Information Search Behavior of Independent Travelers: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Between Chinese, Japanese, and American Travelers

This study examines international travelers’ information search behavior utilizing data collected from Japanese, Chinese, and American independent travelers to Taiwan. One-way ANOVA tests reveal that Internet is the most important external information source for independent travelers from those three nations followed by newspapers, magazines, and books. Chinese travelers are found to use underground (subway) advertisement boxes, advertisement on buses, TV, radio, international travel exhibitions, outdoor advertisements, or billboards more frequently than both Japanese and American travelers. The results also show that both Japanese and Chinese travelers are likely to use tourism leaflets from a travel agency more frequently than U.S. travelers. Japanese female travelers appeared to utilize newspapers, magazines, books, and ads on subways and buses more frequently than Japanese male travelers.