Development of tourist information search behavior model: The case of Thailand

Information search is an important part in most consumers´ buying decisions. For Thailand whose main revenues rely partly on tourism industry, one of a top industries which is significantly affected by an emergence of the Internet. Understanding tourists´ information search behavior could provide useful information for both government and tourism-related businesses to plan their marketing communication and distribution strategies. The main contribution of this study is to explore and refine determinants of external information search behavior in the tourism context, the context which has not been fully explored in the literatures, and the features that could be used to characterize tourists´ external information search behavior. This study utilized a so-called “Three-pronged approach”, an approach to cross validate among the result from literature review, expert interviews, and an exploratory field study in order to confirm and propose a reliable conceptual framework. Findings from the three-pronged approach suggested 11 components as determinants of external information search behavior and 4 features that could be used to define tourists´ external information search behavior itself. Six new variables which did not exist in the literatures as determinants of external information search behavior were introduced with satisfactory validity and reliability levels.