Research on Characteristics of Platforms for Purchasing Airline Tickets: Focusing on Air Ticket Distribution in Korea

Research on Characteristics of Platforms for Purchasing Airline Tickets: Focusing on Air Ticket Distribution in Korea

Purpose: This study intended to examine the effects of the characteristics of platforms for purchasing airline tickets on perceived ease of use, usefulness, and e-loyalty, applying the technology acceptance model. Research design, data and methodology: A research model was established based on previous studies, and data were collected from consumers with experience in the airline ticket purchasing platform. 175 valid samples were used and analyzed using SEM. Results: Characteristics of the ticket purchase platform were classified into sub-factors of accessibility, functionality and information reliability through theoretical consideration. The established hypotheses for the research were partially accepted. Conclusions: First, functionality and information reliability were found to have significant positive effects on perceived ease of use, while accessibility did not have such effect. Second, accessibility did not affect the perceived usefulness, and both functionality and information reliability had a significant positive effect on perceived usefulness. Third, it was found that the perceived ease of use had a positive effect on perceived usefulness. Finally, it was found that perceived ease of use did not affect e-loyalty of the ticket purchasing platform, only perceived usefulness affected e-loyalty. This study had important academic and practical implications in the context of air ticket distribution.