Online hotel booking: The effects of brand image, price, trust and value on purchase intentions
Che-Hui Lien a , Miin-Jye Wen b , * , Li-Ching Huang b , Kuo-Lung Wu c
aDepartment of Marketing, International Business, and Entrepreneurship, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada
bDepartment of Statistics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, ROC
cDepartment of Information Management, Kun Shan University, Tainan, Taiwan, ROC
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 21 May 2014 Accepted 3 March 2015 Available online 22 June 2015
Keywords:
Brand image Price Trust Value
Purchase intentions
a b s t r a c t
Leisure travelers increasingly prefer to book hotel online when considering the convenience and cost/
time saving. This research examines the direct and mediating effects of brand image, perceived price, trust, perceived value on consumers' booking intentions and compares the gender differences in online hotel booking. The outcomes confirm most of the direct and indirect path effects and are consistent with findings from previous studies. Consumers in Taiwan tend to believe the hotel price is affordable, the hotel brand is attractive, the hotel is trustworthy, the hotel will offer good value for the price and the likelihood of their booking intentions is high. Brand image, perceived price, and perceived value are the three critical determinants directly influencing purchase intentions. However, the impact of trust on purchase intentions is not signi ficant. The differences between males and females on purchase intentions are not significant as well. Managerial implications of these results are discussed.
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1. Introduction
Based on 2010 Philips Index for Health and Well-being (http://
www.philips-thecenter.org), among 23 countries surveyed, Taiwan was ranked as the second highest for people facing life/
working pressure, while India was ranked as the highest. To help release stress, the Taiwan government encourages people to travel either domestically or internationally. A two-day weekend policy has inspired people living in Taiwan to travel to suburban areas close to the mountain or the ocean (e.g., Kenting).
According to the 2011 Survey of Travel by R.O.C. (Taiwan) Citi- zens (http://admin.taiwan.net.tw), the proportion of people un- dertaking domestic tourist travel in 2011 was 95.4%, an increase of 1.5% from 2010 (93.9%). The proportion of people taking domestic tourist travel is de fined as the proportion of people who took at least one domestic trip during the year. The total expenditure on domestic travel in 2011 in Taiwan was NT$ 310.3 billion (US$ 10.527
billion), an increase of 30.3% from 2010 (US$ 8.079 billion). Based on this survey, 36.6% of tourists use the Internet to obtain travel information, an increase of 3.7% from 2010 (32.9%). Forty-four percent of overnight tourists stayed in hotels.
The Internet has become an important distribution channel in the hotel industry (Lehto, Kim, & Morrison, 2006 ). Unlike tradi- tional hotel booking through travel agents, online hotel booking offers bene fits to consumers such as accessing more photos and videos, a full description of the hotel property and location, better pricing, and no additional booking fees (O'Connor & Frew, 2004;
Sparks & Browning, 2011 ). Considering the convenience and cost/
time saving, leisure travelers in Taiwan increasingly prefer to use the Internet to book hotels and search for information regarding brand, price, and service (2011 Survey of Travel by R.O.C. (Taiwan) Citizens). Many hotels have noted this trend and have provided access to secure online reservation systems.
Several studies have investigated the impact of brand image on consumer behavior in the service sector (Aghekyan-Simonian, Forsythe, Kwon, & Chattaraman, 2012; Ryu, Han, & Kim, 2008 ).
Due to the intangible elements of the hotel industry, some tangible cues, e.g., hotel brand name and onsite amenities, are important in shaping and in fluencing customers' behavior. To build a strong brand, a hotel should develop its own distinctive image that
* Corresponding author. Department of Statistics, National Cheng Kung Univer- sity, No.1, University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan, ROC. Tel.:þ886 6 2757575x53629.
E-mail address:mjwen@mail.ncku.edu.tw(M.-J. Wen).
Peer review under responsibility of College of Management, National Cheng Kung University.
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differentiates itself from competitors and communicate the major bene fits to its target customers. Consumers are more likely to purchase products/services with well-established brand names (Aghekyan-Simonian et al., 2012). Product price has long been considered a key predictor of consumers' purchase decision- making. Price may convey information to the consumer regarding product/service quality and value (Erickson & Johansson, 1985 ).
Electronic markets allow customers to easily compare prices among vendors and find the affordable one. If a product/service price is perceived as reasonable, consumers may have greater intentions to purchase (Grewal, Krishnan, Baker, & Borin, 1998 ). Trust facilitates a person's con fidence and his/her willingness to have faith in the other party (Moorman, Zaltman, & Deshpande, 1992 ). Building consumers' trust is one of the factors determining the success of a service provider (Kim, Xu, & Gupta, 2012 ). Value is an important concept in understanding customers. Past research found that value is positively associated with behavioral intentions in the hospitality industry (Ha & Jang, 2010 ).
Much of the purchase effort occurs prior to the actual buying decision. Therefore, it is important for hoteliers to analyze the key antecedents and mediators of purchase intentions to know how to favorably in fluence customers in the pre-purchase stage. Although many studies have examined various factors affecting online pur- chasing decision (Aghekyan-Simonian et al., 2012; Chen, 2009;
Everard & Galletta, 2006; Javadi, Dolatabadi, Nourbakhsh, Poursaeedi, & Asadollahi, 2012; Yu & Wu, 2007; Zhou, Dai, &
Zhang, 2007), there has been very little research regarding online hotel booking in Taiwan. Chiang and Jang (2007) collected data from students at a major mid-western university in the US and proposed an integrative model to investigate the direct impacts of price and brand image on service quality, trust, value and leisure travelers' purchase intentions for online hotel booking. Their study was conducted solely in the US and their model needs to be further veri fied in other countries.
Service quality is de fined as the consumer's comparison of ex- pected service level with actual service performance (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985 ). Hotel service quality is better measured after consumers actually experience the hotel accommodation, and hence, is not appropriate to use in the case of online booking. On- line hotel booking involves interaction with the website. Website quality is an antecedent of trust (Kim, Jin, & Swinney, 2009 ) and purchase intention (Chen, Hsu, & Lin, 2010 ), and is analyzed as a multi-dimensional concept (Chen et al., 2010). Adding website quality into this integrative model will make this model compli- cated as more facets would have to be tested and evaluated. Due to this complexity in measuring the effects of other constructs on purchase intentions, website quality will not be included in the scope of the study. Moreover, in Chiang and Jang's model, the direct effects of brand image on perceived price and purchase intentions and the in fluence of trust on purchase intentions were not tested.
The mediating effects of brand image on purchase intentions through value and trust were also not examined, and gender dif- ferences in online hotel booking were not investigated in their integrative model. Brand image was identi fied as an important antecedent directly in fluencing price and online purchase in- tentions (Aghekyan-Simonian et al., 2012; Oh, 2000). Trust is an important determinant directly in fluencing the user's behavioral intentions to purchase online (Everard & Galletta, 2006; Ling, bin Daud, Piew, Keoy, & Hassan, 2011 ). Research has shown that although men and women are equally likely to use the Internet for personal or business purposes, more men than women are using the Internet for online business transactions and purchases (Hasan, 2010; Rodgers & Harris, 2003; Van Slyke, Comunale, & Belanger, 2002). To improve Chiang and Jang's integrative model and generate insightful information, our article aims to test the direct
and mediating effects of brand image, price, trust, and value on online hotel booking intentions in Taiwan as well as examine gender differences in online hotel booking.
The article is organized as follows. In the subsequent sessions, we review the literature and develop the hypotheses. We then summarize the research methodology, and report the results.
Finally, we conclude with discussions.
2. Literature review and research hypotheses
2.1. Explanation of constructs
2.1.1. Brand image
Brand image is a determinant affecting customers' subjective perceptions and consequent behaviors (Ryu et al., 2008) and is an extrinsic cue when consumers are evaluating a product/service before purchasing (Zeithaml, 1988). According to the theory of reasoned action (TRA, Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975 ), consumers consider the consequences of alternative behaviors before engaging in them (Bang, Ellinger, Hadjimarcou, & Traichal, 2000 ). Consumers' behavioral intent is derived from attitude toward the behavior and subjective norms (Bang et al., 2000). Keller (1993, p.3) de fined brand image as perceptions about a brand as re flected by the brand associations held in consumer memory. A brand association has a level of strength, and the link to a brand will be stronger when the link is based on consumers' experience or the exposures to com- munications (Aaker, 1991). Brand associations are classi fied into three categories including attributes, bene fits, and attitudes and these associations can vary based on their favorability, strength, and uniqueness (Keller, 1993). The more favorable the brand image, the more positive the attitude toward the branded product and its attributes (Aghekyan-Simonian et al., 2012). Brand image aids a consumer in recognizing his/her needs and wants regarding the brand and distinguishes the brand from other rivals (Anwar, Gulzar, Sohail, & Akram, 2011 ).
2.1.2. Price
From the consumer's perspective, price represents the amount of money consumers must give up to get the product/service (Zeithaml, 1988). Many consumers use price as a quality-signaling cue re flecting the conventional wisdom that “you get what you pay for ” ( Erickson & Johansson, 1985 ). Consumers do not always remember actual prices of products. Instead, they encode prices in way that are meaningful to them (Zeithaml, 1988). In the online shopping, customers tend to compare the objective prices (price offered by the current vendor) with reference prices (price offered by other vendors) and then form their perceptions of price (Kim et al., 2012). Price, as a heuristic cue, is more readily observable than quality (Yoon, Oh, Song, Kim, & Kim, 2014 ). Under the competitive environment, low prices (or reasonable price) help hotels achieve a sustainable advantage within their product mar- kets (Bojanic, 1996). Instead of a single price, consumers usually have a range of prices that are acceptable for an intended purchase.
2.1.3. Trust
Trust is one of the central features of buyer-seller relationships.
The role of trust in social exchange relations has been the subject of
researchers' interests (Wu, Chen, & Chung, 2010 ). Trust refers to a
positive belief about the reliability and dependability of a person or
an object (Everard & Galletta, 2006 ). Trust builds when the
customer has con fidence in a service provider's reliability and
integrity (Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2009 ). Consumers' trust in the service
providers can help reduce their cognitive risk and insecurity and
thus enable the maintenance of the long-term relationship (Gefen,
2000). The more a customer trusts a website, the lower the
perceived online transaction risk, and the greater the intention to purchase on that website (Mansour, Kooli, & Utama, 2014 ). In on- line hotel booking, customers might be vulnerable to accommo- dations and services provided by the hoteliers. Customers expect that hotel will deliver services as promised on the website and the expectation is dependent on the trust the customer has on the hotel. Therefore, a hotel can employ trust as a powerful marketing tool to build customer loyalty (Kim et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2009).
2.1.4. Value
A generally accepted de finition of value was proposed by Zeithaml (1988). Zeithaml (1988, p.14) found that, although there are different consumer expressions of value, perceived value can be captured in one overall de finition as the consumer's overall assessment of the utility of a product/service based on perceptions of what is received and what is given (i.e., a trade-off between perceived bene fits and perceived cost). Lee and Overby (2004) identi fied two types of online shopping values: utilitarian value and experiential value. Utilitarian value is an overall assessment of functional bene fits including the price savings, service excellence, time savings, and merchandise selection dimensions. Experiential value is an overall representation of experiential bene fits from the entertainment, the visual appeal, and the interactivity involved with online shopping (Lee & Overby, 2004 ). In an empirical study of customer value in the hotel industry, Nasution and Mavondo (2008) found that different classes of hotels deliver signi ficantly different levels of customer value in terms of reputation for quality and prestige.
2.1.5. Purchase intentions
Purchase intention is the likelihood that a customer will buy a particular product/service (Dodds, Monroe, & Grewal, 1991 ). Pur- chase intention is a vital predictor of actual buying behavior and this relationship has been empirically examined in hospitality and tourism industry (Bai, Law, & Wen, 2008; Sparks & Browning, 2011). In the online hotel booking, purchase intention re flects the desire of a consumer to book a room through the hotel's website.
Previous research has shown that brand image, price, trust, and value are driving forces of online purchase intentions (Chiang &
Jang, 2007; Chen & Dubinsky, 2003; Everard & Galletta, 2006 ).
2.2. Hypotheses development
2.2.1. In fluence of brand image on trust, value, price, and purchase intentions
In Aghekyan-Simonian et al.'s (2012) research of online pur- chase intentions for apparel products, the outcomes showed that brand image positively in fluences purchase intentions through the reduction of perceived risk. Brand image is an extrinsic cue for evaluation of product/service price and a better brand image results in a higher perceived price (Grewal et al., 1998). Ryu et al. (2008) reported that a favorable restaurant image positively in fluences consumers' perceived value and their willingness to purchase.
Chen, Yeh, and Huan's (2014) study of consumption in nostalgic restaurants indicated that restaurant image has a positive impact on consumption intention. A good brand image improves a con- sumer's trust because it can diminish the risk of purchase (Chen, 2010; Chiang & Jang, 2007 ). A reasonable product/service price, a satisfactory value, and a trust in the brand will make consumers have greater intention to purchase the product/service (Dodds et al., 1991; Kim et al., 2012). Based on the foregoing discussions, although the direct effects of brand image on trust, perceived value, and price have been widely discussed in the hospitality/marketing literature, little empirical research investigated both the direct and mediating effects of brand image on online hotel booking
intentions. Thus, we infer that price, trust, and value have medi- ating effects on the relationship between brand image and will- ingness to purchase. This leads to the following hypotheses:
H1. Brand image will have a positive effect on perceived price H2. Brand image will have a positive effect on trust
H3. Brand image will have a positive effect on perceived value H4. Brand image will have a positive effect on purchase intentions H5. Brand image will have a positive effect on purchase intentions mediating through perceived price
H6. Brand image will have a positive effect on purchase intentions mediating through trust
H7. Brand image will have a positive effect on purchase intentions mediating through perceived value
2.2.2. Relationships among price, value, and purchase intentions In the hotel industry, a reasonable price results in greater customer perceived value (Lee, 2012) and enhances consumers' purchase intentions (Chiang & Jang, 2007 ). Duman and Mattila (2005) identi fied price as an important antecedent of perceived value of tourism services. Therefore, in the acceptable price range, a lower price for a given quality (i.e., perceived price is reasonable) leads to a higher perceived value and consequently to a greater intention to purchase (Dodds et al., 1991). Faryabi, Sadeghzadeh, and Saed's research (2012) of online shopping indicated that price discount (reasonable price) has a positive effect on con- sumers' purchase intentions. In the study of retailing, lower-price promotion was proved to strongly increase consumers' perceived shopping value (Yoon et al., 2014). These findings provide the theoretical basis for the hypotheses of the direct and mediating effects of perceived price on perceived value and purchase intentions.
H8. Perceived reasonable price will have a positive effect on perceived value
H9. Perceived reasonable price will have a positive effect on purchase intentions
H10. Perceived reasonable price will have a positive effect on purchase intentions mediating through perceived value
2.2.3. Relationships among trust, value, and purchase intentions In an empirical study using a lab experiment, Everard and Galletta (2006) showed that trust in the online store positively in fluences the user's intentions to purchase from the online store.
Mansour et al. (2014) adopted an integrative approach to address the antecedents and consequences of online trust on purchase intention and the findings showed that purchase intention is positively in fluenced by online trust. Ling et al.'s (2011) study also supported the positive relationship between trust and online pur- chase intentions. In Johnson's (2007) study in both of fline and online banking, trust in the firm has a significant, positive impact on perceived value from the firm. Chong, Yang, and Wong (2003) presented the mediating role of value between trust and pur- chase intentions. Hence, the proposed hypotheses are:
H11. Trust will have a positive effect on perceived value
H12. Trust will have a positive effect on purchase intentions
H13. Trust will have a positive effect on purchase intentions
mediating through perceived value
2.2.4. Relationship between value and purchase intentions
Chen and Chen (2010) examined the visitor experience of her- itage tourism and found that perceived value is a pivotal determi- nant of behavioral intentions. Kim, Sun, and Kim's (2013) research showed that restaurant guests' perceived values (i.e., hedonic and social value) positively affect their behavior intentions to use social commerce. Ha and Jang (2010) investigated American customers' perceived value regarding dining experience in Korean restaurants and the outcomes also support the positive in fluence of perceived value on behavioral intentions. In an online retail research, value had a positive in fluence on online purchase intentions ( Chen &
Dubinsky, 2003). Thus, we propose.
H14. Perceived value will have a positive effect on purchase intentions
3. Methodology
3.1. Research model
The research model consists of the antecedents of purchase intentions including brand image, perceived price, value, and trust, investigating the effects of brand image, perceived price, and trust on value, and examining the in fluence of brand image on perceived price and trust. The proposed model is shown in Fig. 1.
3.2. Data collection
The following two criteria guide our sample selection. First, only those respondents who had reserved a room from a hotel website in the last 12 months were quali fied to participate in the survey.
Second, this study required the respondents to be 18 years and above to ensure they are responsible for using their own credit card when making an online hotel booking. Based on the 2011 statistical report of Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan (Statistical Yearbook of Interior, http://sowf.moi.gov.tw/stat/year/elist.htm), the popula- tion of those aged 18 years and over in the north, middle, and south of Taiwan are 15,797,000 (47.94%), 9,059,659 (27.49%), and 8,093,910 (24.57%), respectively.
A scenario approach was used in this study. The scenario as- sumes that the respondents are planning to visit Kenting for 2 e3 days on vacation and are using the Internet to search and book a hotel. Kenting is located in southern Taiwan and is a popular scenic area boasting fabulous ocean and mountain views. Three hotel brands (Howard Beach Resort Kenting, Red Garden Resort, and Kenting Youth Activity Center), representing three different levels of price, were used in this scenario. The use of three hotel brands in different price segments is expected to provide a robust test of model relationships (Chiang & Jang, 2007; Nasution & Mavondo, 2008) and will enable a comparison of the differences in percep- tions among the five marketing constructs. Howard Beach Resort Kenting is a well-known luxury hotel with a superior location
situated at the end of Kenting's main street. Red Garden Resort features a touch of Bali style and is in the mid-scale hotel segment.
Kenting Youth Activity Center is in a tranquil setting surrounded by natural views of the beaches and mountains and is famous for its southern Min style architecture. It is the largest low-priced econ- omy hotel in Kenting. The respondents were required to review the three hotel brands, price, indoor and outdoor facilities, restaurants, location, the room features and onsite amenities and to identify which hotel they would choose to book online. The samples were collected from the database of Lifewin (www.lifewin.com.tw).
Lifewin is an online survey network consisting of 50,000 members in Taiwan. This research employed online, strati fied sampling and sent the questionnaire to 1200 Lifewin members including 600 in the north, 300 in the middle, and 300 in the south of Taiwan. A total of 390 members (who had reserved a room from a hotel website in the last 12 months) replied and the response rate was 32.5%. After deleting samples with questionable responses (e.g., participants answered “Strongly Disagree” or “Strongly Agree” to all questions appeared in the second section of the questionnaire), the numbers of valid observations in the north, middle, and south of Taiwan were 173 (47.3%), 91 (24.9%), and 102 (27.9%), respectively, for a total sample size of 366. To measure the representativeness of the observations in each region, a goodness-of- fit test was used and the result (p-value ¼ 0.747) is not significant, showing that there is no signi ficant difference between the population percentage and the sample percentage in the three regions. Strati fied sampling is a probability sampling approach that is distinguished by the following two steps. First, the population is divided into two or more mutually exclusive and exhaustive subsets. Second, simple random sampling is employed to choose samples from each subset.
In our research, the total samples were first divided into sub- samples based on different regions (north, middle, and south) in Taiwan. Then the strati fied samples were randomly selected from the north, middle, and south of Taiwan.
3.3. Survey instrument
A survey questionnaire was developed with three sections. In the first section, after reviewing the three hotel information, the respondents were asked to select the hotel they would reserve a room at. The result showed that the numbers of bookings for Howard Beach Resort Kenting, Red Garden Resort, and Kenting Youth Activity Center were 66 (18%), 222 (61%), and 78 (21%), respectively. Over 60% of leisure travelers chose to book the mid- scale hotel and the result is consistent with the 2010 Taiwan do- mestic tourist travel report - most domestic tourists chose ac- commodations in mid-scale hotels. In the second section, respondents' level of perceived price, brand image, trust, perceived value and purchase intentions were measured. Price items were modi fied from Chiang and Jang (2007) and Dodds et al. (1991).
Brand image items were adapted from the study of Keller (1993) and del Río, Vazquez, and Iglesias (2001). Trust and purchase in- tentions items developed by Chiang and Jang (2007) were used.
Value items were modi fied from Zeithaml (1988) and Chiang and Jang (2007). The 21 items were measured by a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree ¼ 1” to “strongly agree ¼ 5”.
The third section includes demographic questions. The developed questionnaire was pre-tested on 31 online shoppers and the result showed the instructions and questions were well understood.
Table 1 demonstrates the breakdown of the respondents in terms of gender, age, marriage, education, and monthly income. Among the respondents, 54.1% were females and 10.9% were married. The re- spondents tend to be young (86.1% of them were aged 18 e30), single (89.1% of them were not married), and well educated (94.8%
Fig. 1. The research model and the proposed relationships.
of them had a bachelor or graduate degree). 89.3% of the re- spondents' monthly income were under NT$40,000 (US$1333).
4. Results
4.1. Descriptive statistics of measurement items
The mean and standard deviation (SD) of the measurement items are shown in Table 2. The overall mean of respondents' perceived price in each hotel is greater than 3 indicating the perceived price is reasonable. However, the mean score of P1 ( “the price listed by this hotel is inexpensive ”) of the Howard Beach Resort Kenting is 2.86, demonstrating that the respondents did not think the price in this luxury hotel was inexpensive. Compared with the Howard Beach Resort Kenting (overall mean: 3.32) and the Red Garden Resort (overall mean: 3.72), the perceived price of the Kenting Youth Activity Center (overall mean: 4.44) was more favorable. The overall mean of brand image and trust was rated higher in the Howard Beach Resort Kenting (brand image: 4.01;
trust: 4.08) in comparison with that of the Red Garden Resort (brand image: 3.62; trust: 3.80) and the Kenting Youth Activity Center (brand image: 3.67; trust: 4.04). The overall mean value in the three hotels was almost the same (Howard Beach Resort Kenting: 3.90; Red Garden Resort: 3.92; Kenting Youth Activity Center: 3.90) showing that the three hotels provide customers with good value based on the price. In terms of purchase intentions, the respondents' willingness to book the Kenting Youth Activity Center online (overall mean: 4.00) was higher than their willingness to book the Howard Beach Resort Kenting (overall mean: 3.73) and the Red Garden Resort (overall mean: 3.92).
4.2. Test of gender differences
Table 3 shows the mean score and the signi ficance results be- tween males and females in terms of the five constructs. The out- comes indicated males and females have signi ficant differences in perceived price and trust. There are no signi ficant differences be- tween males and females on purchase intentions. Regarding brand image and value, males and females have signi ficant differences only in items BI4 ( “this hotel brand is a social status symbol”), BI5 ( “this hotel brand has a good reputation”), V1 (“the hotel offers
good value for the price ”), and V4 (“The overall expected value of staying at this hotel is high ”).
4.3. Structure equation modeling (SEM)
The hypothesized model is tested employing structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 19. The process of applying the SEM technique involves two steps. First, con firmatory factor analysis (CFA) tests a measurement theory based on overall model fit and other evidences of construct reliability and validity. Second, the structural model takes the information about measures into ac- count and examines the structural relationships among the five constructs (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2010 ).
CFA using maximum likelihood estimation was first applied to test how well these 21 measures represent the five constructs. The overall model c
2is 611.552 with 51 degrees of freedom ( c
2/ d.f. ¼ 3.398) and is significant at p < 0.001, implying the model was not adequate. However, the c
2value is very sensitive to sample size and is generally recommended for use with moderate samples only (e.g., 100 e200) ( Hu & Bentler, 1999 ). Given the problem associated with using the c
2test alone and the large valid sample size of 366, other fit indices were employed to test the overall model fit.
CFI (an incremental fit index) and RMSEA (an absolute fit measure) are widely used indices of model fit ( Kline, 2011). The CFI value of 0.924 exceeded the recommended cut-off level of 0.9 and the RMSEA value of 0.071 was lower than the value of 0.08 indi- cating an adequate model fit ( Kline, 2011). Moreover, the RMR value of 0.038 ( <0.05) and the AGFI value of 0.855 (>0.8) also support a good model fit ( MacCallum & Hong, 1997 ). In sum, the hypothe- sized model exhibits a good fit with the data collected.
Table 1
Demographic characteristics of the respondents (N¼ 366).
Frequency %
Gender
Males 168 45.9
Females 198 54.1
Age
18e20 26 7.1
21e30 289 79.0
31e40 45 12.3
41e50 3 0.8
51þ 3 0.8
Married
Yes 40 10.9
No 326 89.1
Education
High School Graduate 19 5.2
Bachelor's Degree 193 52.7
Graduate Degree 154 42.1
Monthly Income
< NT$20,000 (¼US$667) 239 65.3
NT$20,000eNT$40,000 (US$667eUS$1333) 88 24.0
NT$40,001eNT$60,000 (US$1334eUS$2000) 31 8.5
NT$60,001eNT$80,000 (US$2001eUS$2667) 4 1.1
>NT$80,001(US$2668) 4 1.1
Table 2
Descriptive statistics of measurement items.
Measurement Howard
Kenting
Red Garden Resort
Kenting Youth Activity Center
Items Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Brand Image (BI)
BI1 4.12 0.65 3.65 0.70 3.99 0.75
BI2 4.09 0.63 3.86 0.70 3.72 0.80
BI3 4.05 0.62 3.92 0.69 3.68 0.78
BI4 3.71 0.84 3.12 0.90 3.21 0.90
BI5 4.06 0.68 3.57 0.73 3.76 0.73
Overall Mean 4.01 3.62 3.67
Price (P)
P1 2.86 0.86 3.29 0.79 4.47 0.70
P2 3.42 0.75 3.85 0.69 4.42 0.66
P3 3.67 0.79 3.97 0.72 4.51 0.60
P4 3.33 0.85 3.75 0.71 4.35 0.74
Overall Mean 3.32 3.72 4.44
Trust (T)
T1 4.02 0.57 3.82 0.61 4.15 0.69
T2 4.11 0.53 3.80 0.62 4.01 0.75
T3 4.08 0.51 3.82 0.64 3.97 0.68
T4 4.11 0.59 3.77 0.63 4.04 0.65
Overall Mean 4.08 3.80 4.04
Value (V)
V1 3.86 0.52 3.92 0.66 4.04 0.73
V2 3.94 0.58 3.92 0.62 3.82 0.77
V3 3.83 0.62 3.95 0.59 3.95 0.74
V4 3.98 0.60 3.90 0.64 3.78 0.82
Overall Mean 3.90 3.92 3.90
Purchase Intentions (PI)
PI1 3.89 0.59 4.10 0.63 3.92 0.70
PI2 3.62 0.67 3.95 0.69 4.19 0.69
PI3 3.74 0.64 3.75 0.76 3.83 0.84
PI4 3.68 0.66 3.88 0.70 4.06 0.73
Overall Mean 3.73 3.92 4.00
Internal consistency was assessed by construct reliability (CR).
All the CRs, shown in Table 5, exceed the threshold value of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2010) indicating good reliability. Convergent validity was veri fied by average variance extracted (AVE) ( Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 2010). The AVE for each construct exceeds 0.5 (Table 5), which suggests adequate convergence (Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 2010). The CFA results (Table 4) also support the convergent validity because factor loadings for all measurement items are greater than 0.5 (Hair et al., 2010). Discriminant validity is acceptable because the AVE for each construct exceeds the squared correlation coef ficient between any two constructs ( Fornell &
Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 2010).
The evaluation of the structural model is used to examine the hypothesized relationships. In line with the value and signi ficance of the path coef ficients (shown in Table 6), brand image appears to have a signi ficant and positive impact on perceived price, trust, value, and purchase intentions. The positive effects of brand image on purchase intentions mediating from price and value are signi fi- cant but the mediating effect on purchase intentions via trust is not signi ficant. The total effect of brand image on purchase intentions is 0.42 (direct effect ( ¼0.166) plus indirect effect (¼0.078 þ 0.176 ¼ 0.254)). Therefore, H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H7 are corrobo- rated but H6 is rejected. Perceived price has a signi ficant, positive effect ( ¼0.261) on purchase intentions and it positively influences purchase intentions mediating through perceived value ( ¼0.162), providing a total effect of 0.423. Perceived price is also found to have a positively impact on value. In this way, H8, H9, and H10 are sta- tistically supported. Trust positively in fluences perceived value and has a signi ficant, positive effect on purchase intentions mediating through perceived value. However, the impact of trust on purchase intentions is not signi ficant. Accordingly, H11 and H13 are supported but H12 is rejected. Finally, perceived value positively in fluences purchase intentions supporting H14.
Based on the direct path estimates, it is noted that value is the most important predictor of purchase intentions (standardized coef ficient ¼ 0.610). In addition, the path coefficients of brand
image on trust (standardized coef ficient ¼ 0.679), trust on value (standardized coef ficient ¼ 0.424), and brand image on perceived price (standardized coef ficient ¼ 0.300) are larger in comparison with other direct path coef ficients. In the indirect path estimates, the outcomes indicated brand image, perceived price and trust have a signi ficant, positive influence on purchase intentions mediating through value. Therefore, value plays a pivotal, medi- ating role on purchase intentions. In addition, brand image has a signi ficant, positive effect on purchase intentions mediating by perceived price.
5. Discussions and conclusion
5.1. Discussion of findings
This study contributes to the literature in examining the effects of brand image, perceived price, trust, and value on Taiwanese online hotel booking decisions, and comparing gender differences in these constructs. The results con firm most of the path effects showing that brand image positively in fluences perceived price, trust, value, and purchase intentions. Price is found to have a pos- itive impact on value and purchase intentions. Value has a signi fi- cant, positive effect on purchase intentions. However, although trust positively affects value, the impact of trust on purchase in- tentions is not signi ficant.
Brand image is a key driver positively in fluencing purchase in- tentions. The outcome is consistent with Aghekyan-Simonian et al.
(2012) and Chen, Yeh, and Huan (2014). The improvement of brand reputation strengthens consumers' intentions of booking. Brand image is an important antecedent (a total effect of 0.679) in determining trust, re flecting that the attractive and valuable brand increases consumers' trust of the product/service associated with the brand. The result is concordant with Chen (2010) and Chiang and Jang (2007). Brand image positively in fluences price and value exhibiting a pleased and reputed brand escalates the level of price and improves product/service value. These findings are consistent with Grewal et al. (1998) and Ryu et al. (2008). However, the impact of brand image on purchase intentions mediating from trust is not signi ficant. Perceived price is a key factor positively in fluencing purchase intentions indicating that an acceptable and appropriate price enhances consumers' booking intentions. The result is consistent with Chiang and Jang (2007) and Faryabi, Sadeghzadeh, and Saed (2012). The signi ficant, positive effect of price on value shows that a reasonable price improves consumers' perceived value, which is compatible with Lee (2012) and Yoon et al. (2014). Value is the most important determinant of pur- chase intentions with a total effect of 0.610 showing that if the hotel offers customers satisfactory value, they are more likely to book the hotel. This result is consistent with the studies of Oh (2000), Chiang and Jang (2007), and Kim et al. (2013). The impact of trust on purchase intentions is surprisingly not signi ficant, demonstrating that trust is not a predictor directly in fluencing Taiwanese online hotel booking decisions. The outcome is different with previous studies (Everard & Galletta, 2006; Ling et al., 2011; Mansour et al., 2014). One possible reason to explain this is that the three levels of hotels used in this study are well-known and have operated in Kenting for many years. Consumers know what to expect from these three hotels and feel they are reliable. Therefore, trust might already exist among consumers before they book the hotel and it is not a factor directly affecting Taiwanese booking decisions. How- ever, trust has a positive, indirect effect on purchase intentions through the mediator of value. Improving the trust relationship with consumers enhances consumers' perceived value which will eventually strengthen their purchase intentions.
Table 3
Test of gender differences.
Measurement Males Females P-Value
Items Mean Mean
Brand Image (BI)
BI1 3.88 3.75 0.116
BI2 3.87 3.87 0.996
BI3 3.91 3.88 0.672
BI4 3.43 3.08 0.000*
BI5 3.82 3.59 0.004*
Price (P)
P1 3.68 3.28 0.000*
P2 4.02 3.79 0.004*
P3 4.16 3.92 0.003*
P4 3.93 3.69 0.006*
Trust (T)
T1 4.00 3.86 0.033*
T2 3.96 3.82 0.025*
T3 3.98 3.83 0.027*
T4 4.01 3.79 0.001*
Value (V)
V1 4.01 3.87 0.045*
V2 3.96 3.93 0.607
V3 3.98 3.91 0.350
V4 4.03 3.78 0.000*
Purchase Intentions (PI)
PI1 4.04 4.02 0.699
PI2 4.01 3.89 0.129
PI3 3.85 3.70 0.062
PI4 3.91 3.86 0.527
Note: *p< 0.05.
In terms of the overall mean of the five constructs, Taiwanese tend to believe the hotel price is affordable, the hotel brand is attractive, the hotel is trustworthy, and the hotel will offer good value for the price. After reviewing the hotel websites, the likeli- hood of booking by Taiwanese is high. In comparison with the
Howard Beach Resort Kenting and the Red Garden Resort, the perceived price is most favorable and the booking intention is highest for the Kenting Youth Activity Center. This is not surprising because the majority of the respondents have income levels from low to medium and they are generally price sensitive. For those facing budget constraints, the Kenting Youth Activity Center pro- vides a low rate with satisfactory value and reliable brand image, resulting in relatively high booking intentions. The Howard Beach Resort Kenting is rated highest in brand image and trust showing that this upscale luxury hotel is considered to be more reliable, is a social status symbol, and trusted by consumers to provide consis- tent, dependable performance. The perceived value is almost equal among the three hotels re flecting that consumers feel the quality received is commensurate with the price they pay.
In comparison with females, males had higher ratings for price and trust, re flecting the reality that female consumers in Taiwan are relatively price sensitive and concerned about reliability. Males also show a relatively high rating in recognizing the hotel brand
Table 4Confirmatory factor analysis results.
Constructs and items Factor loading
Brand Image (BI)
BI1: the hotel brand is reliable 0.755
BI2: the hotel brand is attractive 0.877
BI3: the hotel brand is pleasing 0.846
BI4: the hotel brand is a social status symbol 0.652
BI5: the hotel brand has a good reputation 0.820
Price (P)
P1: the price listed by this hotel is inexpensive 0.770
P2: the hotel price is reasonable 0.885
P3: the hotel price is affordable 0.802
P4: the hotel price is appropriate 0.807
Trust (T)
T1: what the hotel says about its product/service is true 0.802
T2: if the hotel makes a claim about its product/service, it is true 0.908
T3: I feel I know what to expect from the hotel 0.884
T4: I believe this hotel would be reliable 0.866
Value (V)
V1: the hotel offers good value for the price 0.815
V2: the hotel provides me satisfied value 0.861
V3: it is worth to book the hotel 0.869
V4: the overall expected value of staying at this hotel is high 0.717
Purchase intentions (PI)
PI1: after reviewing the hotel website, the likelihood of booking this hotel is high 0.746 PI2: if I am going to book the hotel, I would consider booking this hotel at the price shown 0.795
PI3: the probability that I would consider booking this hotel is high 0.793
PI4: my willingness to book this hotel is high 0.815
Table 5
Correlations (squared correlations), construct reliability, and AVE.
BI P T V PI
BI 1
P 0.271*(0.073) 1
T 0.672*(0.452) 0.406*(0.165) 1
V 0.635*(0.403) 0.499*(0.249) 0.706*(0.498) 1
PI 0.585*(0.342) 0.600*(0.360) 0.584*(0.341) 0.802*(0.643) 1
CR 0.894 0.889 0.923 0.886 0.864
AVE 0.630 0.667 0.749 0.662 0.615
Note: *p< 0.001; BI, brand image; P, price; T, trust; V, value; PI, purchase intention;
CR, construct reliability; AVE, average variance extracted.
Table 6
Path results of structural model.
Hypotheses Paths Standardized coefficient P-Value
Direct Paths
H1 Brand Image Perceived Price 0.300 0.000*
H2 Brand Image Trust 0.679 0.000*
H3 Brand Image Value 0.289 0.000*
H4 Brand Image Purchase Intentions 0.166 0.000*
H8 Perceived Price Value 0.260 0.000*
H9 Perceived Price Purchase Intentions 0.261 0.000*
H11 Trust Value 0.424 0.000*
H12 Trust Purchase Intentions 0.061 0.342
H14 Value Purchase Intentions 0.610 0.000*
Indirect Paths
H5 Brand Image Perceived Price Purchase Intentions 0.078 0.000*
H6 Brand Image Trust Purchase Intentions 0.041 0.172
H7 Brand Image Value Purchase Intentions 0.176 0.000*
H10 Perceived Price Value Purchase Intentions 0.162 0.008*
H13 Trust Value Purchase Intentions 0.259 0.000
Note: *p< 0.01.
reputation, the social status symbol of the brand, the value for the price, and the expected high value. Males are more easily convinced by good brand reputation and satisfactory value than females.
However, the differences are not signi ficant between males and females on purchase intentions, indicating an inconsistency with findings of previous studies. One possible reason is that most males and females in the sample are young and well-educated. 86.31% of males (145 out of 168) and 85.86% (170 out of 198) of females were aged between 18 and 30 and are part of the Internet generation.
94.04% (158 out of 168) of males and 95.45% (189 out of 198) of females have a bachelor or graduate degree. Therefore, males and femalesmight have similar attitudes toward online purchasing.
Another reason is that most males and females are single. 91.07%
(153 out of 168) of males and 87.37% (173 out of 198) of females were not married and could make online booking decision indi- vidually, which is different from traditional Taiwanese families where males (e.g., fathers) dominate hotel booking decisions.
5.2. Managerial implications
This study provides hoteliers a theoretical basis for the premise that offering a reasonable/acceptable price, an attractive/reputed brand, and supplying superior customer value will enhance con- sumers' booking intentions. Given the current study findings, four implications are presented. First, value is a critical determinant of purchase intentions. The hotel manager needs to understand con- sumers' expectations and perceptions of value. To increase con- sumers' perceived value, the hotel can consider providing competitive rates or discounts for the booking directly through its website (utilitarian value). To increase value, hotels should be of- fering complete product information and the trip package online.
Additionally, improving the entertainment and visual appeal (experiential value) by adding a friendly interface to the hotel web- site, as well as ensuring personalization, ease of navigation, and extrinsic cues (e.g., clear pictures of room features, the surrounding environment, and onsite amenities) will also increase value, which will lead to an improvement in booking intentions. Second, brand image positively in fluences purchase intentions and has a positive mediating effect on purchase intentions through price and value. The hotel should devote efforts to maintaining and improving its brand image. Well-managed brand associations including the improve- ment of functional, symbolic, and experiential bene fits will generate a favorable brand image. Third, price positively affects purchase in- tentions and has a mediating effect on purchase intentions through value. We suggest the hotel maintain a price consistent with its classi fication and be careful to prevent the price from exceeding consumers' acceptable price range. It is imperative for the hotel to research consumers' acceptable price range, especially during an economic downtown. Fourth, although the direct effect of trust on purchase intentions is not signi ficant, it does not mean trust is an unimportant determinant of purchase intentions. The three hotel brands are well-known brands and consumers have con fidence in the hotels' website information. The continuous enhancement of consumers' trust in the hotel makes them feel the hotel's information is accurate and reliable which will greatly improve their perceived value and contribute to positive booking decisions.
5.3. Limitations and future research
There are three limitations in this research. First, our study fo- cuses on investigating the online hotel booking in Taiwan. There- fore, generalization of the model results might not apply to other markets/countries. Second, although young consumers are impor- tant online shoppers, they were over-represented in this study.
Third, except for the four antecedents of purchase intentions we
have examined, other possible determinants, such as website quality, satisfaction, and online reviews, might be important factors in fluencing consumers' booking intentions.
Acknowledging these limitations, for future research, we sug- gest a cross-cultural comparison of online hotel booking to con firm the model effectiveness. In addition, examining the effects of online reviews, website quality, and satisfaction on booking intentions and balancing the representativeness of online booking customers will generate valuable information in understanding consumers' online hotel booking decisions.
Con flicts of interest
All contributing authors declare no con flicts of interest.
Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the assistance of Dr. Ben-Chang Shia and Ms. Wan-Ju Chien in data collection.
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