17 December 2010
Chinese fliers like to use electronic reservation services. However, increased attention should be paid to the design of these online services throughout the world; with an extensive range of services available, poorly functioning or non-functional services are not used.
Hongxiu Li's doctoral dissertation deals with Chinese passengers' experiences with online flight reservation services (both the airlines' own systems as well as those provided by third parties such as Amadeus and Sabre); which factors encourage them to use these services or to abandon them. This is an important topic to understand in Finland as well, for example, in light of the significant investments made by the Finnish state airline in the Asian/Chinese routes. The results of the dissertation research as such cannot be generalised to other online services or other countries, but they do offer certain guidelines for the design of other services, as well.
The research was conducted in the form of a questionnaire survey among a representative sample of Chinese passengers who had used the airlines' reservation services. These service users represent a rapidly growing group of people – as the general level of welfare in China increases, Chinese people become accustomed to using online services, also for purposes other than flight reservations. The study aimed to find out which factors compel consumers to accept or reject the use of the airlines' online reservation services.
The theoretical framework of the research particularly focused on the continuity of service use. In previous studies on this topic, a major focus has been placed on factors that cause consumers to accept an online reservation service for the first time. As the services mature and establish their position, it becomes increasingly relevant to study how to encourage the service users to return to the same service over and over again.
Perhaps the most significant finding in Hongxiu Li's dissertation was the fact that Chinese consumers seem to be ready to accept slight shortcomings in the flight reservation system's user interface as long as other service components are in order. Using an online reservation service is self-evident and pleasant for consumers. However, the range of reservation services available is also continuously widening in China, and poorly functioning services are starting to lose customers. Close attention must be paid to the design of online services everywhere in the world.
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Honqxiu Li's doctoral dissertation "E-service continuance intention: An insight into online travel services in China" belongs to the field of Information Systems Science.
Contact information: +358 50 924 4967, hongxiu.li(a)tse.fi
Li's picture: http://www.utu.fi/vaittelijat/hongxiu_li.jpg
Read the dissertation: http://info.tse.fi/julkaisut/vk/Ae7_2010.pdf