Technology Enabled Information Services Use in Tourism : An Ethnographic Study of Chinese Backpackers
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the previously unexplored theoretical relationship between technology enabled information services (TEIS) and the value created by the use of such services. This paper presents a mixed virtual and multi-sited ethnography to provide a thick description of Chinese backpackers (CBs) use of TEIS. Participant observations and interviews of CBs in three different journeys within Europe were undertaken. Our findings illustrate that additional usage values occur when TEIS are used in a tourism context. Social influences and technical infrastructure play a stronger role than previous research presented. The study contributes to the literature by 1) providi…
Consumer Information Services in Intercultural Tourism : An Ethnographic Study of Chinese Outbound Backpackers
This paper reports the findings of an ethnographic study of Chinese outbound backpackers’ use and adoption of consumer information services (CIS) in an intercultural tourism setting. We apply McKenna et al.’s research model of consumers’ adoption of information services as the analytical lens for the interpretive qualitative study. The data gathering was conducted in four different countries. The findings of the study confirm linkages between four information service types and the use and adoption of CIS. The study also found that service types are more diversely linked than the earlier studies have predicted and therefore we propose a revised research model, which can be used for studying …