Effect of Virtual Traveling Experience, Reviews, and Certification Logos on Consumer

Decision Making of Millennials while Purchasing Bus and Airline Tickets

Title Details:

To start with, I want to explain the Virtual Traveling Experience.

Today several retail giants provide virtual store layout experiences on their websites/ apps. In
that sense, a virtual traveling experience can be an attribute that will give a traveler an
understanding by videos/360o photos of how their seat will look like, the leg space, amenities
(charging, water bottle, etc.), lounge area amenities, rest stop amenities, etc. can be visualized
by traveler before deciding to purchase a specific airline ticket or bus ticket.

Along with these visual experiences on apps/websites, how reviews might help and brand-
specific certification logos (For Example, Make My Trip is MMT Certified) will influence
the buying behavior amongst millennials.

Approach:

Sample will be minimum 150 people withing the age group of 18 to 40 years.

Variables:

In this study we have:

3 independent variables

 Virtual Traveling Experience Option

 Customer Reviews
 Website Certification / Certification Logos

1 Dependent variable

 Buying Decision
Scale for Variables:

Independent Variables:

 Virtual Traveling Experience Option:

a. How 360o images/videos of airplane/bus/seat will affect a user buying
decision.
b. How will a virtual leg space experience before ticket booking affect a user's
buying decision?
c. How will virtual airport lounge/rest stop experience before ticket booking
affect a user’s buying decision?
 Customer Reviews:
a. How video testimonials of customer for reviews affect buying decision of
user?
b. How written testimonials of customer for reviews affect buying decision of
user?
 Website Certification / Certification Logos:
a. How a certified logo on specific airlines/bus affects the buying decision of
user?
b. Will certification/logo increase the trust among customer towards a specific
airline/travel agent company.

Dependent Variable:

 Buying Decision:
a. Presence of Virtual traveling experience such as 360o images, videos of
airplane/ bus seat will motivate a user to buy a specific airline/ bus ticket.
b. Absence of Virtual traveling experience such as 360o images, videos of
airplane/ bus seat will de-motivate a user to buy a specific airline/ bus ticket.
c. Presence or Absence of Virtual traveling experience such as 360o images,
videos of airplane/ bus seat will have no effect on a user buying decision to
buy a specific airline/ bus ticket.

References:

1. Beverley A. Sparks, Helen E. Perkins, Ralf Buckley, Online travel reviews as

persuasive communication: The effects of content type, source, and certification logos
 on consumer behavior, Tourism Management, Volume 39, 2013, Pages 1-9, ISSN
0261-5177(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2013.03.007.https://www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/pii/S0261517713000861)
2. Kuo-Chien Chang (2014) Examining the Effect of Tour Guide Performance, Tourist
Trust, Tourist Satisfaction, and Flow Experience on Tourists' Shopping Behavior, Asia
Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 19:2, 219-247, DOI:
10.1080/10941665.2012.739189 https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2012.739189
3. Mohan, G., Sivakumaran, B. and Sharma, P. (2013), "Impact of store environment on
impulse buying behavior", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47 No. 10, pp. 1711-
1732. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-03-2011-0110
4. http://hdl.handle.net/10788/1700
5. Mocanu, Rareș. "Chasing experience. how augmented reality reshaped the consumer
behaviour and brand interaction." Opportunities and Risks in the Contemporary
Business Environment (2012): 317.