Experiencing information asymmetries in tourism

Tourism has long been described as an information asymmetric market. In this situation, as well known, consumers are unable of fully assessing the quality of the product they are going to acquire and, in the long run, the space available for high quality products is greatly reduced. The large diffusion of Internet and e-commerce functions had let hope to represent a solution to this problem, but this expectation has not always been fully satisfied. Today, however, the new wave of Web 2.0 functionalities has given a vast population powerful methods to better judge products and services. It is then possible to envisage circumstances in which a consumer is better informed than a supplier about the real value of the products on the market. By using a set of agent-based numerical simulations this paper discusses the differences between the two possible asymmetric market conditions. These results are discussed with respect to possible strategies to be adopted by both buyers and sellers in order to re-balance satisfaction (customers) and earnings (suppliers).