CONSUMER ONLINE ENGAGEMENT IN AIRLINE AND HOSPITALITY SERVICES

Abstract

Growth of airline and hospitality services demand had resulted in a tremendous increase in the number of airline and hospitality services. Consumers are travelling all around the world for vacations, business trips or visiting relatives. Many consumers prefer airline services due to the time taken can be shortened compared to other transportations. Such as cars, trains and ferry. In relation, hospitality services including budget hotels, hotels and motels provide a place to stay for consumers during their travel period.
A great variety of airlines and hospitality services companies provides a lot of choices to consumers. A large range of choices for airlines and hotels are beneficial to consumers because they are able to choose the best deal offered by the companies. For instance, a price conscious consumer would prefer to travel with the low cost budget airline company Air Asia due to the low prices offered. In contrast, a person who prefers services over price would prefer to stay in a higher end hotels such as the Hilton hotel. However, too many choices of companies may also confuse consumers because they do not know which company has the best deal and is most suitable for them. Therefore, building consumer online engagement is essential. Engaged consumers usually do not feel the dilemma in making decisions because they will minimize their alternatives and reduce confusion in choosing the most suitable services (Kasper, Bloemer, & Driessen, 2010). Furthermore, fully engaged consumers also tend to change less and inculcate a strong connection with the services company (Singh, Kumar, & Singh, 2010).