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1
An Examination of Information Services and
Smartphone Applications
Dan Wang
National Laboratory for Tourism & eCommerce
School of Tourism & Hospitality Management
Temple University
Sangwon Park
National Laboratory for Tourism & eCommerce
School of Tourism & Hospitality Management
Temple University
and
Daniel R. Fesenmaier
National Laboratory for Tourism & eCommerce
School of Tourism & Hospitality Management
Temple University
ABSTRACT
In recent years, smartphone applications have emerged as a new tool helping travelers
create experiences. Considering the potential impact of the smart phones and smart
phone apps, it is posited that is extremely important to understand how the mobile
applications enable travelers to construct their travel experience. To achieve this goal,
the first step is to understand the nature (i.e., number and range of funcations) of apps
available for smartphones. Through the content analysis of basic information of iPhone
applications, this study identified a wide variety of information services enable
smartphones to break the spacious and temporal limitations to facilitate tourists pre-trip,
on-the-way, and after trip.
Keywords: information technology, mobile, smartphone applications, tourists
INTRODUCTION
Smartphones (e.g. iPhone, G1, Motorola Droid, Blackberry) have evolved such
that they have stronger input capabilities, larger screens, reliable and unlimited Internet
access, and powerful location awareness (Want, 2009). Importantly, smartphones now
provide access to thousands of mobile applications (apps) (Business Week, 2010) which
offer a wide range of services such as communication, entertainment, news, social
network and travel. The benefits of smartphone stimulate its adoption; indeed, by the end
2
of April 2010, there are 45 million smartphone users in the United States (comScore,
2010).
Smartphones and their applications (apps) appear to offer great potential to assist
tourists by providing access to online information at anytime and anywhere (Brown &
Chalmers, 2003). A series of studies have been done to identify the mobile services
valued by tourists (Rasinger, Fuchs, & Hopken, 2007; O’Brien & Burmeister, 2003) and
indicate that travelers’ choices can be changed by the use of smartphone applications
(Kramer, Modsching, Hagen, & Gretzel, 2007). With the increasing number of users and
greater penetration into people’s life, smartphones appear to have substantial influence on
the travel process. It is now important to examine how innovations such as smartphones
affect tourist behavior. To achieve this goal, first step is understand the nature (i.e.,
number and range of funcations) of apps available for smartphones.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Tourism is an experiential product whereby travel activities are “embedded within
the totality of lived experience” (McCabe & Foster, 2006, p. 194). Additionally, different
from tangible products (e.g. TV, shoes etc.) which usually require a single “decision” (i.e.,
purchase vs. not purchase), tourism is a consumption system whereby travelers are
continuously involved in multi-faceted decision process (Jeng & Fesenmaier, 2002;
Woodside & Dubelaar, 2002). Thus, travelers constantly search information to reduce the
uncertainty and support their decisions (Bettman, 1998; Bieger & Laesser, 2004; Gursoy
& McCleary, 2004). Recently, Gretzel, Fesenmaier and O’Leary (2006) identified
information processing activities within three stages of tourism consumption i.e., pre-
consumption stage, information is used for planning, expectation-formation, decision-
making, transactions and anticipation. In the consumption stage, information is used for
connection, navigation, decision-making, and on-site transaction. In the post-
consumption stage, information is used for sharing, documentation, external memory and
re-experiencing.
Smartphones, with their ubiquitous nature (Ling, 2004), appear to offer
substantial potential in assisting tourists in all phases of information search (Kenteris,
Gavalas, & Economou, 2009; Brown & Chalmers, 2003). A smartphone is a mobile
phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a basic mobile
phone (Charlesworth, 2009) and have emerged as a powerful tool because of their
portability and local tracking can provide highly personalized and localized services (Sun,
Su, & Ju, 2006; New York Times, 2010). Also, smartphone developers such as the Apple
Inc. provide an open platform for mobile apps developers (Cusumano, 2010) to
encourage the creation of smartphone apps; thus, not only the smartphone devices
developers can anticipate the applications users might value, but also third-party
developers can create any kind of applications and provide to users directly through the
device. As a result, an “apps world” with thousands of smartphone apps is created to
provide a variety of information services (Business Weekly, 2010).
The results of these studies indicate that smartphones can assist tourists in all
three stages of tourism consumption (see Figure 1). The use of smartphone and apps may
change tourists experience by changing the timing and pattern of information search of
tourists (Kramer et al, 2007). Thus, based upon this literature, the goals of this study are
to identify the nature (i.e., number and range
provided by smartphones and
Figure 1 Information search and
Sample and data collection
The mobile applications
by Apple Inc. because they are
According to Gartner ( 2010)
Touch users account for more than 90
use of the apps was collected through a program designed to “scrap
information about each app (e.g. release date, version, developer, function descriptio
and all customer reviews posted for that app from the iTune app store.
By the end of July 2010, there were 14,107 applications included in the travel
category in the app store. Considering the purpose of this study, only applications having
customer reviews are considered as the
approximately 20 percent of the applications in the travel category.
was reduced further based upon
number of customer reviews is a reasonable proxy for the number of downloads
Preliminary analysis of the distribution of customer reviews
2,857 applications (see Figure 2)
hundred applications (32,601
considered the top one hundred apps
nature (i.e., number and range) of tourism – related information services
smartphones and to understand the impact of smartphones on travel process.
Information search and mobile information service in travel process
METHODS
The mobile applications considered in this study were selected from the app store
by Apple Inc. because they are regarded as the most active mobile applications.
2010), the applications in the app store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod
ch users account for more than 90 percent of mobile app sales in 2009. Data on the
use of the apps was collected through a program designed to “scrape” basic descriptive
information about each app (e.g. release date, version, developer, function descriptio
customer reviews posted for that app from the iTune app store.
By the end of July 2010, there were 14,107 applications included in the travel
category in the app store. Considering the purpose of this study, only applications having
are considered as the focus of this study; thus, 2,857 apps, representing
of the applications in the travel category. This number of apps
was reduced further based upon Hu, Pavlou, & Zhang (2006), where they found
number of customer reviews is a reasonable proxy for the number of downloads
distribution of customer reviews indicates that among
Figure 2), 67 percent of the reviews focused on the first one
red applications (32,601 reviews out of 49,357 reviews). Thus, this study
the top one hundred apps for further investigation.
3
information services
understand the impact of smartphones on travel process.
mobile information service in travel process
study were selected from the app store
the most active mobile applications.
, the applications in the app store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod
of mobile app sales in 2009. Data on the
descriptive
information about each app (e.g. release date, version, developer, function description),
By the end of July 2010, there were 14,107 applications included in the travel
category in the app store. Considering the purpose of this study, only applications having
2,857 apps, representing
This number of apps
, where they found that the
number of customer reviews is a reasonable proxy for the number of downloads.
among the
first one
Thus, this study
4
Figure 2 The Cumulative Percentage of Customer Reviews for iPhone Applications in
Travel Category of App Store
Data analysis
Content analysis was used to identify the functions and customer evaluations of
the respective smartphone applications. Content analysis is a “research technique for the
objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of
communication” (Berelson, 1952, p.18). There are two general classes of content analysis
in social science: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative content analysis refers to
methods that are capable of classifying many words of text into much fewer content
categories, which then can be counted for their occurrences and provide statistical
inferences from text populations (Hopkins, 2010). On the other hand, qualitative content
analysis refers to non-statistical and exploratory methods which are guided by qualitative
epistemology in that “reality”, a social and cultural creation, only can be accessed by the
detailed investigation (Berg, 2001). The selection of quantitative and qualitative content
analysis depends on the purpose of study and styles of textual data (e.g. appropriate for
summarization, similarity of different files, etc.) (Newbold, Boyd-Barrett, & Van Den
Bulck, 2002).
In this study, the quantitative content analysis was used to classify the smartpone
apps within the context of their functions and required two steps. First, we classified the
apps according to the information services they provide and then summarized the
information services by each category. Wordstat, a computer text analysis (CATA)
software for text mining, was used to analyze the text corpus provided by apps
developers. More specifically, the “automated text categorization” function in Wordstat
was used to assist the classification of apps. Automated text categorization is a supervised
machine-learning task by which new documents are classified into one or several
predefined category labels based on an inductive learning process (Sebastiani, 2002). The
Wordstat program classifies the apps based on naive Bayesian classifiers whereby the
classifiers were first obtained by using a set of discriminate functions and then estimated
using the relevant probabilities derived from a set of previously classified documents
(Domingos & Pazzani, 1997). This text classification method has been widely applied to
document categorization and news filtering (Forman, 2004). The automated text
categorization based on naive Bayes algorithm is appropriate for this study because the
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
1
25
50
75
10
0
20
0
30
0
40
0
50
0
60
0
70
0
80
0
90
0
10
00
15
00
20
00
28
57
The Cumulative Percentage of Customer Reviews
for iPhone Applications in Travel Category of App Store
Number of
Applications
terms describing the information services of apps (e.g. hotels, restaurants, flights) are
useful to differentiate the apps
of automated text categorization of
to ensure the accuracy of classification, the results were reviewed by
out of fifty apps were deemed “
to appropriate categories.
Second, the information services provided by each category of apps are
summarized using Wordstat.
scan the textual corpus of descriptions and
the functions of the apps. Then, the average
used to identify the semantic relationships among the p
Figure 3. Procedures of Auto Text Categorization by Wordstat
The smartphone apps in the iTune
based on the information services they provide. Table 2 describes each category and
provides examples. Four categories, “Flights information manager”, “Destination guides”,
“Online travel agency”, and “Fac
In the category “Attractions guides”
United States. However, the apps in the category of “Facilitator” provide
information services for tourists
bathroom locations, packing list, Wi
airport maps, and Catholic Mass times church directory.
terms describing the information services of apps (e.g. hotels, restaurants, flights) are
rentiate the apps, and thus are appropriated to be classifiers. The procedure
of automated text categorization of the smartphone apps is described in Figure 3. In order
to ensure the accuracy of classification, the results were reviewed by the authors. Eig
deemed “misclassified” and were subsequently manually
ond, the information services provided by each category of apps are
Wordstat. Speficically, the phrase finder in the Wordstat was used to
scan the textual corpus of descriptions and to identify the phrases and idioms illustrating
apps. Then, the average-linkage hierarchical clustering analysis was
used to identify the semantic relationships among the phrases (Krippendoff, 2004).
. Procedures of Auto Text Categorization by Wordstat
RESULTS
apps in the iTune app store are categorized into twelve categories
based on the information services they provide. Table 2 describes each category and
provides examples. Four categories, “Flights information manager”, “Destination guides”,
“Facilitator”, accounts for 53% apps considered in this study
In the category “Attractions guides” all nine apps are about Walt Disneyland in the
the apps in the category of “Facilitator” provide a variety of
tourists including GPS thief tracker, cheap gas stations,
bathroom locations, packing list, Wi-Fi spot, mobile battery life, times in different places,
airport maps, and Catholic Mass times church directory.
5
terms describing the information services of apps (e.g. hotels, restaurants, flights) are
and thus are appropriated to be classifiers. The procedure
apps is described in Figure 3. In order
authors. Eight
manually assigned
ond, the information services provided by each category of apps are
rdstat was used to
identify the phrases and idioms illustrating
linkage hierarchical clustering analysis was
hrases (Krippendoff, 2004).
app store are categorized into twelve categories
based on the information services they provide. Table 2 describes each category and
provides examples. Four categories, “Flights information manager”, “Destination guides”,
considered in this study.
all nine apps are about Walt Disneyland in the
a variety of
including GPS thief tracker, cheap gas stations,
Fi spot, mobile battery life, times in different places,
6
Table 1.
The Categories of Apps
ID Category name Definition
No. of
Apps
Percentage
(%) Examples
8
Flights
information
manager
Apps for searching and tracking
flights 17 17%
Flighte Tracker; TripIt -
Travel Organizer
9
Destination
guides
Apps for providing various
information about a particular place
such as New York 15 15%
Vegas Mate; NYC Way;
GayCities - Your Gay City
Guide
4
Online travel
agency
Apps for searching and reserving
transportation tickets/hotels/cars 11 11%
Travelocity; Kayak flight ,
hotel search; Avis
Reservation App
7 Facilitator
Apps for providing quick facts
such as Wi-Fi spot, cheap gas
stations, local times. 10 10%
Cheap Gas; Wi-Fi Finder;
SitOrSquat: Bathroom
Finder
11
Attractions
guides
Apps for providing travel tips
within an attraction or a resort such
as Walt Disneyland theme park 9 9%
Disney World Dining;
Disneyland MouseWait
Social Wait Times FREE
1 Entertainment Apps for the purpose of fun 7 7%
Sodasnap Postcards; Talk
Radio; Trip Journal
3 Food finder Apps for searching restaurants 7 7%
Urbanspoon; Localeats;
Happy Hours
5
Language
assistant Apps for translation 7 7%
Lonely Planet Mandarin
Phrasebook; Translate with
Voice
10
Local
transportation
App for searching and reserving
local transportations such as buses,
subways and taxi. 7 7%
PDX Bus; Metro Paris
Subway; Taxi Magic
12
Augmented
reality
Apps for viewing live situations in
other places through webcams 5 5%
WorldView; Times Square
Live; Google Earth
2
Currency
converter Apps for calculating exchange rates 3 3%
ACTCurrency _Universal
Currency Converter
6 Tips calculator Apps for calculating tips 2 2% Tipulator
Note: N=100
The details of information services provided by the apps are summarized in Table
2. The extracted phrases are organized into 36 categories and each category represents
one kind of information service. The list of information services indicates that the apps
can provide a wide range of services that may assist tourists in many “micro-moments” of
the travel process. Besides the main elements of travel process such as flight status (1),
car rental information (6), decide where to eat (9), hotel information (16), driving
direction (23), and travel guides (36), the apps also provide services including exchange
rates (14), packing list management (20), translator (24), tip calculator (25), dog park
finder (30), and roadside assistance (33). Additionally, the apps provide some services
only for entertainment. For example, the “live camera views” (13) provides the live view
of destinations, and tourists can see the places before they get there. The function of “plot
pics on the route” (27) pinpoints tourists on the map and allows tourists to insert pictures
7
in the maps right after they took pictures. The function of “talk radio” (32) enables
tourists to listen to their favorite radio programs anywhere and anytime.
Table 2.
The List of Information Services of Smartphone Apps
Phrases ID Frequent phrases (Information services)
No.
Cases
%
Cases Frequency
1 Flight_status 17 17% 44
2 Live_flight_tracking 10 10% 19
3 Live_weather_report 10 10% 16
4 Attraction_wait_times 8 8% 19
5 Flight_alert 8 8% 12
6 Car_rental_information 8 8% 12
7 Share_with_family_and_friends 7 7% 14
8 Map_views 7 7% 9
9 Decide_where_to_eat 7 7% 9
10 Guest_reviews_and_ratings 7 7% 7
11 Alternate_flight 6 6% 8
12 Interactive_trip_map 6 6% 6
13 Live_camera_views 5 5% 20
14 Exchange_rates 5 5% 10
15 Restaurant_menus 5 5% 5
16 Hotel_information 4 4% 6
17 Augmented_reality 4 4% 5
18 Contact_information 4 4% 4
19 Travel_route_maps 4 4% 4
20 Packing_list_management 3 3% 6
21 Manage_trip_itinerary 3 3% 6
22 Travel_tips 3 3% 3
23 Driving_direction 3 3% 3
24 Translator 2 2% 7
25 Tip_calculator 2 2% 4
26 Discount_attraction 2 2% 4
27 Plot_pics_on_the_route 2 2% 4
28 Baggage_claim_information 2 2% 3
29 Information_about_truck_stops 1 1% 17
30 Dog_park_finder 1 1% 6
31 Diesel_fuel_stations 1 1% 6
32 Talk_radio 1 1% 4
33 Roadside_assistance 1 1% 3
34 Car_reservation 1 1% 3
35 Voice_translation 1 1% 3
36 Travel_guides 1 1% 3
Note: N=100
Specifically the 36 information services were clustered analyzed based on their
co-occurance in the textual corpus of each app’s description. The dendrogram (see Figure
3) summarizes the results of this analysis. As can be seen, the information services about
car and hotels are usually linked together; additionally, flight information and weather
8
reports are provided together. Some applications cover all the information services about
flights, car rental, and hotels. However, some apps specifically help tourists track travel
routes and make trip diary (e.g. Trip Journal, Every Trail) and usually provide services
for experience sharing. Another main cluster of information service focused on
restaurants where guest reviews/ratings and restaurants menus are provided together with
other information about restaurants to help the selection of eating places. The cluster
analysis findings are corresponding to the classified twelve categories of apps. For
example, the first cluster including services of car, hotel and flight information services
are the main functions of category eight “Flights information manager” and four “Online
travel agency”.
Figure 4. The Dendrogram of Information Services
9
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The information services provided by smartphone applications identified in this
study facilitate tourists experience in many ways. First, the twelve categories of
smartphone apps demonstrate that the range of mobile information services goes beyond
the destination guides, which were the focus of previous studies and commercial
applications (Rasinger, Fuchs, & Hopken, 2007; O’Brien & Burmeister, 2003). The
smartphone apps can not only support tourists’ information processing activities such as
connection and navigation in the tourism consumption stage, but also the activities in the
pre-consumption and post-consumption stages. For example, the online travel agency
apps can support tourists to plan trips and complete online transactions as desk-top or
laptop computers do. The integration of experience sharing function in most of apps
enables tourists to share and document their experience anytime and anywhere. Second,
the information services of smartphone apps are personalized so that they can support
many micro-moments in the travel process. For example, smartphone apps can help
tourists find dog parks, restrooms, and cheapest gas stations. Such kinds of information
services are minor but considerate so that tourists can get a better travel experience. With
the personalized services of smartphone apps, tourists feel like they stay with a “perfect
concierge” (from one of customer reviews).
The information services of smartphone apps indicate the potential of smartpones
to change tourists’ behavior. One is that smartphones reform the way to search and
provide information. Smartphones provide a personalized mobile portal by providing
focused information services through apps. Each app is created to address a limited
number of information services. Thus, tourists can plan trips and make decisions
efficiently without overloaded information. Smartphone apps also customize the
information search with the location-awareness function. Based on the locations and
context that tourists stay in, the smartphone apps provide more relevant recommendations.
Another change can be that tourists may substitute other tools for smartphones in travel
planning, because smartphones with powerful computing capability can provide
personalized information service anytime and anywhere. As a consequence of the devices
substitution, the timing of travel planning can be changed. For example, the activities
such as hotel booking, restaurants selection which are usually done before departure may
be planned on the way. Also, the location-based service may distract tourists from the
original plans and encourage more unplanned travel behavior. Finally, with more
experience, surprises, and exciting moments, tourists satisfaction may be improved. All
these potential behavioral changes indicate the necessities and opportunities for scholars
and industry professionals.
10
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