Proussaloglou & Koppleman (1999) performed a novel air travel SP survey that
incorporated the way that travellers search for information when talking to a travel
agent on the phone. After an initial collection of data by mail, they collected the
SP data in a telephone survey. Presented with a travel scenario, the respondents
had to elicit from the interviewer the available flights as described by schedule
and fare. Flights could be revealed in any order the respondent wished –
according to schedule or fare, and a choice could be made at any stage. The
interviewer had a record of what flights had been revealed when the choice was
made. Key methodological aspects of this study include the ability of the
respondent to drive the search process prior to making a decision, and the use of
flights that were close to real world options. The online search component of our
study takes a similar approach to that of Proussaloglou & Koppleman, and
examines search and choice decisions in the context of the online purchase of
airline tickets. The traditional SP component allows for a useful comparison of the
two approaches.