Designing for reintermediation in the brick-and-mortar world: Towards the travel agency of the future
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GENERAL RESEARCH
Designing for reintermediation in the brick-and-mortar world: Towards the travel agency of the future Jasminko Novak & Gerhard Schwabe
Received: 31 August 2008 / Accepted: 9 December 2008 / Published online: 6 February 2009 # Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen 2009
Abstract The Internet and electronic marketplaces have profoundly transformed the travel services industry and challenged the traditional value proposition of travel agencies: What is the reason for their existence if information is abundantly available and transactions can be flexibly conducted in direct buyer-seller interactions on the Internet? Traditional travel agencies are struggling to develop new value propositions which differentiate them against the Internet competition, largely based on expanding their reach through online subsidiaries. We present a reintermediation approach based on a novel way of ITenabled travel advisory which integrates the advantages of interactive technologies and Internet channels with the advantages of direct customer interaction in the physical agency setting. In particular, we propose a reintermediation framework based on the integration of kernel theories from information seeking behavior, interactive value creation, relationship marketing and the design of hedonic information systems. We argue that physically collocated travel advisory services can create a significant added value, if
Responsible editor: Rolf T. Wigand This is a fundamentally revised and significantly extended version of our paper presented at the 21st Bled eConference on eCollaboration (Schwabe, Novak and Aggeler, 2008). The authors appear in alphabetical order. Both have equally contributed to this paper. J. Novak (*) : G. Schwabe Department of Informatics, Information Management Research Group, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestr 14, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] G. Schwabe e-mail: [email protected]
they succeed in uncovering customers’ hidden needs, heightening trust and relationship building in the advisory process and creating a better user experience. Following the design science methodology we validate the proposed framework through the design, implementation and evaluation of a proof-of-concept prototype in a field experiment in a real-world travel agency. Keywords Reintermediation . Design-science . Travel advisory . e-Tourism . CSCW . Large display . Advisory support . User experience . Value co-creation JEL Classification L83
Introduction The widespread use of the Internet and electronic marketplaces together with increased competition and changing customer needs have fundamentally transformed the travel services industry. While tourism has been a booming industry and the best selling category on the Internet (Anckar, 2003), traditional tourist agencies are increasingly struggling to survive and avoid the threat of disintermediation: the bypassing of their role as travel service intermediary (Dilts and Prough, 2002). New competitors have undermined their traditional
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