most people use a particular site due to prices. However, with the other features also scoring highly, it indicates that most people let off require the site to be of a fit standard. Most consumers will initially go to a site for price, but expect it to be a secure, easy to use and efficient site as well.When suppliers are decision making what to focus on for the hereafter breach offers and real time confirmation seems to be what consumers want. Price of tickets and ease of use were the two most important issues identified by the participants while using a web site for holiday and activity booking while other useful links, websites reputation and lots of photos on the website scored low. Search capability and download speed were again identified as factors which are a MUST for a holiday and activity booking web site.The particulars much(prenominal) as personalised features, feedback provision, good search engine, links to other company websites and minimal mouse travel and keystrokes scored quite lowly. A significant number of people wanted greater tractability and more information when booking their travel. With such a large majority of people still believing that a travel agent is still needed and using credit card online is risky, travel sites have a long way to go to gain market share. They need to provide more than clean remedy prices to attract and retain customers.5.1 IntroductionAlready done by the Client5.2 SummaryResearch car ried out by Carlson Digital revealed that word-of mouth is the main reason why sites were visited for the first time, and very few of respondents believed online brands knew what do them tick(Brand strategy, 2002). Without the benefit of human contact, internet companies have to work harder at understanding customer needs, delivering against these and decision ways to engage with the customer. Research found that customer expectations are high, and they are completely unforgiving of organisations who fail to respond quickly (Brand strategy, 2002).Technical factors such as site navigation, design and downloading speed can determine whether customers will revisit a site or not. To keep customers trusty, the sites must provide fresh content, relevant emails, competitions and offers. Bisignani, CEO of Opodo declares, The trend for booking travel online is set to explode. On the other hand, pass Johansson, e-commerce manager of Buzz, a low-cost airline says, We will never be 100% book ing online. She believes the key to advantage on the internet is to keep things as simple and clear as possible and avoid join oning features that add to the costs (Wheelwright, 2002). Many sites are reluctant to trace the plug on their call centres and some have even placed added emphasis on this facility. It seems that there are still too many people not being drawn to book online.Convenience of accessibility to information is belike as equally crucial as price. The ability to gather information on destinations, hotels, tourist sites and culture enables any traveller to pinpoint their require requirements and then build a trip ideally suited to them. The main advantage is that this can be done in the comfort of ones own home. One doesnt have to physically go and queue to see someone who may only open during works hours or only be able to show some restrict offers. However, one does have search through various sites to get the most appropriate package. Most well established s ites offer a help line which is ideal for customers who want to use the internet for gathering information and then use a personalised service to ensure they get the right deal. It also inhibits fear in travellers who may need to mold changes later on.Most web sites offer an abundance of options for travel. They can clear information about local and far destinations in equal learning and detail, whereas the travel agent will only have expertise in some areas and will be limited in options he can suggest. The best of both worlds, that more consumers are now doing, is using the internet to gather information and then telling the travel agent on the dot what they want. This eliminates the fear of booking online and makes the customer more informed and demanding. Travel agents are also catching up with competitors by using their own websites to campaign their offers. Some have also started to focus on niche marketing, such as adequate cruise specialists, honeymoons or offering adv ice on intricate itineraries or where expertise for one particular country is needed and particularly for people not comfortable with using a computing machine (Maxa, 2002).Some factors consumers should consider when booking online are Does the site operate in real time? This means the airline seat, hotel room etc presented are available the issue youre viewing it. This prevents problems of being sold out when you come to the booking stage. Does it provide a free help line number that accommodates you to pour forth to a representative to iron out any queries? Are extra charges, such as trip cancellation insurance automatically added to your package or hidden amongst the terms and conditions? How often are the special offers updated? Does the web site levy a fee on the airline tickets it sells? Some sites are already charging consumers and more are expected to follow this trend (Morrison, 2002) leave behind the site be trading when you want to travel? Many travellers are unawa re that if they book a flight or hotel and that company ceases trading, they are not protected by legislation or insurance schemes (Macefield, 2002).When deciding to book online the consumer needs to realize how flexible their requirements are. The more consumers are willing to compromise on times, dates and holiday sites the more likely they are to finding a cheap deal. Consumers also need to be ready to book as soon as they see what they are looking for. as yet in a slow economy most offers get book very early on.5.3 LimitationsThere are few noted limitations for this gash of research. First of all it cannot be ignored that research is dependent on the data collected using a questionnaire. The objective features of websites and not dealt in detail (e.g. background theme or hierarchy information) which makes it difficult to elaborate the suitable design factors equalled with the subjective invoices. Secondly, this research is based on the survey research method which has some li mitations of its own in the form sample selection bias. The sample of the survey is selected by the researcher and there is invariably a chance that the acquaintance of the researcher with the sample may alter the results as per the researchers way of thinking. The researcher tried to gather demographic information like age, gender etc but could not beget information like income levels etc. The participants were not ready to divulge such information. The validity of the results may be challenged in the absence of demographic information, because literature suggests the relative importance of evaluation criteria might vary with income and education level. at last the study lacks a section in the questionnaire that could be used to measure the level of user satisfaction for each website. A recent study found that user satisfaction for e-commerce customers consists of multiple dimensions (McKinney et al. 2002). There was a misfortune to add more inter-dependent variables in the rese arch model. For example, trust has been identified as an important issue in web site design and e-commerce (Jarvenpaa, Tracinsky and Vitale 2000, McKnigh et al. 2002). It would have been significant if the level of trust the participants had in each website could be metric along with the reasons (Kim and Moon 1998).5.4 Recommendations for future workAlready done by the Client6.1 DiscussionTravel is seen as an escape motivation a wish well to escape routines of family, home and work. It might be a pull motive a want to see things, places, and people and to engage in actions and behaviours (Ryan, 2002). Travel is ultimately thought of as entertainment (Miller, 2001). For these reasons booking travel should also be fun and hassle free. Consumers want to feel inspired, aflame and motivated to book travel. Online sites have recognised the lacking of a matched experience and have turned to using customer service help lines. This move, although against the promotion of booking entire ly online, portrays the current competitive market. Online travel sites have needed to work a lot harder to stay competitive and profitable.Having looked at the past and present situation, one can start to predict what the future will be for the online holiday booking industry. A recent report from industry analysts Jupiter MMXI (Johnson, 2002) noted considerable growth in Europes online travel market and predictions suggest it could be worth more than 12bn by 2006. Even with events such as September 11 terrorist attacks, consumers are tart to start travelling again. Dermot Halpin of Expedia states, People want to travel. September 11 was a tragedy, but people bounce back. Individual travel is becoming more and more popular. People dont want to be told what to do. We allow them to do what they want.With such great competition in the travel market, online travel providers need to distinguish themselves from the others. From consumer surveys, customers perceive the service of the ai rlines websites as significantly breach than that of travel agencies (Romita, 2001). This is where travel agencies need to focus on to draw consumers to their site. From the questionnaire results we can see that consumers are drawn to sites on cost and reputation. An image of providing fine customer service will attract visitors to that site and keep them loyal for future bookings. High street travel agents are able to do this much better due to their face to face interaction with customers. Online travel providers need to realign their focus with the ever demanding public and dedicate their sites to providing clarified customer service.From the literature search it was found out that the extent to which websites follow the architectural principles and are optimized on the evaluation criteria has an impact on the level of user satisfaction and, in turn, on the level of user loyalty. In other words, a website with a high architectural quality may produce a higher level of user sat isfaction, which then leads to change magnitude motivation for users to revisit the site. User satisfaction is one of the most oft used measures of system success because the performance of a system is commonly related to users satisfaction ratings (DeLone and McLean 1992).Customers are looking at the future for sites with better offers and technology to provide real time confirmation. They want greater flexibility and more information when booking travel. Online travel has now become a fundamental part of booking travel, whether to search for the best offers or yet gather information on some Holiday package. Customers are becoming more demanding as they can now pick and choose who they wish to give their business to. The future looks bright for the online Holiday booking industry. As more people accept changes in technology and become computer literate, a new generation is developing that use the internet for most their day to day needs.6.2 Final SummaryAlready done by the Clie ntBrand Strategy, (2002). How to get close to customers online, Brand Strategy, January 9, 2002, p13.Delone, W. H. And Mclean, E. R. (1992), Information systems success the quest for the dependent variable. Information Systems Research, 3(1), 60 95.Gall, M.D., Borg, W.R. and Gall, J.P. (1996) Educational Research An introduction. young York, Longman.Henry, G.T. (1990). Practical Sampling. Newbury Park, CA, Sage.Hussey, J. and Hussey, R. (1997). Business Research A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Macmillan Business Wiltshire.Johnson, B. (2002) Travel beats the dotcom gloom, The Guardian, August 19, 2002.Macefield, S. Warning to go-it-alone tourists, The day-to-day Telegraph, March 16, 2002, p4.Maxa, R. (2002). Rising European Air Fares, Savvy Traveller, March 23.Miller, G.(2001). somatic responsibility in the UK tourism industry, Tourism Management, Volume 23, Issue 6, celestial latitude 2001, p589-598.Morrison, M. Orbitz first to charge service fees , Airline Business, Jan 1, 2002, pg15.Romita, T. http//www.eyefortravel.com/index.asp?news=10158src=nwsltr, Eye for travel, January 23, 2001.Ryan, C. (2002). Equity, management, magnate sharing and sustainability issues of the new tourism, Tourism Management, Volume 23, Issue 1, February 2002, p17-26.Saran, C. (2002). Consumers are not inspired by the Internet, Computer Weekly, Feb 28, pg16.Sharp, J.A. and Howard, K. (1996) The Management of a assimilator Research Project. Aldershot, Gower.Wheelwright, G. Wednesday Surveys ITD1, The Financial Times(London), March 13, 2002, p10.Mckinney, V., Yoon, K. And Zahedi, F. (2002), Web-customer satisfaction an expectation and disconfirmation approach. 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