Investigating the Effects of Online Booking on British Airways' Sales

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This project analyzes the impact of online ticket booking on airline sales.

3M-RESEARCH PROJECT
TOPIC: A STUDY TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF ONLINE TICKET BOOKING SYSTEM ON SALES OF THE
ORGANISATION OPERATING WITH AIRLINE INDUSTRY

Table of Contents
1.1 FORMULATION AND RECORDING OF THE POSSIBLE RESEARCH PROJECT OUTLINE
SPECIFICATIONS.............................................................................................................................2
1.2 IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS WHICH HAVE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OT THE PROCESS
OF RESEARCH PROJECT..................................................................................................................4
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ABOUT THE GIVEN TOPIC.......................................................................6
1.4. PRODUCE A RESEARCH PROJECT SPECIFICATION....................................................................8
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX.....................................................................................................................................12
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1.1 FORMULATION AND RECORDING OF THE POSSIBLE RESEARCH PROJECT
OUTLINE SPECIFICATIONS
TITLE
“A study to assess the impact of online ticket booking system on sales of the organisation
operating with airline industry”
INTRODUCTION
There has been a significant surge in the tourism industry which has allowed the travel-loving
people to visit various tourist places without much constraint. So to provide good travel
experience to the tourists, various organisations are utilising the services of digital technology
which helps in bringing efficiency in the services provided to the customers with respect to
travel related services. In reaping benefits from the utilisation of digital media by the travel
related services, airline industries are also not behind (Palinkas, et al. 2015).
The given study would be based on British Airways (BA) which is the second largest airline
company across the UK and has recently merged its services with Iberia Airlines to form
International Airline Groups. In the given research, the researcher would evaluate the impact of
ticket booking system on the sales of BA in an effective and appropriate manner.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 How an airline industry such as BA would be able to reap benefits from the tourism
industry?
 What is the role of digital technology in the operations of BA?
 What is the difference between a traditional booking system and online booking system
with respect to the airline industry?
 Would the introduction of online ticket booking system have a significant impact on the
sales of BA?
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RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES
Aim
“To assess the role of online ticket booking system on the sales of the tickets of BA”
Objectives
 Evaluate the role of digital technology on the airline industry with respect to the travel
industry
 Assess the importance of digital technology in improvement in the services provided by
the airline industry
 Evaluate the significance of online ticket booking system of BA
 Identify positive as well as the negative impact of online ticket booking system on the
sales of tickets of BA
HYPOTHESIS
H0 = Online booking system has a negative impact on the sales of the tickets of BA
H1 = Online booking system has a positive impact on the sales of the tickets of BA
RATIONALE
The reason for choosing this topic was to access the importance of digital technology by the
researcher in the airline industry. The study would also provide detailed information about how
with the advent of digital technology, the online booking system would have a significant
influence on the working and operations of the given airline industry, BA. In addition to this, the
study would also evaluate whether making booking system online by BA would be beneficial for
them or prove to be a suicidal act.
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1.2 IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS WHICH HAVE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION
OT THE PROCESS OF RESEARCH PROJECT
The factors contributing to the research project selection are as follows:
PROJECT SELECTION
The use of qualitative and quantitative research is taken into account so as to successfully
select a project. These methods would help in the collection of effective communication so that
it would be easier for the researcher to attain the goal. The use of digital technology would help
the researcher in collecting relevant information about the tourism industry and would help
tourists to provide accurate information about their views regarding the given industry
(Rutherford-Hemming, et al. 2015).
RESEARCH TYPE
The given study would have a significant focus on qualitative as well as quantitative research
type. The reason behind this is that qualitative data would be collected so as to get the real
scenario of the impact on sales due to the online booking system of the given airline industry.
On the other hand, quantitative research would be utilised so as to get some mathematical
data in the form of comparison of sales and revenue before and after the adoption of digital
technology by the given organisation (Roberts, 2015).
DATA COLLECTION
The primary, as well as secondary data collection methods, would be utilised to collect relevant
data for the given study. The primary data would be collected from the management and
employees of BA in the form of a survey so as to get accurate information about the online
booking system and its impact on their sales. The secondary data would be collected from
various books, journals, literature reviews and official website of the BA so as to get effective
data about the given research. Besides, the researcher would also utilise the services of the
social media where the customers share their views regarding the services provided by the
given airline industry. Moreover, the data would be collected from 50 respondents using
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random sampling as it is known by the researcher that these people are experts in the given
industry and would help them to get an accurate result (Schwarz, 2014).
GOALS AND MISSION
It has been essential to access the digital technology via social media as it would help the
researcher to access the process of booking the services provided by the BA online and this is
the goal of the researcher. Moreover, the mission of the study would be to access satisfaction
provided to the customers due to online booking system which in turn help the company to
enhance its sale and thus profit (Polonsky and Waller, 2014).
ETHICAL ISSUES
It shall be assured by the researcher that they would follow all the ethical issues and would
avoid sharing personal information provided to them by the management of the BA to any
external person or online. So, it is the responsibility of the researcher to safeguard the data and
prevents it from getting lost.
TIME SPAN
The project would be completed within 10 weeks as the procedure of survey and literature
review is a time-consuming process and would take to accomplish it. Moreover, the project
would be accomplished with a budget of about £35000 (Roberts, 2015).
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1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ABOUT THE GIVEN TOPIC
From the given study of Harteveldt and Atmosphere Research Group (2016), it could be said
that the digital marketing has significantly changed the working scenario and the airline
companies such as BA are not immune to it. The study has revealed that in order to fulfil the
needs and services of the customers, the given organisation has started the implementation of
various digital technologies and online booking system has been one of them. Zhang et al.
(2019) agreed with the studies of Harteveldt and Atmosphere Research Group (2016) and
revealed that the airline companies across the world are on the way to enhance the use digital
technology on their working and operations in an appropriate manner.
There are various advantages associated with an online booking system which has been
revealed by Díaz, et al. (2018) in respect to the airline industry. The first benefit is that it has
made the business of the airline company to be available for booking and reservation for 24
hours. This has allowed the customers to book or reserve their ticket from anywhere, anytime
and at any place as per their convenience. Due to this thing, there has been a significant
increase in the sales as the whole process which has resulted in high growth of the company.
Newman, et al. (2018) have stated in their study that it has reduced the no-show attitude of the
people which implies that financial commitment has been made by the customers after booking
their tickets. Furthermore, even if they are unable to travel; they could cancel the ticket which
could be again made available for those customers who required it at an urgent basis. This, in
turn, helps the company to increase its sales with just a single ticket. Besides, () have revealed
that the online booking has resulted in faster payment which implies that the new revenue
could be acquired by the organisation in a quick manner which would result in an enhancement
in the sales of the ticket inappropriate manner.
However, the studies done by Bingemer (2018) have shown that the online booking system
comes with a price that is not always free. Some airline companies could charge for every
booking and some might not refund full money in case of cancelling of the ticket which might
leave the customers fuming and filled with anger. Besides, Wittman and Belobaba (2018) have
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revealed in their study that the customers could face issues while booking online tour packages
and tickets if the responsible airline company uses faulty software. This would, in turn, affect
the sales of the company in a severe manner.
Nevertheless, the study conducted by Newman, et al. (2018) has found that online booking
system has provided a great opportunity to the airline industry to enhance their sales which
would have a positive impact on their growth and profitability. It has been suggested by the
given scholar that the airline companies such as BA should use advanced software based on
digital technology which in turn would alter the working pattern of the company and would
help in bringing significant yet positive changes in the satisfaction of the needs and
requirements of the tourists and customers in an efficient manner.
Thus, it could be said that the researcher has been able to prove the hypothesis that the
application of online booking system has a more positive impact as compared to the negative
impact on the sales of the given organisation. Moreover, the study has also from various
literature have also revealed how implementing this procedure would enhance the growth and
profitability of BA.
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1.4. PRODUCE A RESEARCH PROJECT SPECIFICATION
INTRODUCTION
The application of online booking system has proved to be beneficial to the given airline
company as it has resulted in the enhancement of its sales and also allowed its business to
prosper well in the tourism industry. Using this system, the customers could book their travel
tickets with ease and without any hassle and tussle and thus would go to their desired tourist
destination with great efficacy. In addition to this, they could also cancel the tickets if they
would be unable to travel with 75% cash-back for their tickets. Therefore, digital technology in
the form of online ticket booking has created an image of BA among its customers.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of conduction of this research by the researcher was to evaluate the impact of online
booking system have on the sales of the given airline industry. The study would also achieve its
objectives of analysing whether there has been an increase in the sales of the travel tickets
after implementing an online booking system or there has been drastically reduced in sales.
Thus, all the aims and objectives would be achieved in a significant manner.
METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION
The given study has utilised qualitative research to collect the primary as well as secondary
data. Initially, the data was collected in the form of an online survey and afterword; the data
has also been collected from the literature review about the given topic. Besides, the use of
social media has also been taken into account so as to get the reviews of the people about the
services provided by BA in an effective manner (Rutherford-Hemming, et al. 2015).
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
The research would take into account all the ethical consideration such as protecting the data
and preventing it from getting stolen by any known or unknown means. In addition to this,
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there would be proper checking of the authenticity of the data collected from any digital media
platform.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From the given study, it could be concluded that there has been indeed a positive impact of
implementing online booking system on the working of the BA which has resulted in the
enhance in the sales of its tour tickets and packages thus rendering the company to witness
high growth and profit. There are also few recommendations for bringing further improvement
in the services provided by the BA such as:
 Provision of discount in online booking of more than 5 members
 Increasing the provision of services provided in the airline to attract more customers for
online booking
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REFERENCES
Bingemer, S., 2018. Back to the future with IATA NDC? Critical turning points in the history of
airline distribution. Journal of Tourism Futures, 4(3), pp.205-217.
Díaz, E., Martín-Consuegra, D. and Esteban, Á., 2018. The effect of new technologies on
psychological consequences and risk perceptions of sales agents. Journal of Risk Research,
21(11), pp.1409-1429.
Harteveldt, H. H. and Atmosphere Research Group., 2016. The Future of Airline Distribution,
2016 – 2021. IATA.
Newman, R., Barker, S., Ticona, I., García, D., Moya, C. and Morales, A., 2018. Transfer Pricing in
the Air Transportation Industry. In Acción 13 del Plan BEPS y temas contenciosos de precios de
transferencia: III Foro de Tributación y Contabilidad (pp. 347-370). Thomson Reuters Perú.
Palinkas, L.A., Horwitz, S.M., Green, C.A., Wisdom, J.P., Duan, N. and Hoagwood, K., 2015.
Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method
implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health
Services Research, 42(5), pp.533-544.
Polonsky, M.J. and Waller, D.S., 2014. Designing and managing a research project: A business
student's guide. Sage publications.
Roberts, 2015. Ethical issues in conducting qualitative research in online communities.
Qualitative Research in Psychology, 12(3), pp.314-325.
Rutherford-Hemming, T., Lioce, L. and Durham, C.F., 2015. Implementing the standards of best
practice for simulation. Nurse Educator, 40(2), pp.96-100.
Schwarz, N., 2014. Cognition and communication: Judgmental biases, research methods, and
the logic of conversation. Psychology Press.
Wittman, M.D. and Belobaba, P.P., 2018. Customized dynamic pricing of airline fare products.
Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 17(2), pp.78-90.
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Zhang, Z., Liang, S., Li, H. and Zhang, Z., 2019. Booking now or later: Do online peer reviews
matter?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 77, pp.147-158.
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