Correspondence: Dae-Young Kim, Hotel & Restaurant Management, University of Missouri-Columbia, 219 Eckles Hall, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA. E-mail: kimdae@missouri.edu

¹is an Assistant Professor in Hotel Restaurant Management at University of Missouri-Columbia. He obtained his MS and PhD in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Purdue University, USA. He focuses on traveller information search, convention and event management, marketing and implicit attitude measures.

²is a doctoral student in Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University. Her research interests include hospitality and tourism marketing and information search behaviour.

Received 25 September 2008; Revised 25 September 2008; Published online 5 January 2009.

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed considerable changes to the meetings and convention industry, owing to the adoption and diffusion of information technology applications. Both the supply and intermediary side (for example, meeting planners) increasingly need to adopt innovative methods to enhance their competitiveness. On the basis of these recognitions, this study aimed to identify the patterns of meeting planners' attitudes toward and adoption of technology considering their types of organisations, online and work experience. A mailed survey was sent to a sample of members of Meeting Professionals International and 616 completed questionnaires were received. It was observed that meeting planners' technology adoption varied depending on the type of meeting planners. The results also revealed that meeting planners' online experience acts as an interaction variable for the effect of work experience on the dependent variables such as the usage of online contracts, the usage of online requests for proposal and attitudes toward arranging virtual meetings.