THE IMPACT OF DIGITISATION ON CONSUMER TRUST, SATISFACTION, AND BOOKING INTENTION IN SMALL TOURISM ENTERPRISES: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/fftxwz51Keywords:
Digitisation, Tourism, Small Tourism Enterprise, Satisfaction, Booking IntentionAbstract
Digitalization has changed buying experience as well as processes in companies, consequently, customer satisfaction and loyalty. With an emphasis on how digital components affect trust, customer satisfaction, and booking intention, this study investigates how tourists' perceptions and behavioral intentions toward small tourism companies (STEs) are affected by digitization. The study assesses six important constructs: Digital Presence (DP), Digital Communication Effectiveness (DCE), Perceived Usefulness of Digital Services (PUDS), Trust (TR), Customer Satisfaction (CS), and Booking Intention (BI) using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and a sample of 300 tourists who have booked services from STEs using digital platforms. The results show that the effectiveness of digital communication greatly increases customer trust, suggesting that prompt, transparent, and tailored communication is essential to fostering favorable opinions of STEs. Although digital presence is a fundamental component, it has little effect on trust until interactive interaction is included. It's interesting to note that customer happiness was not significantly impacted by perceived usefulness of digital services, indicating that travelers increasingly view these capabilities as standard expectations rather than value drivers.
References
1.Agus, A., & Shukri Hajinoor, M. (2012). Lean production supply chain management as driver towards enhancing product quality and business performance: Case study of manufacturing companies in Malaysia. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 29(1), 92-121.
2.Amerta, L., & Madhavi, I. (2023). Exploring service quality and customer satisfaction in the service industry: A mixed-methods analysis. Journal on Economics, Management and Business Technology, 2(1), 1-16.
3.Antonio, N., De Almeida, A., & Nunes, L. (2019). Big data in hotel revenue management: Exploring cancellation drivers to gain insights into booking cancellation behavior. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(4), 298-319.
4.Arslan, I. K. (2020). The importance of creating customer loyalty in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, 8(1), 11-20.
5.Ben-Elia, E., & Avineri, E. (2015). Response to travel information: A behavioural review. Transport reviews, 35(3), 352-377.
6.Buhalis, D., & Amaranggana, A. (2014, December). Smart tourism destinations enhancing tourism experience through personalisation of services. In Information and communication technologies in tourism 2015: Proceedings of the international conference in Lugano, Switzerland, February 3-6, 2015 (pp. 377-389). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
7.Buhalis, D., Harwood, T., Bogicevic, V., Viglia, G., Beldona, S., & Hofacker, C. (2019). Technological disruptions in services: lessons from tourism and hospitality. Journal of service management, 30(4), 484-506.
8.Cetin, G. (2020). Experience vs quality: predicting satisfaction and loyalty in services. The Service Industries Journal, 40(15-16), 1167-1182.
9.Cheng, F. F., Wu, C. S., & Chen, Y. C. (2020). Creating customer loyalty in online brand communities. Computers in Human Behavior, 107, 105752.
10.Gössling, S., & Lane, B. (2015). Rural tourism and the development of Internet-based accommodation booking platforms: a study in the advantages, dangers and implications of innovation. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(8-9), 1386-1403.
11.Hudson, S., Roth, M. S., & Madden, T. J. (2012). Customer communications management in the new digital era. Center for marketing studies, Darla moore school of business, University of south Carolina, 21.
12.Jin, Y., & Oriaku, N. (2013). E-service flexibility: meeting new customer demands online. Management Research Review, 36(11), 1123-1136.
13.Kassem, R., & Santamaria, D. (2023). The impact of tourist perception of fraud risk on tourism planning. In Handbook on Tourism Planning (pp. 242-254). Edward Elgar Publishing.
14.Maghembe, M., & Magasi, C. (2024). The Role of Customer Perceived Value, Brand Trust and Service Personalization in Shaping Customer Loyalty. International Journal of Management, Accounting & Economics, 11(9).
15.Murphy, H. C., Chen, M. M., & Cossutta, M. (2016). An investigation of multiple devices and information sources used in the hotel booking process. Tourism management, 52, 44-51.
16.Pencarelli, T. (2020). The digital revolution in the travel and tourism industry. Information technology & tourism, 22(3), 455-476.
17.Philip, A. V., & KA, Z. (2019). Effective engagement of digital natives in the ever-transforming digital world. In Digital Transformation in Business and Society: Theory and Cases (pp. 113-125). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
18.Pokhrel, S., Ganesan, S., Banjade, S. R., & Somasiri, N. (2024). Enhancing the Usability, Visibility, and Responsiveness of an Airline Reservation System: A User-Centered Design Approach. International journal of computer communication and informatics, 6(1), 1-15.
19.Shariffuddin, N. S. M., Azinuddin, M., Yahya, N. E., & Hanafiah, M. H. (2023). Navigating the tourism digital landscape: The interrelationship of online travel sites' affordances, technology readiness, online purchase intentions, trust, and E-loyalty. Heliyon, 9(8).
20.Siebel, T. M. (2019). Digital transformation: survive and thrive in an era of mass extinction. RosettaBooks.
21.Su, L., Hsu, M. K., & Marshall, K. P. (2014). Understanding the relationship of service fairness, emotions, trust, and tourist behavioral intentions at a city destination in China. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 31(8), 1018-1038.
22.Yen, C. H., Chen, C. Y., Cheng, J. C., & Teng, H. Y. (2018). Brand attachment, tour leader attachment, and behavioral intentions of tourists. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 42(3), 365-391.
23. Zaki, M. (2019). Digital transformation: harnessing digital technologies for the next generation of services. Journal of Services Marketing, 33(4), 429-435.
