Impact of Perceived Experiential Value on Customer Loyalty of Tour and Travel Websites

Abstract

This thesis entitled IMPACT OF PERCEIVED EXPERIENTIAL VALUE ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY OF TOUR AND TRAVEL WEBSITE presents the results of PhD work undertaken to analyze the customer perception on perceived experiential value from tour and travel website and further its impact on trust, purchase Intention and Loyalty was examined. newlineThe increasing number of internet users shows the popularity of internet .The largest number of internet users is in Asia followed by North America ,Europe ,Australia (Internet world ststs.com 2014).People are using internet because it is convenient ,time saving easily accessible. This is the rapid development period of internet in our country. The E-commerce, flourishing on the internet and Information Technology, has become the central force in modern business. The growth of internet changes our way of living and also the way we do business. Many companies that provide goods and services to the consumer market have capitalized in the formation of company Web sites. The prime purpose of these Web sites is to raise awareness of the company and its offerings to those accessing the sites. The websites play influencing role of a vehicle for the companies to communicate with consumer s .Travel and tourism have for a long time been one of the top categories of website visited by travellers. The number of consumer buying online, and doing transaction online is increasing, and the amount being spent by online buyers had been on the rise. newlineThe number of website increases by the minute and the magnitude of services and information offered on the different websites are almost as hard to grasp as the size of universe. This development and growth imply that business and customers perceive that the company`s website provides them with some kind of value. It is believed that for the effectiveness of a business website to ensure long term profit, one need to consider both advertising strategies to newlineensure increased visitation to the website and also strategies which will enrich the customer experiences in all phases, including pre and post purchase. newlineThe current study has tried to give full presentation of Experiential Value as conceptualized by Holbrook (1999). Experiential Value is described as The Value which motivates the consumer for further consumption of that product. It is widely acknowledged that value can be regarded as interactively formed by customers through the integration of a variety of resources. Now a day more and more business are focusing on pleasurable customer experience rather than on only on product or service. newlineAnonymous data was collected through a survey about the last online travel related purchase of the respondent. Data from 602 individuals were collected through convenient sampling method using well-structured questionnaire and further research model was tested. The study examined the relationship between Experiential Value, Trust, Purchase Intention and Loyalty in context of travel and tourism websites. Measurement of the relationships of the study was done and subjected to rigorous data processing and analysis using relevant computer software packages. The Statistical package of Social Science (SPSS.20),AMOS.20 and Microsoft Office Excel were utilized to analyze the data using statistical tools of descriptive statistics, ANOVA, t-test, Friedman test, correlation ,chi square and SEM. newlineThe findings showed that different types of Experiential Values are not same in terms of influencing customers perceptions. Experiential Value helps in creating the customer Trust for the site which again impacts customer buying decision and their Loyalty. Trust played the mediating role between Experiential Value and Purchase Intention. Trust is also mediating the relationship of Experiential Value and Loyalty. Theoretical and managerial contributions are also discussed. newline