Understanding online travel agency discontinuance: an asymmetric and configurational perspective

Purpose This study examines why consumers discontinue using online travel agencies (OTAs) by investigating how platform attributes shape satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and discontinuance intention. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework, it conceptualizes satisfaction and dissatisfaction as distinct organismic states. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from 387 OTA users were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to assess net effects and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify multiple causal configurations leading to discontinuance. Findings The results reveal that OTA discontinuance is driven by multiple equifinal pathways rather than a single dominant factor. Across configurations, high perceived effort and high dissatisfaction consistently emerge as core conditions, while low satisfaction plays a peripheral role. The findings also show that dissatisfaction mediates the effects of all platform-related stimuli, whereas satisfaction mediates only selected relationships. Practical implications OTA managers should prioritize reducing consumer effort and mitigating sources of dissatisfaction. Tailored retention strategies are needed to target different disengagement pathways rather than relying on uniform approaches. Originality/value This study advances OTA discontinuance research by conceptualizing discontinuance as an asymmetric, non-compensatory, and configurational phenomenon within the SOR framework. The findings challenge the compensatory logic underlying much of the post-adoption literature and demonstrate that OTA discontinuance emerges through multiple pathways in which dissatisfaction plays a dominant role.