Influencia de la cultura en el comportamiento de compra online de productos turisticos. El caso de Espa?a y Mexico

Abstract

It is fundamentally important to understand the ways in which consumers behave in virtual environments in order to encourage the development and implementation of marketing strategies that are effective in marketing goods and services on the internet. The object of this study is to understand the significance of culture in individual online purchase behavior in two Latin countries: Mexico and Spain. The article employs the Theory of Planned Behavior to study the effects of attitude, the subjective norm, and perceived control on reservation/purchase behavior of people seeking tourist accommodation online. At the same time, the article compares the significance acquired by each of these aspects in the two countries. The hypothesis was tested on a sample of 230 internet purchasers in Mexico and 258 in Spain. The results demonstrate that in both countries the subjective norm and perceived control exert significant influence on the intention of users to reserve or purchase tourist accommodation. The effect of the subjective norm is stronger for Mexico a country characterized by its masculinity, collectivism and high power distance - while control has a greater effect in Spain, a