ENTER2019

1. The good, the bad, and the ugly:
Tourist perceptions on interactions with
personalised content
Katerina Volcheka, Rob Law a, Dimitrios Buhalisb, Haiyan Song a
aSchool of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
bDepartment of Tourism and Hospitality, Bournemouth University, UK

2. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 2
Personalisation
Personalisation:
the process of automatic adaptation of the
service and interactional environment to
the individual customer needs, wants,
desired, problems and restrictions within
the exact context situation
Data
Service
adaptation
Individually-
designed service
and interaction
Personalised
Service
Costs
Needs/ Interests
Tourist Personalised
Information Service

3. Content Personalisation
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Relevance of
options
Relevance of
Selection
Content personalisation:
the process of adaptation of the available information
through content selection and content presentation
methods
Costs
Research Gap:
no specific explanation of the precise mechanism how personalised
content affects tourist reasoning and subsequent perceptions
Needs
Decreased
Information
Overload
Better Satisfies
Need
Tourists Personalised Website
Satisfaction
Frustration

4. Personalisation
within the Process of Technology Acceptance
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Usefulness
Ease of Use
Intention
to use
Use
Relevance of
Information
Relevance of
Selection
Technology Acceptance Model
Davis (1986)

5. Personalisation
within the Process of Motivation
Self-Determination Theory Ryan, Deci (2000, 2016, 2008)
Boosts
self-efficacy
Usefulness, pleasure, interest,
volition, energy, gratification
Thwarts
self-efficacyEffect on
Competence
Boosts
self-regulation
Dissatisfaction, tension, guilt,
shame, resistance, pressure
Usefulness, pleasure, interest,
volition, energy, gratification
Thwarts
self-regulation
Effect on
Autonomy
Dissatisfaction, pressure,
insecurity, resistance, tension
Engagement
Rejection
Personalised Content Effect on Intrinsic Motivations Performance Expectancy
Attitudes Towards
Use
Relevance of
Information
Relevance of
Selection

6. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 6
Methodology
Purposive sampling
• 17 qualitative in-depth semi-
structured interviews (30 to 65
minutes each; 12 hours, 55 minutes
of records in total)
6 Tourists
7 Industry
Practitioners
4
Academics
Data collection:
Data Analysis:
Abductive reasoning
• Coding:
• Descriptive codes
(intercoder reliability
KALPHA = 0.883)
• Qualitative content
analysis:
• thematic analysis
(peer-reviewed)
Research Paradigm:
Pragmatism

7. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 7
Relevance of
Information
Boosts competence:
sense of self-efficacy + empowerment
Thwarts autonomy:
lack of self-regulation and control
• Somehow useful
• Easy to use
May Use
Relevant personalised content “gives the answer to the tourist question, which is complete
and exhaustive, and presented in a way that is understandable and comprehensible for this
tourist.”
Relevance of Personalised Content
“How do I know that they [OTAs] choose these hotels for me?
Maybe the companies just give them [OTAs] money to make this look like a ‘top-choice’ hotel.”
Personalised
Content
Effect on Intrinsic Motivations
Performance
Expectancy
Attitudes
Towards Use

8. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 8
Not accurate
Personalisation Autonomy:
lack of self-regulation and control
• Not useful
• Not easy to use
Not willing
to use
Competence:
ineffectiveness of IS + annoyance
Personalised
Content
Effect on Intrinsic Motivations
Performance
Expectancy
Attitudes
Towards Use
Relevant personalised content “gives the answer to the tourist question, which is complete
and exhaustive, and presented in a way that is understandable and comprehensible for this
tourist.”
Relevance of Personalised Content

9. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 9
Relevance of Selection
Short List of
Options Thwarts autonomy:
no choice and lost control
• Useful
• Not easy to use
May Use
Boosts competence:
increased self-efficacy
Relevant scope of personalised information: “not too much, but enough to choose from.”
Amotivation:
“I don’t trust the app if it only offers me three options, even if these options look good for
me. I just simply don’t think that a website with limited amount of options is professional!”
“I don’t feel that it is a real information. I feel that it is somehow artificially created… I would
not like to use such an app.”
Personalised
Content
Effect on Intrinsic Motivations
Performance
Expectancy
Attitudes
Towards Use

10. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 10
Relevance of Selection
Extensive List
of Options
Thwarts competence:
overchallenge
Boosts autonomy:
presence of choice
• Not useful
• Not easy to use
No Intention
to Use
Relevant scope of personalised information: “not too much, but enough to choose from.”
‘I cannot decide’
‘I need to spend much time to find a good option’
Personalised
Content
Effect on Intrinsic Motivations
Performance
Expectancy
Attitudes
Towards Use

11. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 11
Relevance of Selection
Selection of
Options
Competence:
self-efficacy + relevant challenge
Autonomy:
self-regulation + presence of choice
• Useful
• Easy to use
Willing to
Use
Relevant scope of personalised information: “not too much, but enough to choose from.”
“I will only read first 1-2 pages as maximum,… but if I don’t see that this
website has more options, I will also search via other websites to compare.”
Personalised
Content
Effect on Intrinsic Motivations
Performance
Expectancy
Attitudes
Towards Use

12. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 12
Usefulness
Easiness of Use
Relevance of
Information
Relevance of
Selection
Autonomy
Competence
MARKETERS:
Provide communication with
customer support and reviews
= Boost relatedness
UX DESIGNERS:
Increase transparency of
personalisation process and
perceived control
= Nurture competence and autonomy
No Intention
to Use
Managing Competence and Autonomy

13. 3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 13
Theoretical Contribution
• Expands the understanding of tourist interactions with personalised content:
• illustrates that personalisation does not guarantee positive tourist
experience with the service and can create ambivalent effects between
content quality and resulting behavioural intensions
• Provides suggestions for the industry to improve personalisation strategy:
• suggests that comprehensive approach that would allow to leverage the
benefits and control the side effect of personalisation is required to
minimise the risks of this strategy
• Calls for further exploration of the effects of information system components
on user experience

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• Scope of Interactions:
• Tourists’ interactions with only 2 elements of the interface are considred
• Sampling strategy:
• acquired the opinion of the experts from different regions but narrowed
the explanation of tourist experience to Hong Kong residents, who were
either natives or moved there from mainland China
• Sample Size:
• Larger sample is required to ensure validity and reliability
Limitations

15. Thank You!
Contact: Katerina.volchek@connect.polyu.hk
3 May 2019 ENTER2019 – Research Track Page 15