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Efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction of responsive mobile tourism websites: a mobile usability study

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Abstract

Considering the high penetration of internet-enabled smartphones, it is not surprising that DMOs feel the need to adapt their websites and services for mobile devices, although these adaptations are very cost intensive. Responsive web design (RWD) offers an efficient and practicable solution to address the plethora of different mobile devices with countless varying characteristics (scree-size, input, size, etc.). Moreover, the lack of evidence about the effects of websites employing RWD on mobile usability, as well as tourism information search behavior, raises questions both to practitioners and researchers. With this paper we investigate the efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction when searching for and encountering tourism information on a smartphone on a responsive mobile tourism website compared to a mobile adaptive website. Through an experiment, 20 participants interacted with two representative websites and fulfilled specific information retrieval tasks. Effects between both websites could be derived, although differences were not consistently significant, and well-applied heuristics failed to measure user behavior systematically. Overall the responsively designed website performed better but failed to distinguish itself in terms of satisfaction and perceived usability.

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Notes

  1. International Telecommunication Union, February 2013, http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2013-e.pdf.

  2. Statistik Austria, 2013—3.5 million people go online shopping, http://www.statistik.at/web_en/dynamic/statistics/information_society/ict_usage_in_households/073632.

  3. Tirol Werbung is a destination marketing organization, responsible for brand building and awareness of the country of Tyrol. The website offers all important destination-related information like events, local weather, tours for biking, hiking, and skiing, and a booking functionality within the Tyrolean region.

  4. Ötztal Tourismus is responsible for marketing the valley of Ötztal in Tyrol, including its areas of Sölden and Obergurgl/Hochgurgl. The website offers all important destination-related information like events, local weather, tours for biking, hiking, and skiing, and a booking functionality.

  5. Statistik Austria, 2013—3.5 million people go online shopping, http://www.statistik.at/web_en/dynamic/statistics/information_society/ict_usage_in_households/073632.

  6. Logic, H. & LLC. Net Promoter Benchmarking—Net Promoter Community. Retrieved from http://www.netpromoter.com/why-net-promoter/compare/.

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  1. Department Management, Communication and IT (MCiT), Management Center Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Aleksander Groth & Daniel Haslwanter

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  1. Aleksander Groth
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Groth, A., Haslwanter, D. Efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction of responsive mobile tourism websites: a mobile usability study. Inf Technol Tourism 16, 201–228 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-015-0041-0

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