GENERATION Z CUSTOMERS’ ONLINE OUTBOUND TOURISM BOOKING INTENTION IN VIETNAM: EXTENDING THE TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL WITH INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

This study explored the factors influencing Generation Z (Gen Z) customers' intentions to book outbound tourism online in Vietnam. Recognizing Gen Z as digital natives and a pivotal demographic, especially within Vietnam's rapidly expanding digital and outbound tourism sectors, this research aimed to comprehensively understand their online booking behaviors. The theoretical framework was built upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which was extended to include intercultural competence as a crucial external variable. This integration allowed for an examination of how perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude, and intercultural competence collectively shape Gen Z's intentions to book outbound tourism online. To achieve this, a structured survey was administered to 312 Vietnamese Gen Z respondents. The collected data underwent rigorous analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings provided compelling evidence that all core TAM constructs—perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude—exerted a significant influence on online outbound booking intentions. Notably, attitude emerged as the strongest predictor, highlighting the profound impact of a positive mindset towards online booking platforms, followed closely by perceived usefulness, which underscores Gen Z's pragmatic approach to technology. A key contribution of this research lies in demonstrating the significant role of intercultural competence. The results revealed that intercultural competence positively impacted perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and, critically, directly influenced booking intentions. This underscores its pivotal role in facilitating crosscultural consumer interactions and enhancing the overall online booking experience for international travel. Theoretically, this study enriches the existing literature by extending TAM with intercultural competence, thereby addressing a gap in understanding the role of cultural adaptability in technology adoption behaviors, particularly in the context of international services. Practically, these findings offer invaluable insights for tourism platforms and marketers targeting the Vietnamese Gen Z demographic. The research emphasizes the paramount importance of developing user-friendly interfaces that resonate with digital natives, creating culturally adaptive content that acknowledges and caters to cross-cultural nuances, and implementing targeted marketing strategies that effectively communicate the benefits and ease of online outbound tourism booking.