Driving direct online hotel bookings through comparative sales promotions: an integration of utility theory, cue diagnosticity and value consciousness

Purpose Hotels use direct-booking incentives to compete with online travel agencies (OTAs). Drawing on acquisition–transaction utility (ATU) theory, cue diagnosticity and dual-process perspectives, this study examines how monetary sales promotion (MSP) and non-monetary sales promotion (NMSP) function as distinct value cues shaping attitude toward direct online booking (ADOB), with perceived offer value (POV) as a mediator and value consciousness (VC) as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach A 3 × 2 between-subjects experiment with 512 US consumers manipulated MSP discount depth (0%, 10% and 20%) and NMSP room-upgrade presence (absent versus present). A moderated-moderated mediation model tested the direct effects of MSP and NMSP on ADOB, the indirect effects through POV, and the moderating role of VC in these relationships. Findings MSP increased ADOB both directly and indirectly through POV. Although the two-way interaction between MSP and NMSP was not significant for either ADOB or POV, a significant three-way interaction among MSP, NMSP and VC on ADOB showed that a 20% discount combined with a free room upgrade strengthened ADOB among consumers high in VC. The indirect effect was primarily driven by MSP, indicating that monetary savings dominate direct-booking evaluations, while the combined effect of monetary and non-monetary cues emerges at the attitudinal level only among consumers high in VC. Originality/value This study advances hospitality research by integrating ATU theory, cue diagnosticity and dual-process perspectives in the direct online hotel booking context. It shows that MSP functions as a dominant transaction-utility cue, while the joint influence effect of MSP and NMSP depends on VC, clarifying how hotels can design value-differentiated offers.