Hotel website dimensions – analyzing international tourists’ intention to purchase online / Azdel Abdul Aziz

Internet has become the major distribution channel of hotel industry. Hotel in Malaysia have started to implement this type of distribution channel to their organization. One of the tools that can introduce the hotel globally and being a medium to interact with the customers is by using hotel website. Therefore, hotel website needs to be effective so that it meets the preferences of the tourist. This study is to investigate the hotel website dimensions to be considered in relation with the international tourists’ intention to purchase online. The hotel website dimensions will be measured by two categories of variable which are website interactivity (Stepchenkova et al., 2009) and website information (Rong et al., 2009). Sample of 400 foreign tourists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport were selected. This research analyzed the relationship of these dimensions and the intention to purchase online by the international tourists. The most important dimension that attracts online purchasing also been selected throughout the study. The results show that there were positive relationship between each hotel website dimensions and online purchase intention. The study also concluded that website information was the most important variables in hotel website dimension. Practically, this research has shown the importance of understanding in choosing the best and appropriate website dimension to encourage customer to purchase via online

Hotel website dimension: Analyzing customers’ preferences / Azdel Abdul Aziz... [et al.]

The revolutionary of technology in this modern era is explicitly giving significant impacts to hotel industry and hotel website is use as part of for marketing and business purposes. Various attributes and dimensions have developed through the hotel website. This study is empirically investigates the most important hotel website dimensions to be considered in relation to the international tourists’ preferences. The hotel website dimensions are measured through two categories of variables which are website interactivity and website information. Sample of 400 foreign tourists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport were selected. The most important dimension that attracts online purchasing was selected throughout the study. The study also concluded that website information was the most important variables in hotel website dimension. Practically, this research has shown the importance of understanding in choosing the best and appropriate website dimension to encourage customer to purchase via online

Dimension manifestation of users’ psychographic traits towards online travel agency / Abdul Aziz Azdel... [et al.]

The purpose of this study is to assess the determinants of psychological traits towards users’ technology experience specifically on Online Travel Agencies (OTA) via exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Working on these issues and after sequences of analyses to verify reliability and factor structure, the final 16 items of Technology Readiness 2.0 (TR2.0) with 4 items for each dimension (Optimism, Innovativeness, Discomfort, and Insecurity) have been congregated. Through an online survey, the technology readiness determinants were administered to 100 travelers at KLIA2 who have experienced on OTA. EFA using Principal Component Analysis with Varimax Rotation indicated 14 items, with 4 factors final solution with the following subscales: Innovativeness (4 items); Optimism (4 items); Discomfort (3 items); and Insecurities (3 items). All in all, only two items were removed from the original total of 16 items by the factor analysis based on the factor loading matrix for this final solution. This study basically plays an important role in contributing to the existing literature on the OTA users’ standpoint by using an approach which is very powerful to redefine the factors within Technology Readiness. This enhancement has reorganized the items according to their importance specifically towards new perspective which are OTA users in Malaysia setting

Trusting the wisdom of stranger and ewom credibility in Collaborative consumption: a Conceptual paper

Using Airbnb as a platform for collaborative consumption, this conceptual paper helps us extend our understanding on the relationship between the benefits and satisfaction that Airbnb guests achieved during their stay and their intention to spread positive eWOM among Malaysians. Numerous studies have suggested significant impacts of eWOM on their businesses, specifically accommodation products in the tourism industry, how,ever scares study on it in the Airbnb Malaysia setting. This study will be using quantitative data through a survey method and a structured survey questionnaire that will be distributed to 400 respondents who have stayed at least once in any Airbnb accommodation located in Malaysia. Descriptive data will be analysed using SPSS and PLS-SEM will be employed to examine the relationship of the benefits of collaborative consumption towards customer satisfaction and eWOM. In addition, the role of customer satisfaction in the relationship between collaborative consumption benefits a and eWOM will be analyzed. The findings of this study will contribute toward a further understanding of how consumer decision-making can be affected by a myriad of factors, including the words of total strangers. This study will also add to the existing literature on Airbnb by understanding the mechanics behind what drives consumers to be satisfied with the offerings of Airbnb and what factors perceived to be more important than others

Perspectives on technology readiness, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, and behavioral intention of online travel agency users

The pace of technology advancement is faster than ever before. The key to success is when the business focuses on online service technology, particularly online travel agencies (OTA) that enables easier and convenient room reservation. However, most of the recent technology acceptance studies have not addressed the consumers’ psychological traits or general belief towards the new adoption of certain systems. In Malaysia, the application of OTA has not been empirically measured to any great extent, where the implementation of this type of reservation system is still in the early stage. It is therefore important to gain an in-depth understanding of the system by examining technology readiness as the psychographic factor and the technology acceptance on customers’ OTA experiences. A survey questionnaire among customers, who have used OTA has been undertaken with a total of 453 respondents where all the data were found usable. The survey was conducted at Malaysia airports. The results from the descriptive analysis revealed that most of the respondents believed technologies can enhance and improve flexibility, efficiency, and control over their daily lives. The outcome also indicated that the respondents were not pioneers in using and owning new technologies. Their main concern is the security of using new technology especially if it involves monetary and personal identity in the transaction. The findings also proved that the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology mediates the relationship between Technology Readiness (TR) and Behavioral Intention. The knowledge in this area can benefit the managers in fine-tuning their product positioning as well as communication strategies in order to align the TR profiles of a potential customer based on the different stages involved in the product lifecycle