STA Travel Island: Marketing First Life Travel Services in Second Life

The case, through the experience of a recent college graduate thrusted in the decision-making spotlight, describes the attempt by the largest student travel agency in the world – STA Travel – to evaluate whether and how to establish a presence in Second Life. Second Life was a fast emerging Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that was garnering increasing attention from companies around the world. The STA Travel Island case is appropriate for information systems, marketing, or strategy classes as it explores issues of new technology adoption, value creation and appropriation with Information Systems and with emerging technologies, and project feasibility and management. (A teaching note is available from the first author to any faculty member listed in the MISRC/ISWorld directory.) Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 20, 2007) 429441 430 STA Travel Island: Marketing First Life Travel Services in Second Life by B. Ives & G. Piccoli STA TRAVEL ISLAND: MARKETING FIRST LIFE TRAVEL SERVICES IN SECOND LIFE (A)