3.3 Website Evaluation
3.3.4 Other website evaluation techniques
Other techniques have been used for the evaluation of a website effectiveness. For example, a benchmark approach has been used to assess the evaluation of tourism websites. The benchmark approach is a management tool for website evaluation, comparison and improvement (Johnson and Misic 1999). The knowledge-sharing and motivational characteristics of this technique, mean that it is appropriate for the evaluation of tourism websites (Schegg et al. 2002). However, although this benchmark approach is simple in concept, managers have found it difficult to identify the operational quality characteristics of websites, when using this approach. This is “ ” needs to be defined. Furthermore, the benchmark approach cannot identify the most relevant criteria for long-term success; it only improves a certain process of the website (Bauernfeind and Mitsche 2008).
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To increase the applicability of evaluation frameworks, Chiou et al. (2010) ’ P k G z ’ (2007) 12 unified factors. Their review also showed that most studies conducted user-based surveys to examine a website, but that very few addressed strategic issues of Web site evaluation. Thus, they proposed a strategic framework as an internal evaluation to ensure consistency between web strategy and actual website presence, which was involved analysis of Web strategy and a hybrid approach that included evaluation during three transaction phases; the framework was designed to be applied by a specific Web site vis-à-vis its goals and objectives through a five-stage evaluation process. However, Flavian et al. (2009) mentioned that a website design should be addressed to simplicity and freedom of navigation provides clear, timely and accurate information in all its contents and an appearance that calls for the ’ .
Bornhorst et al. (2010) confirmed that the tourism organisations held different (and conflicting) perceptions about the measures that should be used for evaluating DMO. The differen k ’ ptions were mainly contributed to two difficulties: first, the quantification of the econom DMO’ to local business and the tourism community; and second, the provision of a proof of the causality between DMO’ es and these economic benefits, as several other factors could have also positively or negatively affected the economic outcomes (e.g. the number of visitors to a destination).
Dickinger and Stangl (2011) suggested a theory-based alternative, formative measurement approach for website performance. The construct comprised eight dimensions. All these dimensions are system availability, ease of use, usefulness, navigational challenge, website design, content quality, trust and enjoyment. Their study developed a sound and parsimonious measure allowing the monitoring and benchmarking of traveler perceptions over time.
Sigala (2014) investigated various stakehold ’ w in which DMS performance should be measured. The study conducted a nation-wide survey for measuring the perceptions of various tourism DMS stakeholders in Greece about the importance of the roles that DMS should serve as well as the items that should be used for mea DM ’ The findings showed that the public and private stakeholders held different perceptions
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about the roles of DMS as well as about the metrics that need to be used for evaluating DMS performance. The findings also showed that the perceptions that stakeholders hold about the roles of the DMS influence their perceptions about the performance evaluation of DMS.
Additional approaches used to evaluate tourism websites, include the use of automated tools to collect numerically measurable data; these tools then statistically analyse the collected data (Johnson et al. 2012). According to Ivory (2003), these automated tools are used to analyse patterns of usage in the server logs of the w fi -based and time-based analyses. These assessment methods are, however, limited by their inability to trace user behaviour. An example of the automatic evaluation of travel websites is webLyzard (Wober et al. 2002), w w ’ ent, such as textual and graphical information, the number of language versions, and reservation and booking features. The limited amount of published research into the effectiveness of tourism websites, suggests that there is a need to move away from making strategic decisions based on simplistic metrics, such as hits and page views, and to move towards metrics that accurately relate to the key business goals (Tierney 2000).
Furthermore, it will be a frustrating, time consuming, costly and futile exercise, to conduct this kind of evaluation without first understanding exactly which measurements are important to measure (Welling and White 2006).
Website evaluation approaches in existing studies, evaluated the effectiveness of the website either through the website layers method, or through the characteristics, user acceptance and user satisfaction methods. From a tactical point of view, these approaches were effective at assessing the features of the website and the user attitudes towards it, but they were not effective from a strategic viewpoint. In fact, many companies have experienced failure in the effectiveness of the website evaluation. This means that more in-depth evaluation approaches, providing a comprehensive methodology for evaluating destination websites with a focus on effectiveness, are required. The direction of the website evaluation is towards the construction of a standardised, repeatable, measurable, evaluation technique that is useable over the long-term, and can formulate the evaluation for a specific business and website (Horan 2010).
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Figure 3.2 The Future Direction of Tourism Website Evaluation in Tourism
Small attempts have been made to construct a comprehensive, standardised measurement of website evaluation, within the tourism industry. Although there have been several studies to evaluate tourism websites in general, this has not been the case for individual websites. The previous studies used different methods, and the evaluation approach had changed and modified, depending on the subjects and aspects of the researchers, at each point in time. This implies that these studies have been approached by focusing on the subject of the website under investigation, rather than moving towards developing a standardised and repeatable measurement for evaluating tourism websites. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a standardised evaluation matrix that can be applied to tourism industries, according to each segment (i.e., size, revenue, region, sector, and evaluator). The question therefore arises: how can we develop a master, comprehensive instrument, for DMS website evaluations?
Previous research has paid little attention to the development of a comprehensive and standardised measurement of DMS website evaluations. The reason behind this might be that there is a difficulty in constructing a standardised set of dimensions and criteria, to evaluate the effectiveness of DMS websites (Kasavana 2002). For instance, Morrison, et al. (2004 p.246) concluded : “I this point to pinpoint the state of the art in website evaluation for tourism and hospitality. Additionally, practitioners and consultants are struggling to fill the void with a hodgepodge of solutions, none of which provide comprehensive website ”
Although there have been many studies to evaluate tourism and hospitality websites in general, not for individual websites. Despite practical and theoretical approaches suggested or used for measuring the effectiveness of hospitality and tourism websites , it has been difficult to construct a standardized set of criteria to evaluate
Evaluation by Layers, Characterises, Features and
Effectiveness
Developing Comprehensive Standardised Measurement Tool
for Website in Tourism
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website effectiveness. Both practitioners and academic researchers have explored methods of website evaluation. However, most website evaluations provide checklists or criteria to compare and rank them using indices which were developed only for that purpose.
w “ ”
“ z ” w ospitality. It is possible to build the different but standardized website evaluation indices depending on each characteristic of organization if the CSFs can be determined by experts in hospitality and tourism for each perspective with a critical literature review and decision of the size of hospitality or tourism organizations; i.e. luxury, upscale, mid-scale, or economy hotels and CVBs of the city which have a small, medium, or large populations.
It is believed that the results can help to identify effective and well-designed websites, and also provide tourism and hospitality industries and DMOs with an effective evaluation method they can use periodically to compare their websites with others and to improve their website. Additionally, this initial attempt to construct matrix for website evaluation can be extended to generate a comprehensive and applicable method.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to move away from the limited, descriptive and narrative findings, towards empirical verification. This can help to provide every DMO with an effective evaluation method, which they can use to assess and improve their websites. The attempt to construct a matrix for website evaluations, can be beneficial to extending and generating a comprehensive and applicable method, for every website (Chiou, et al. 2010; Horan 2010; Young Hoon and Mincheol 2010). Such a comprehensive evaluation method provides valuable insights to researchers and practitioners. Understanding the characteristics of such an evaluation framework matrix, is one of the fundamental steps towards its development.