Customer Participation in Web 2.0 for New Service Development - A Case of Travel Agent

• Main Authors: Hsin-I Fang, 方心怡
• Other Authors: Fang-MeiTseng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/41913725885455376857

碩士 === 元智大學 === 經營管理碩士班(國際企業學程) === 98 === Under the keen competition in Web 1.0 age, Taiwan travel agents use IT techniques well that not only increases the efficiency of information flow but creates a 24 hours new business model without limited by the time or place restrictions. However, to design tourism products heavily based on the customers’ needs and opinions is still a tough job because of rigidities of the itinerary and transportation. While Web 2.0 age coming and its open platform and software advancing, travel agents have to consider how to utilize Web 2.0 application to their new tourism product design in order to offer better value to their customers and catch the undeveloped markets. This research takes the travel agents that have already possessed Web 1.0 technique as our research subjects. Meanwhile, we use in-depth interview, one sample t test, structural modeling method (SEM) that includes qualitative and quantitative methodology so as to answer these four research questions: What is the new service development process of travel agents? While developing the new services, how important is each evaluation gate? How important is each evaluation audit at each evaluation gate? What is the best model of customers’ participation in the new service development process? After analyzing in-depth interview results, this research synthesizes three new service development models with consumer involvement, and the design flows can be separated into initial design stage, itinerary design stage and launch stage. In terms of the hypotheses results that are tested by SEM, we find only consumers participation in initial design stage and launch stage will have positive influence the tour planners’ intention behavioral to using Web 2.0 that making them involve in the design process. Concerning with t test results, we’d know that at idea screening, the tour planners have to estimate the evaluation audits as market attractiveness, market potential, and uniqueness; at business analysis, they need to pay attention to customer acceptance, market attractiveness, market potential, product price, quality, competitive advantage and marketing plan; at short term/long term post launch evaluation, the designers both must assess the customer acceptance, customer satisfaction, market attractiveness, sales in units, quality and competitive advantage. Besides, among these evaluation gates, the most important one is the long term post-launch evaluation. In the end, this research also attempts to offer tour planners a best model of customers’ participation in their new service development process.