It is estimated that 5% of paid Adwords are bought by Priceline. Group & Expedia (O'Neill 2015). ⢠Success due to comfort, accessibility and a great user.
Do online travel agencies deceive customers? Insights from customers & industry experts Research by Sandra Metz, Emina Velic, Yen Nguyen, Christian Furthner
www.tourism-student-conference.com
The OTA market •
Online hotel sales accounted for 26% of total hotel sales in 2013 (Euromonitor International 2014)
•
Booking & Expedia account for almost 80% of bookings via OTAs (Hotrec 2016)
•
OTA-Commissions are in general 20-25%
•
It is estimated that 5% of paid Adwords are bought by Priceline Group & Expedia (O‘Neill 2015)
•
Success due to comfort, accessibility and a great user experience (Buhalis, 1998). ISCONTOUR 2017
OTA market share in Austria 2015 European hotel distribution study
Schegg 2016, ÖHV ISCONTOUR 2017
The OTA market
6.6b USD revenue in 2015
6.3b USD revenue in 2015 ISCONTOUR 2017
Research Design • Research Question:
Which factors (like time, urgency, location, distribution channel, used device or consumer profile) influence search rankings in terms of online prices?
• Hypotheses:
H1: H2:
Customers feel deceived by OTAs. Prices ranked first in search history are tailored to customer characteristics.
ISCONTOUR 2017
Research Design Hypotheses: H1:
Customers feel deceived by OTAs.
H2:
Prices ranked first in search history are tailored to customer characteristics.
ISCONTOUR 2017
2. Methodology
1. 2.
• • • •
Qualitative Research Expert Interviews function list Awareness and influence
• Quantitative Research • Customer survey • Ethical or not?
ISCONTOUR 2017
US-customers feel deceived! Online panel study in July 2015, GFK custom research & American Hotel & Lodging Association Perception of decisive OTA-Practises, in % representative for US population, multiple selections (n=1017)
Got a room that was different than expected Were charged unexpected or hidden fees
100
75
Did not get their reward points Were charged an extra booking fee
50
Could not get a refund for a cancellation Had reservation lost or cancelled
32 25
Had their identity or private info stolen 0
ISCONTOUR 2017
17
15
14
14
9
3
Our convenience sample also feels deceived! CAWI Interviews in December 2016
Perception of decisive OTA-Practises, in % Convencience sample, multiple selections (n=144) 100
Got a room different than booked Had been charged an unexpected or hidden fee
75
Had problems getting reward points Had problems getting a refund for a cancellation Had reservation lost or cancelled
50
25
Had personal data stolen
21
26 5
0
ISCONTOUR 2017
6
7
4
Unexpected or hidden fees To what did these extra fees relate? (n=74, multiple selection)
ISCONTOUR 2017
Decisive Practises 50
32 17
25
15
14
14
Room different expected/booked
9
3
Unexpected Fees Reward points problems
0
Extra booking fee Problems Refund for a cancellation 50
Reservation lost or canceled 25
21
26
Identity or private data stolen 5
6
7
4
0
ISCONTOUR 2017
Research Design Hypotheses: H1:
Customers feel deceived by OTAs.
H2:
Prices ranked first in search history are tailored to customer characteristics.
ISCONTOUR 2017
Expert interviews Company
Interviewee
1. Channel Manager, Berlin
Representative Sales
2. OTA: booking.com
Account Manager Austria
3. Hotelsoftware Provider, Tirol
Regional Sales Manager
4. Hotelsoftware Provider, Tirol
Representative Sales & Support
5. Channel Manager, Vienna Representative Sales Team 6. Hotel Consultancy & Distributor Channel Consultant Manager, Burgenland 7. Channel Manager, Tirol Key Account & Quality Management 8. Hotel Consultancy, Revenue Management, Salzburg
Head of Business development
ISCONTOUR 2017
Evaluation of the Expert interviews Function list 1.
Customer Profile
2.
Cookies – Online Behaviour
3.
Content provided by the hotel
4.
Use of a channel manager
5.
Use of a Yield-/Revenue Management
6.
Availability
7.
Commission level
8.
Customer Reviews
ISCONTOUR 2017
Research Design Hypotheses: H1:
Customers feel deceived by OTAs.
H2:
Prices ranked first in search history are tailored to customer characteristics.
ISCONTOUR 2017
Thank you very much for your attention!
Any questions?
www.tourism-student-conference.com
