Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
suits with every business in e-commerce (Buhalis &
Law, 2008).
Simultaneously, the advancements of genera-
tion Y in obtaining information on the Internet are
giving challenges and opportunities to marketers.
Hence, the new effective marketing channel should
be explored in order to meet the expectations from
the consumer particularly generation Y as infor-
mation seekers. Thus, it is important to discover
on awareness of each element in SoLoMo from
both marketers and consumers perspectives. Since
SoLoMo is changing the generation Y purchasing
behavior, it is important to measure online trust
as moderator. The perceived usefulness, enjoy-
ment and ease of use of SoLoMo will indicate
the acceptance in having decision making for both
parties.
3.2
Online trust
As regards to the development of tourism indus-
try, Fam, Foscht and Collins (2004) identified
that online trust is becoming the determinant
factor in e-commerce marketing growth. This is
because trust will be a measurement tool of pur-
chase intention (Sichtmann, 2007). As a result, the
greater uncertainty of trust by consumers will lead
to a decline on intention of buying decision and
tarnishing the relationship between both parties.
Ninety-two percent of consumers rely and are con-
cerned on recommendations by their peers or fam-
ily. This will affect the uncertainty before deciding
on buying decision. McCole (2002) clarified that
trust becomes a basis word in every industry. How-
ever, hospitality industry must concern more on
trust due to its nature as providing services that
are categorized as intangible products. Further-
more, the fluctuating demands and inseparability
of production and consumption will rely on trust
because it is a priority factor for retaining the rela-
tionship with consumers.
There is a study by Corritore, Kracher and
Wiedenbeck (2003), about online trusts that
focuses on people towards informational websites.
According to the researcher, online trust consists
of several elements which are credibility, ease of
use and risk. Each of these elements significantly
affects the consumers' attitude towards the brands.
All those elements are derived from external fac-
tors as an agent that enables the shifting of per-
son's actions.
3 LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1
SoLoMo
The vast attention has been received regard-
ing SoLoMo terms for many years. Recently, the
buzzword that is derived from SoLoMo has been
accepted in the marketing world. SoLoMo was
invented by the famous American venture capital
investor, John and the French Blogger and entre-
preneur, Loïc Le Meur. They have contributed the
popularity towards the term of SoLoMo in the
LeWeb 11 conference. Revolution of the SoLoMo
era is resulted from the rapid growth of smart-
phones and tablet users. Sequentially, the consum-
ers demand for high pace of information searching
via mobile devices in order to meet their life desires
on the go.
The definition of SoLoMo merges from Social as
So, Location as Lo and Mobile as Mo (Phil, 2012).
Social can be referred to as social media network-
ing that acts as a medium to connect with others
whereby local based application refer to identifica-
tion of place or location. Mobile devices can be
referred to the devices that enable sharing, deliv-
ering information and engaging with others. The
application of the SoLoMo terms can be explained
whereby individuals are using the social media sites
along with a location based application that inter-
acts and transacts through mobile devices. How-
ever, there are some uncertainties on acceptance of
SoLoMo for people who are unfamiliar with the
term, thus tend to ignore it. Many people, espe-
cially marketers identified that SoLoMo is nothing
more than a transient fad. In addition, this sweep-
ing trend is upsetting the entire industry in terms
of distribution channels for conveying product and
services, thus engaging the customers' via media
marketing.
3.3
Gen Y's intention to visit boutique hotel
Generation Y can be defined as people that are
born between 1977 and 1994 which are currently
aged 19-34 (Herbig, Koehler & Day, 1993). Gener-
ation Y were born after generation X and grows up
with technology advancements. Their characteris-
tics are knowledgeable, technology-savvy, social-
savvy and exposed to new experiences. Therefore,
generation Y is digital natives that are always con-
nected with technology and actively seek infor-
mation. The advancements of the Internet have
empowered them as information finders. Having
a greater disposable income than previous genera-
tions, generation Y is more concerned on branding
and marketing. They take reviews from online web-
sites or considering their peer and family's review
about branding as earnestly. Generation Y also uti-
lizes the Internet to maximize to obtain informa-
tion and build trust through reviews or comments
in internet as reliable source before making any
intention to purchase or visit the product.
Intention to visit can be described as an act
for choices decisions or behavior (Mohsin, 2005).
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