Systems of leisure travel information provision and use: the 'Grey' market' and the internet

The information age and the information society have become dominant features in the new millennium. However, these terms are often referred to with the younger generations in mind, neglecting the older and more experienced members of our society. This thesis focuses on the 'Grey Market' (travellers over the age of 50) who use the Internet on a regular basis - therefore also referred to as 'Silver Surfers' - and in
particular for their travel and tourism decision-making. Itaims to identify experiences and processes of travel decision-making, analyse the impact on the use of the Internet as an information search as well as evaluate the effectiveness of the Internet in providing information for particular and not mainstream market segments. The methodology employed in this particular piece of research builds on positivism as most consumer behaviour theories do; however a more inductive approach was taken. While relying on existing theories newer and less well tested methods of data collection were put to use. The methods were triangulated, utilising both quantitative and qualitative research methods which complement each other in the results. An initial pilot study questionnaire was followed up with semi-structured in-depth interviews which then led to the completion of the final survey, that was administered by 'e-surveying' using both convenience and snowball sampling and resulted in 517 valid responses from 'Silver Surfers' around the United Kingdom. Main findings of this thesis show a distinct pattern of behaviour in the travel decision making process of this particular market segment as well as what kind of information
they were researching on the Internet. Most importantly, the respondents do not consider themselves too different from other (younger) age groups and even though some of their
information requirements are distinctive, they do not want to be considered just as 'the
older consumers'.