The demand for travel services have increased, as more focus of consumption have shifted from goods to experiences. Naturally, consumer’s online dependency for travel information search and travel service purchase have escalated. We address the influence of consumer characteristics, including travel knowledge(purchase channel knowledge, travel experience), individual’s leisure consumption level, and gender, on online travel reservation channel choices: flight/hotel company’s own website, general shopping app/site, online travel agency(OTA), etc. Also, we compare these effects between hotel reservation channel choices and flight ticket reservation channel choices. Travel characteristics, such as travel length, number of companions, and purchase price level, are included as control variables. Findings show that consumers with greater purchase channel knowledge are more likely to use general shopping apps/sites to purchase flight ticket and OTAs to make hotel reservations. Consumers with greater travel experiences are more inclined to directly purchase from the suppliers of flight and hotel services, while demonstrating lower tendency to use search portal sites(Naver, Daum). Male consumers are more likely to make purchases from the suppliers’ direct online channels, while female consumers show relatively higher use of general shopping apps/sites purchasing flight tickets and OTAs booking hotels online.
