Trust and new technologies: Looking at issues from the perspective of the young tourist

Consumers are increasingly using the Internet and a variety of New Technologies to search for, and acquire information pertinent to their travel purchase decisions. The kinds of search comsumers undertake online and the online marketing stimuli they are exposed to, have significant implications on the purchases they eventually make. Despite this knowledge, little is known about young people's trust in using these technologies, particularly in the area of travee choice. This paper reports the results of a quantitative study of 511 young people from The University of Queensland, Australia. The findings indicate that the internet is a form of external information search but that for many poeple it is not a well trusted source of information for travel information. Specifically, the study findings revealed that New Technologies, such as virtual tours, did not increase levels of trust in the travel information sourced nor did they reduce levels of percieved risk for young consumers in the decision making process.