The Web and Traditional Information Resources: How Do They Contribute to Overall Satisfaction with an Information Service?

This paper considers the change in information seeking behaviour of tourists as a result of the increased use of the World Wide Web as an information resource in the context of information services provided by visitor information centres (VICs). The theoretical approach adopts the model of expectation-disconfirmation effects on web customer satisfaction. The paper proposes that visitor information centres are analogous to an information system and that the user experience of visiting the centre can partially be explained by users perception of the information quality of information resources used at the centre and a prior use of the web. The research proposition explored in the reported research is that a priori usage of the web may influence tourists’ perceptions of the information services provided by visitor information centres. In order to investigate this proposition a survey was conducted at the Sydney Visitor Information Centre resulting in 519 responses. The analysis of the data collected, using structural equation modeling, found that perceived information quality of staff and brochures used at the centre explained 63% of the variance of the user experience at the centre, a prior use of the web did not explain any of the variance. The implications for VICs’ strategic information resource management to meet visitor needs are discussed.