The Influence of Electronic Word of Mouth on Hotel Booking Decision
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Abstract
The objectives of this research were 1) to study the influence of electronic communications through word-of-mouth through hotel reservation towards decision making. 2) To compare income factors, travel behaviors, and budget per hotel booking towards hotel booking decision, and 3) To identify factors influencing perceived benefits of information towards hotel booking decisions. Data were collected through online questionnaires with respondents from populations that had experiences booking hotels through online platforms. Total of 665 respondents were randomly selected based on selected criteria and analysis of the data collected was performed using structural equation model and two variable analyses. The result from this research showed that firstly, the influence of the word-of-mouth communications through electronic channels had a positive influence and affected the decision for respondents to select and book the hotels based on the perceived factors in terms of hotel quality and credibility of the source of information that impacted the perceived benefits of eWOM. Second, the results based on the comparison of income factors, travelling behaviors, and budget showed that the level of knowledge, involvement, and perceptions towards the hotels significantly affected the decisions for booking hotels. Lastly, behaviors of solo travel-ers or travelers who traveled as a couple tend to accept the information that was provided as the main factors for their hotel booking decision more than behaviors from the groups of travelers who would travel with their family or friends.
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