Abstract

It is often asserted that big data can potentially help firms make data-oriented decisions. The rise of big data completely revolutionized the tourism industry, explaining partly why this research intends to explore the relationship between big data applied in online tourism and online tourists’ behavior. This study will tackle the question in relation to big data’s perception based on gender, age and usage’s interaction, factors identified throughout the literature as important. It is found that both advantages and disadvantages of big data positively impact online consumer behavior. Although surprising, this result is justified in the fact that consumers always consider the trade-off between advantages and disadvantages which explains their willingness to still use online services. It is also found that usage is a determinant factor influencing big data’s perception. One major take away is that disadvantages of big data do not necessarily translate into a negative behavior. Moreover, online tourism website designers can tailor their products in a way to appeal to light users of online tourism services, considering heavy users are likely to buy in no matter what.

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