Drivers and Inhibitors in Online Ticketing in Civil Aviation Sector

The rapid growth of the Internet over the past two decades as a platform for buyer - seller interaction is analytical of the degree of growing acceptance of online buying transactions worldwide. Despite the slowing penetration of regular Internet users, the number of consumers using the Internet as a shopping medium is still growing. Online buying has increased significantly over the years and the number of internet travelers has been rapidly growing. Although consumers recognize the benefits of the Internet, managing the dynamics of drivers and inhibitors in online ticketing in civil aviation sector is a research area worth exploring. What leads a buyer to shop online as a research question has evoked a lot of interest both in academics and practice, although the findings appear to be fragmented and disintegrated. several perceived risks make customers reluctant to buy online ticketing. So far as India is concerned, the number of individuals buying products and services online continues to increase in India, given its wide population base. Identification of drivers and inhibitors for online buying and its impact on online buying intention emphasize the need for an in-depth analysis from the customers’ or users’ behavioral perspective. The aim of this paper is to examine the drivers and inhibitors in online ticket purchasing in civil aviation sector and analyses the relationship between drivers, inhibitors and customer’s intention to buy online. It also finds out the significant mean differences among respondents belonging to different age groups regarding perceived drivers and inhibitors on the basis of data obtained from 201 randomly selected customers from major Indian airlines viz. Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher. A specifically designed questionnaire has been used for obtaining the relevant data. The reliability is examined by using the split half test and Cronbach Alpha. The data were purified and summarized with exploratory factor analysis. After purification and validation through factor analysis, data were subjected to univariate and bivariate research tools. The results reveal positive correlation between perceived drivers and intentions to buy online and there exists negative correlation between perceived inhibitors and intentions to buy online. In addition to this, there exists insignificant difference among different age groups regarding drivers and significant difference in inhibitors in online ticket purchasing. Key words: Information Technology, Facilitators, Inhibitors, Civil Aviation Sector