Millennials and their online consumer experience in the travel industry

As mentioned above, the objectives of this article vary by understanding the common attributes of millennial travellers, factors affecting their consumer experience, and how it influences their buying behaviour during pre-tour planning. The generational cohort is characterised by the years of birth, which can last 20–25 years, or if it takes one birth group to be born, age, and have children of their own. These cohorts have comparable views, attitudes, beliefs, and values resulting from being born at the same time and going through similar experiences with macroeconomic, political, and social events that occurred throughout their coming-of-age years.

Millennials or Gen Y were born between 1980s and 2000's are the children of Baby Boomers and early X-ers who "grew up in high-tech, neo-optimistic times". Consumer buying behaviour is influenced by social, cultural, and personal factors.   Millennials growing up in western countries were raised by communicative and participation-oriented parents, who has had a significant impact on their lives and personalities. They are confident, especially about their future; they are optimistic about their chances of finding a decent career after graduation and they believe they are prepared to face challenges. The study further stated that they are currently Alpha Kids' parents, and their children have easy access to evolving technology. Gen Y is the link between Generation X and Generation Z, having experienced both the natures of these two cohorts. These generations have a higher proportion of entrepreneurs. They spend more money on shopping and have reshaped marketing by being unresponsive to traditional marketing, focusing on innovation, conducting reviews, and advertising.

 

Previous studies pointed out millennials as a niche market are very appealing because, in addition to their desire and evident attraction to spending, they identify consumer trends; they are a generational cohort that influences both their domestic purchases and the purchases of their peers. It is evident that millennials are maturing, they are gradually integrating themselves into the workforce environment. since they are becoming economically productive, this allows them to influence decisions about their income distribution. They are becoming the most significant hotel consumer category since they value experiences. Their mobile devices are an integral part of their permanent connectivity, facilitating price comparison and, consequently, purchase completion. Shopping is a pleasurable activity; they look for visually appealing sites, connect well with their interests, and provide a comprehensive shopping experience. Millennials spend their money more quickly than previous generations did because their life philosophy is based on living in the moment and balancing work and personal life. As a result, they are frequent travellers and enjoy collective learning and constantly giving their opinions to influence their peers. They also enjoy using their knowledge to be considered an expert.

 

Information technology constantly evolves and affects how Generation Y access and use travel-related information. First, the internet now has massive data that serves as an "external memory" for many. As a result, millennials have grown increasingly reliant on it for daily living. Social media's meteoric rise had altered the nature of online communication. Due to these, technologies such as search engines have risen to prominence as a significant factor influencing visitors' access to tourism products—technology adaption model factors. Humans are viewed as competitive achievers who want success and power while seeking self-esteem and admiration from others through value shopping. This article indicates that customers experience a sense of accomplishment when they find a deal online. A key benefit of internet purchasing for customers is the ability to compare prices. One of the reasons people purchase online is the enjoyment associated with bargain shopping. A positive online experience indicates that a person had good feelings, such as enjoyment and pleasure while utilising the online service (Hedonic value). Positive emotional experiences expand people's attention, cognitive and behavioural repertoires. Pleasant engagement with a website may lead to positive anticipation of future results, influencing the desire to prolong the experience and connect with the tourism website. Previous research has found that happy customers have good, long-lasting characteristics and feelings.

 

However online shopping entails risk, as the buyer's decision has unforeseeable repercussions, some of which may be unpleasant. Due to customers' and sellers' spatial and temporal separation, online purchasing risk is more evident than in traditional brick-and-mortar shopping. According to prior research, perceived risk is a significant predictor of both first and recurrent purchase intention. Perceived risk is a multifaceted concept. This article is primarily concerned with perceived risk, encompassing financial loss and privacy. The author feels these are the risks associated with the service industry, such as travel, over product performance, and product delivery risks, which are more suitable for tangible goods. Financial risk is the possibility of incurring a financial loss due to hidden costs, such as payment terms, cancellation refund policies, etc.

 

Factors affecting the Millennials consumer experiences

 

Website look and the utilitarian

The assessment of a website is contingent upon how customers perceive and respond to cues that may indicate consumers' trustworthiness. A vibrant, appealing, and well-structured website demonstrates that the seller is proactive in developing and maintaining the site and engaging in consumer interaction. When Millennials search online, they expect a wide range of information. The more relevant the content is to customers, the more they will engage in in-depth information search and be profoundly captivated and involved. The informativeness of a website may assist users in becoming more interested in the site and acquiring an engaging experience by streamlining the process of searching for and analysing product-related information. If individuals frequently encounter material unavailable or limited in breadth, their experience may suffer. This will result in insufficient immersion and pleasure and a lack of control over online searches or purchases.

 

Promotion and Best Deals

Traditional media do not impact Gen Y consumers; they are more dynamic and are more creative. Additionally, since millennials are value seekers, this generation is less devoted to a particular product or brand than earlier generations. They frequently compare the price online and choose the best or add value for their purchase. Thus, providing a positive consumer experience in the digital platform and offering special discounts and early bird offers will be the motivational factors that enable them to purchase or re-purchase the products and services.

 

Perceived ease of use

On another study on 'buying behaviour of airfare' confirmed, millennial consumers have a favourable attitude toward the usage of online ticket services when they believe they will receive additional benefits such as a faster ticket search, less effort, and cost savings because of using online services to purchase airline tickets.

 

Perceived risk & trust towards e-WOM

Purchasing from online shops is dyadic, meaning that two people are engaged in the transaction: the customer and the vendor. However, when analysing online purchasing behaviour in the travel industry, three parties must be considered: the buyer (millennial consumer), the supplier or seller (Eg. Hotels), and the middleman running the system (i.e., OTA's or traditional travel agents).

In this scenario, customer purchasing behaviour is influenced by the selling party's risk and trust views, but it is also susceptible to perceptions of risk and trust associated with the intermediate. The author also validates this point and believes this is a critical factor, especially during the pandemic as many reliable travel agents went on bankrupt. This indicates that before making an online transaction, customers rely on the online views to evaluate the trustworthiness and perceived risks connected with the purchase.

In contrast to 'traditional' consumer-seller relationships, customers in a mediated environment depend not only on the seller's perceptions when purchasing but also on the intermediary's qualities. This has been recognised as an institutional trust from the party trust. The trustworthiness of the intermediary running the system is referred to as institutional trust. It represents security impressions due to the presence of guarantees, rules, or other structures imposed by these organisations. The sense of confidence in the transaction's counterpart is addressed by party trust. When it comes to purchasing online, the party offering the items is the immediate object of party trust. The connections between institutional trust, party trust, and purchasing behaviour in emerging markets have garnered considerable attention and are beginning to be experimentally investigated.

 

e-WOM

Marketing activities that assist consumers in navigating the evaluation process and promote positive word of mouth about the brands they pick might be just as critical as raising awareness and generating sales. E-loyalty refers to a customer's commitment to continuously re-purchase a service or product online over time and maintain a favourable impression toward the company. Gen Y or Millennial has a greater level of e-loyalty. e-loyalty encourages positive e-WOM this has been defined as "any positive or negative statement made about a product or services by the consumers, which is made available to a large number of people and institutions via the internet." Online reviews (ORs) in the travel business can be regarded as e-WOM and consist of comments made by travellers about the tourism products, services, and brands they encounter. Providing excellent consumer experience in the integrated marketing channels will allow travellers to write positive ORs and describe their level of satisfaction to assist other travellers and acquire new consumers or re-purchase.

From the overall results, the study found that hedonic and utilitarian attributes in the online platform may increase consumers' intentions to purchase and participate. However, these factors may get affected over a period due to ageing populations' consumer behaviour. As per Statista (2021), there were around 1.8 billion millennials in the world, becoming the first largest age demographic group overall, which means that no marketer can afford to ignore millennial buying power and should explore methods to corner and tap into this potentially highly profitable consumer market.

 

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