ABSTRACT
The study investigates the factors influencing tourists' online booking intentions. This study employed structural equation modeling to evaluate the online booking intentions of tourists after the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in India, extending the application of reactance theory in tourism and hospitality services. Mediation and moderation analysis facilitated the unfurling of direct and indirect linkages among the constructs. The findings suggest that online hotel reviews, perceived scarcity, and perceived enjoyment aggrandize tourists' perceived value quotients, escalating their online booking intentions. Besides, visual presentations improve the strength of the linkage, while perceived pandemic threat weakens the linkage between tourists' perceived value and online booking intentions. The research demystifies critical facilitators of tourists' perceived value and online booking intentions that may assist hotel owners in engaging potential tourists and maximizing their hotels' bottom line. The hotel industry lacks research on perceived scarcity, visual presentations, and perceived pandemic threat. This research adds to the body of knowledge by combining the abovementioned factors through a coherent theoretical framework. It makes prospective tourists cautious about COVID-19's virulence and the devastating consequences. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Purpose>The meddling of foreign players into the Indian hotel industry has triggered fervent competitiveness, and therefore, consumers' attitude, intention and behavior have been the epicenter of all activities. This study endeavors to explicate enablers of online hotel booking intention (OHBI) in the Indian hospitality industry.Design/methodology/approach>The study examined OHBI of 560 travelers during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India using structural equation modeling and an extended technology acceptance model. Direct and indirect associations were explored using mediation and moderation.Findings>The results manifest that hotel website credibility, perceived website interactivity and perceived ease of use (PEU) aggrandize perceived usefulness (PU), which, in turn, considerably magnifies travelers' OHBI. PEU and PU partially mediate the relationship in the model. Into the bargain, service affordability reinforces the relationship, while perceived pandemic risk enfeebles the relationship between PU and OHBI.Research limitations/implications>The study unfurls pressing determinants of PEU, PU and OHBI that may facilitate hoteliers to lure travelers and enhance profitability.Originality/value>There is a paucity of literature on "hotel website credibility” and "perceived pandemic risk” in the hospitality industry. Hence, the study enriches literature by assimilating underlying constructs through an epigrammatic conceptual model. The study is distinctive because it unearths the possibilities of mediation and moderation amongst the aforementioned constructs and posits the calamitous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism and hospitality sector.