Understanding accommodation search query formulation: The first step in putting `heads in beds'

Abstract

The internet affords enormous amounts of destination and accommodation information. A key tool relied upon to navigate the medium is the search engine. As such, accommodation marketers, primary target beneficiaries of this research, seek greater understanding of how search engine travel inquiries are conducted. Such knowledge would better inform online marketing campaigns and allow for more effective use of limited marketing dollars. This study analyzed 701 Excite.com accommodation search queries in order to identify such trends. The results suggest that travelers most often search for their accommodations simultaneously with other aspects of their travel, such as destinations, attractions, transportation and dining; and that most commence their search by seeking specific hotels in conjunction with their destination city. A sequential analysis also revealed the prevalence of switching behavior, with searches often reflecting swings between broad and focused research tacks. Marketing implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

search engine search engine marketing travel search query formulation accommodation search

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Milligan, M. (2006) `TIA, Forrester Release Internet-booking Study', Travel Weekly, 24 April: 8.

Donoghue, G. (2006) `A Search for Clues on Engine Strategy', Travel Trade Gazette, 14 April: 15.

Wikipedia ( 2006) `Search Engine Marketing', URL: http://en.wikipedia.org

Google (2006) ` Google AdWords', URL: http://adwords.google.com

Beckwith, K. (2003) `Googled: The Quest for Visibility on the Internet ', Learned Publishing 16(4): 277-83.

Pan, B. and Fesenmaier, D.R. (2006) `Online Information Search: Vacation Planning Process', Annals of Tourism Research 33(3): 809-32.

Bettman, J.R. (1979) Information Processing Theory of Consumer Choice. Boston: Addison-Wesley ; Engel, J.F. , Blackwell , R.D. and Miniard, P.W. (1990) Consumer Behavior. Orlando, FL: The Dryden Press.

Pan, B. and Fesenmaier, D.R. (2000) `A Typology of Tourism-related Web Sites: Its Theoretical Background and Implications', Information Technology and Tourism 3(3/4): 155-76.

Jansen, B.J. and Resnick, M. (2005) `Examining Searcher Perceptions of and Interactions with Sponsored Results', Paper Presented at the Workshop on Sponsored Search Auctions at ACM Conference on Electronic Commerce , 5-8June, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

10.

Pass, G. , Chowdhury, A. and Torgeson, C. (2006) `A Picture of Search', Proceedings of INFOSCALE' 06: The 1st International Conference on Scalable Information Systems. New York: ACM.

11.

Gandal, N. (2001) `The Dynamics of Competition in the Internet Search Engine Market', International Journal of Industrial Organization 19(7): 1103-18.

12.

Sullivan, D. (2006) `Nielsen NetRatings Search Engine Ratings', URL: http://searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/2156451

13.

Jansen, B.J. (2006) `Obtaining Search Engine Transaction Logs', URL: http://ist.psu.edu/faculty_pages/jjansen/academic/transaction_logs.html

14.

Jansen, B.J. and Spink, A. (in press) `How are We Searching the World Wide Web? A Comparison of Nine Large Search Engine Transaction Logs ', Information Processing and Management; Ozmutlu, H.C. , Spink, A. and Ozmutlu, S. (2002) `Analysis of Large Data Logs: An Application of Poisson Sampling on Excite Web Queries', Information Processing and Management 38(4): 473-90; Spink, A. , Bateman, J. and Jansen, B.J. (1999) `Searching the Web: A Survey of Excite Users', Journal of Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy 9(2): 117-28; Spink, A. , Jansen, B.J. , Wolfram, D. and Saracevic, T. (2002) `From E-Sex to E-Commerce: Web Search Changes', Computer 35(3): 107-9.

15.

Pan, B. , Litvin, S.W. and Goldman, H. (2006) `Real Users, Real Trips, and Real Queries: An Analysis of Destination Search on a Search Engine', Travel and Tourism Research Association Conference Proceedings. Dublin, Ireland (published in cdformat).

16.

Spink, Jansen, Wolfram and Saracevic, ref. 14 above.

17.

Vogt, C.A. and Fesenmaier, D.R. (1998) `Expanding the Functional Information Search Model', Annals of Tourism Research 25(3): 551-78.

18.

Spink, Jansen, Wolfram and Saracevic, ref. 14 above.

19.

Spink, Bateman and Jansen, ref. 14 above.

20.

Barbaro, M. and Zeller, T. (2006) `A Face is Exposed for AOL Searcher no. 4417749', New York Times, 9 August, URL: http://www.nytimes.com

21.

Fisher, D. (2006) `Google Fights for Your Rights', eWeek, 26 January 2006, URL: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1915553,00.asp; Sanchez, J. (2006) `Searching the Searchers', Reason 38(1): 14-15.