ABSTRACT The present research aims at understanding the value of travel guidebooks as an object of consumption in the context of the digital age. It does so by applying a consumer value perspective to an object that has traditionally been studied as an information channel or as a cultural text and not as an object of consumption. Holbrook’s consumer value framework was adopted to identify the value dimensions associated with guidebooks, and the underlying reasons for their use. Given the explorative nature of the study, a qualitative study design was chosen, and fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted. The results suggest that the use and value of guidebooks are strongly connected to emerging Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Information needs are evolving due to technological development: the constant availability of online information has caused the temporal dimension of tourists’ information needs to shift so that decisions can be postponed until right before consumption, making information search more serendipitous. Several types of value were identified which go beyond information needs, and they are: efficiency, excellence, play, aesthetics, status, esteem, spirituality and ethics.

中文翻译：

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旅游信息渠道作为消费者的选择：数字时代旅游指南的价值

摘要本研究旨在了解数字时代背景下旅行指南作为消费对象的价值。它是通过将消费者价值观点应用于传统上作为信息渠道或文化文本而不是作为消费对象进行研究的对象来实现的。采用了霍尔布鲁克的消费者价值框架来确定与指南相关的价值维度以及其使用的潜在原因。考虑到研究的探索性，选择了定性研究设计，并进行了十五次深入访谈。结果表明，指南的使用和价值与新兴的信息和通信技术（ICT）紧密相关。随着技术的发展，信息需求也在不断发展：在线信息的持续可用性导致游客信息需求的时间维度发生变化，因此可以将决策推迟到消费之前，从而使信息搜索更加偶然。确定了超出信息需求的几种类型的价值，它们是：效率，卓越，发挥，审美，地位，自尊，灵性和道德。