Conceptualizing Web site quality and its consequences in the lodging industry

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Abstract

While an increasing number of lodging companies pay attention to new business opportunities on the Web, little research has addressed how to develop and maintain Web sites that can create such opportunities. Building on emerging literature on Web site quality and e-commerce behavior, this study conceptualizes Web site quality and proposes information satisfaction and purchase-related behavioral intentions as potential consequences of Web site quality in the lodging industry. Conceptual efforts paralleled in four lodging segments (i.e., luxury, upscale, mid-scale, and economy). Data collected through an electronic survey generally indicate that information satisfaction is a powerful determinant of behavioral intentions on the Web and that Web site quality is an important antecedent of information satisfaction. Discussions include implications for the lodging industry and future research.

Introduction

The Internet is changing the ways lodging companies conduct business. An increasing number of lodging customers make reservations directly with hotels by bypassing traditional distribution channels. According to the online travel research by PhoCusWright, the Internet generated $2.1 billion in hotel bookings in 2000, nearly double the figure in 1999 and four times as many as that in 1998 (Watkins, 2000). With such an exponential growth trend, Internet bookings were expected to account for more than 5% in 2001 and more than 10% of all room sales by 2003 (Blachford, 1999). Given the growing importance of the Internet as a distribution medium in the lodging industry, developing and maintaining an effective Web site will be critical to the success of the business.

Despite such an increasing role for electronic transactions in the lodging industry, progress in related research has been somewhat lagging (Pernsteiner and Rauseo, 2000). In particular, studies addressing how to develop and maintain effective lodging Web sites and how to evaluate existing Web sites for effectiveness are sparse in the hospitality literature. Most previous studies focused on emphasizing the importance and roles of the Internet as a next-generation marketing tool and, thus, their analyses have been limited largely to a descriptive level. Moreover, although several researchers have recently introduced potentially useful concepts such as Web site quality and its sub-dimensions as a means to evaluating the effectiveness of lodging Web sites (e.g., Jeong and Lambert (1999), Jeong and Lambert (2001)), their conceptualizations are yet to be elaborated into an empirically testable model. In general, additional theoretical efforts are imperative to increase our understanding of consumer behavior on the Internet.

Building on Jeong and Lambert's (2001) recent work on Web site quality, the purpose of this study was to develop a basic framework that can aid lodging operators in conducting e-commerce. Beyond the initial conceptualization of Web site quality by Jeong and Lambert, therefore, this study explored potential consequences of Web site quality. To this end, this study introduced two additional concepts, information satisfaction and behavioral intentions, and tested them with data collected from a random national sample of potential e-lodging customers. To lay a sound starting point for future research, this study conducted parallel analyses specific to four lodging segments (i.e., luxury, upscale, mid-scale, and economy). Travel purpose (i.e., business vs. pleasure) was also incorporated into the data to increase generalizability of the results by randomly assigning 50% of the respondents into either of the travel situations.

Section snippets

Research background

While the literature has not converged on a universal definition, Web site quality refers in this study to overall excellence or effectiveness of a Web site in delivering intended messages to its audience and viewers. As more customers are turning their attention to the Internet environment for potential business transactions with companies, researchers have made special efforts to identify effects of Web sites on the success of online business between customers and companies (e.g., Bell and

The proposed framework

Based on literature reviews, this study conceptualizes the relationships among Web site quality, information satisfaction, and behavioral intentions as in Fig. 1. In essence, information satisfaction is viewed as a mediator of Web site quality toward behavioral intentions. Using the logic in the mediation analysis given by Baron and Kenny (1986) and an application example shown in the lodging industry by Oh (2001), this study assesses the relationships among variables that are denoted by β's in

Study design

This study involved a field survey on the Internet with potential lodging customers. A Web page that contained the research questionnaire was constructed and linked to an actual hotel Web site. In the same way, 16 different versions of the questionnaire were created, each linked to a different hotel Web site. The 16 hotel Web sites were pre-selected by sampling four companies from each of four lodging segments (i.e., luxury, upscale, mid-scale, and economy) so that the data would represent a

Results

Table 3 presents descriptive statistics by the lodging segment. Within each segment, respondents’ behavioral intentions appear to be relatively weak compared to their perceptions on the other aspects of the Web site. Web sites of the economy segment tended to be perceived significantly less favorable than those of the other segments in information accuracy and completeness, yielding significantly lower scores in information satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Web sites of the luxury segment

Discussion

When the results in Table 4, Table 5, Table 6 are collectively considered, this study provides evidence that information satisfaction partially mediates the effects of information quality on behavioral intentions. In the luxury segment, for example, the effects of information completeness and ease of use were completely mediated by information satisfaction, based on the logic explained earlier; that is, the direct effects of these two variables on behavioral intentions were significant when

Implications

The finding that information satisfaction is an important mediator suggests that future-related research efforts need to include measurement of information satisfaction. Without measuring it, customers’ purchase-related behaviors on the Web may not be understood correctly. This study found that information satisfaction plays a critical role in determining the Web viewers’ purchase-related intentions as well as absorbs much information related to Web site quality perceptions. For example,

Limitations and suggestions

Although this study attempted to provide a basic framework for continuing research on this important area of the lodging business, additional efforts are necessary to advance the results of this study. First, future research efforts could explore what reasons underlie the segment-specific differences in consumer perceptions of Web site quality and related variables. One interesting, potential avenue of research would be to examine whether the nature of product offerings associated with the

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the American Hotel and Lodging Foundation for its financial support of this research. A special thanks goes to Douglas Viehland for his patient involvement and continued support during the study period. The manuscript also benefited from the two reviewers’ constructive comments on its earlier version.

Miyoung Jeong is assistant professor of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management at Iowa State University. Her research interests include Web quality, online customers’ behavior, Web-based learning, and lodging operations.

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Miyoung Jeong is assistant professor of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management at Iowa State University. Her research interests include Web quality, online customers’ behavior, Web-based learning, and lodging operations.

Haemoon Oh is associate professor of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management at Iowa State University where he teaches in the areas of marketing and law. His current research is focused on behavioral pricing, consumer satisfaction, and customer value in the context of relationship management.

Mary Gregoire is Professor and Chair of Apparel, Educational Studies, and Hospitality Management at Iowa State University. Her research interests include customer satisfaction, factors affecting decision making, and leadership development.

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