Videoconferencing (VC) software was widely adopted by organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic to maintain communication while business travel was suspended. In the post-pandemic age, will organisations continue to use VC tools, and if so, how will this influence the number of business trips taken?.

These are the questions asked by Professor Dan Wang and Dr Zhiming Deng of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Working with a US co-author, they conceptualise business travel as a communication problem and conduct a novel empirical study of the factors supporting continued VC use and limiting business travel. Their findings have meaningful implications for business trip planning and decision-making post-COVID-19.

“Business travel is a double-edged sword”, the researchers begin. Whilst it may benefit organisations and even destinations, it can also cause considerable stress for travellers, as well as contributing to pollution and natural resource consumption. “In recent decades”, continue the authors, “the expansion of business scope and the increase of commercial activities in many locations has boosted the frequency of business trips and intensified tensions between work and leisure and between business efficiency and sustainability”.

All of this changed, however, when COVID-19 hit. The pandemic dramatically curtailed business travel and led to the near-ubiquitous adoption of VC software such as Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams to facilitate remote work. “VC emerged as an alternative to physical business meetings”, the researchers explain, “offering benefits including flexibility, travel time savings, and reduced environmental impact”.

In the wake of the pandemic, there has been extensive discussion of the benefits and disadvantages of business trip reduction (BTR). But has the adoption of VC software really reduced business travel for good? Opinions on this topic are mixed. One perspective is that VC can never fully replace in-person contact, given the complexities of business meetings, employees and the information shared. Yet according to another viewpoint, BTR is inevitable due to growing economic and environmental pressure on companies.

“As a consensus is lacking”, say the researchers, “it is essential to examine the nature of business travel in the post-pandemic age”. To do so, they conceptualised business travel as a decision made at the organisational level. Their aim was to determine how business travel patterns are shaped by VC continuance (VCC) – behavioural patterns that reflect the continued use of VC tools in business communication, together with other organisational factors.

“We argue that VCC and BTR are connected indirectly in an inverse relationship”, the researchers say. By enabling organisations to function through remote work, the continued use of VC software is a critical condition for BTR – especially with the richer, higher-quality VC tools that emerged during the pandemic. “The synchronous and ubiquitous features of VC enable professionals to interact face-to-face in real time”, note the researchers.

However, many organisational factors (such as corporate communication protocols) and the external environment (e.g., such as expectations of business partners) inevitably influence the extent to which VC can be used by an organisation and the extent to which it can replace business trips.

To reflect the complexity of the factors influencing VCC and business travel intentions, the authors adopted the technology–organisation–environment (TOE) framework. “A business organisation’s decisions to adopt and implement innovative IT are influenced by its TOE context”, the researchers explain. This context comprises the organisation’s technical capacity and the available innovations (technology); the organisational characteristics, such as structure and size, that facilitate or constrain innovation adoption (organisation); and the business environment, defined by competition, stakeholders and government regulations (environment).

They hypothesised that decision-makers are more likely to continue using VC in favour of business travel if they regard VC tools as useful and are satisfied with their usage – particularly since the COVID-19 outbreak. Other hypotheses were that VC is preferred by larger firms, more open and experimental firms, and firms facing a less competitive and more environmentally conscious business environment.

To test their hypotheses, the researchers gathered and analysed survey data from firms whose employees were accustomed to taking numerous business trips. These trips were undertaken for myriad purposes, from site visits and supplier meetings to conferences and trade shows. The pandemic had forced the firms to replace many of these face-to-face meetings with VC. “We collected data from firms in Hong Kong and the US”, add the researchers, noting that these two regions experienced different levels of travel constraints and thus mandatory VC during COVID-19.

Statistical analysis of these data, guided by the TOE framework, revealed important patterns in business travel and remote work in the post-pandemic era. “The findings demonstrated that the factors influencing VCC and the BTR intentions of firm decision-makers are multi-dimensional”, the authors report.

In the technology dimension, the perceived usefulness and relative advantages of VC were found to encourage organisational decision-makers to continue using these tools after the pandemic. “Conversely, we found that satisfaction had little effect on VCC”, the researchers say, “perhaps because satisfaction was not essential to convince companies to continue using VC after the pandemic; they used it because of timing and environmental constraints during the pandemic”.

Within the organisational context, top management was the most significant facilitator of VCC – considerably more so than firm size, global scope and openness to innovation. Regarding the business environment, firms facing greater competition were more likely to revert to in-person meetings. “When competition is intense”, say the authors, “business travellers may prefer face-to-face communication because it provides human closeness, which enables deeper social networking or collaboration”.

Meanwhile, neither network size nor the sustainability orientation of the business environment was found to be linked to VCC, as corporations primarily use VC for practical reasons, rather than to protect the environment.

As organisations weigh the benefits of in-person interactions against the cost-effectiveness and convenience of virtual alternatives, the findings of this study have important practical implications. First, they suggest that managers of firms that conduct business travel should closely observe advances in ICT and changes to company travel policy. Decision-makers’ perception of the relative advantage of VC over other communication methods – along with other environmental and organisational factors – helps to foster their BTR intention.

“We suggest that VC will not replace business trips completely”, the researchers add, noting that it is often important to meet clients and seek opportunities face-to-face, especially in highly competitive industries. Moreover, digital communication tools cannot fulfil all of the myriad needs and purposes that drive business travel. “Therefore”, say the authors, “managers of firms conducting business travel should focus on precise market segmentation and provide customised products or experiences”.

The insights gained into the factors underlying BTR also have significant implications for companies. “Our findings reveal that a firm’s top management is a crucial factor influencing BTR decision-making”, the researchers say, “along with the global scope and intensity of competition”. In the wake of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have been forced to re-evaluate their institutional structures. “With the growing importance of ESG commitments”, the researchers conclude, “companies are finding it imperative to implement environmentally oriented policies regarding business travel”.

Dan Wang, Juan Luis Nicolau and Zhiming Deng (2024). Videoconferencing Continuance and Business Trip Reduction in the Post-Pandemic Age. Tourism Management, Vol. 101, 104854.

Contact : Ms Pauline Ngan, Senior Marketing Manager, School of Hotel and Tourism Management

pauline.ngan@polyu.edu.hk / www.polyu.edu.hk/htm