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Handbook of Tourism and Quality-of-Life Research pp 321–337Cite as

Impacts of the Internet on Travel Satisfaction and Overall Life Satisfaction

Part of the International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life book series (IHQL)

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the impacts of the Internet on travel satisfaction and ultimately the overall sense of well-being and/or quality-of-life (QOL). This chapter suggests overall life satisfaction as an operationalized dependent variable to measure an individual’s sense of well-being and QOL, and satisfaction in need constructs as an independent variable. Two conceptual models are proposed to explore the impacts of the Internet on travel satisfaction and overall life satisfaction. The first model focuses on the Internet role when it is considered as a tool for travel planning at a pretrip stage, and the second model focuses on the Internet role when it is considered as a social platform on a Web 2.0 environment where people share travel information after a trip, communicate, and socialize with others. Two significant roles of the Internet in satisfaction formation and satisfaction modification are found. In terms of satisfaction formation, the greater amount of transparent and reliable information collected through the Internet at the pretrip stage helps individuals adjust expectations to be realistic, and the realistic expectation leads to reduce the negative satisfaction disconfirmation and maintain a higher level of satisfaction. In terms of satisfaction modification, postconsumption experiences at the social platform reconstruct previous memories and accordingly modify satisfaction. The modified satisfaction eventually influences overall life satisfaction.

Keywords

  • Life Satisfaction
  • False Recall
  • Travel Planning
  • Travel Information
  • Travel Experience

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Tourism, Bournemouth University, Dorset House, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK

    Soo Hyun Jun

  2. Foodservice and Applied Nutrition Research Group & Centre for Wellbeing and Quality of Life, School of Health and Social Care, Bournemouth University, Dorset House, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK

    Heather J. Hartwell

  3. International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, School of Tourism, Bournemouth University, Dorset House, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK

    Dimitrios Buhalis

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  1. Soo Hyun Jun
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  3. Dimitrios Buhalis
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Correspondence to Soo Hyun Jun .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. State University, Dept. Hospitality & Tourism Management, Virginia Polytechnic Institute &, Blacksburg, 24061, Virgin Islands, USA

    Muzaffer Uysal

  2. State University, Dept. Hospitality & Tourism Management, Virginia Polytechnic Institute &, Blacksburg, 24061, Virgin Islands, USA

    Richard Perdue

  3. Pamlin College of Business, Dept. Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Pamplin Hall 2025, Blacksburg, 24061-0236, Virgin Islands, USA

    M. Joseph Sirgy

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Jun, S.H., Hartwell, H.J., Buhalis, D. (2012). Impacts of the Internet on Travel Satisfaction and Overall Life Satisfaction. In: Uysal, M., Perdue, R., Sirgy, M. (eds) Handbook of Tourism and Quality-of-Life Research. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2288-0_19

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