Alignable or Non-alignable Attributes in Chinese Online Vacation Service

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

With the economic growth, Chinese online vacation market is rapidly developing and consumers’ choice preference is undergoing huge change. The purpose of this study is to understand the consumption behaviors of Chinese online vacation consumers and to explore the importance differences of alignable and non-alignable attributes between different consumer segmentations.
By collecting data on Chinese consumers who have purchased online vacation services or have the willingness to purchase in the near future and using the choice-based conjoint analysis, we can present the following research results. Firstly, we examined the structural alignment theory that consumers focus more on alignable attribute than non-alignable attribute when choosing experience service. The results in present study in the context of Chinese online vacation market are consistent with the theory. Secondly, it shows purchasing experience could differentiate the preference of consumers which makes a significant difference between inexperienced consumers and experienced consumers. Compared to experienced consumers, inexperienced consumers regard a higher value on non-alignable attribute. However, experienced consumers regard a higher value on alignable attribute than inexperienced consumers do. Thirdly, the results also suggest there is a significant difference between different generations in Chinese online vacation market. Post-80s more focus on non-alignable attribute than post-90s do, however, post-90s view alignable attribute more important than post-80s do.
Although this study examined market strategy for online vacation services based on service attribute types, it has several limitations needed to be discussed. Firstly, the online vacation market could be divided into jaunt tour, inbound tour and outbound tour. In this study, it was viewed as a whole. In the future, it is necessary to explore the preference differences of consumers according to different sectors of the online vacation market. Secondly, this study explored the choice preference of different consumer segmentations based on purchasing experience and generation. Future research should extend the study to other categories (gender, region, income, etc.) to analyze the differences of preference during their decision-making process.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I. Introduction 1
• 1. Travel Agency 1
• 2. Online Travel Market 2
• 3. Chinese online Travel Market 3
• 4. Chinese online Vacation Market 8
• 5. Research Question 14
• II. Literature Review & Hypotheses 15
• 1. Structural Alignment Theory 15
• 2. Conjoint Analysis 17
• 3. Hypotheses 20
• III. Research Methodology 26
• 1. Pretest 1 27
• 2. Pretest 2 29
• 3. Main study 32
• A) Profile for Conjoint Analysis 32
• B) Participants 33
• C) Statistical Methodology 34
• IV. Results 37
• 1. Manipulation check 37
• 2. Testing hypothesis 1 39
• 3. Testing hypothesis 2 42
• 4. Testing hypothesis 3 44
• V. General Discussion and Conclusions 48
• 1. General discussion 48
• 2. Implications 49
• 3. Limitations and future research 51
• References 53
• Appendixes 61
• 논문요약 67