The interplay of website characteristics, attitude, and booking intentions for different hotel websites: a theory of reasoned action perspective

Using the theory of reasoned action as the underlying theoretical foundation, this study examines the direct effects of compatibility, perceived usefulness, communicability, perceived risk, and perceived playfulness on attitudes toward online booking and the indirect effects of these variables on consumers’ intention to use three different online hotel booking channels - independent hotel websites, chain hotel websites, and third-party hotel websites. Additionally, this study tests the direct effect of attitude towards online booking on consumers’ intention to use the three online booking channels. Collected data from 638 participants via Amazon M-Turk was analyzed using partial least squares based structural equation modeling. The findings indicated that compatibility, perceived usefulness, communicability, perceived risk, and perceived playfulness significantly positively affect attitudes toward online booking. Moreover, the attitude toward online booking significantly influences consumers’ intention to use independent hotel websites, chain hotel websites, and third-party hotel websites. In addition, attitude towards online booking fully mediated the relationship between compatibility, perceived usefulness, communicability, perceived risk and perceived playfulness, and intention to use independent hotel websites, chain hotel websites, and third-party hotel websites.