Causal Factors Adoption of Hotel Information through eWOM among Bangkok Customers

Abstract

The aim of this research is to construct and test the structural equation model (SEM) of causal factors in the adoption of hotel information through eWOM among Bangkok customers. Electronic Word of mouth (eWOM) is one of the most important marketing communications available today, which leads to the exchange of opinions about products or services through various platforms that are easy, convenient, and fast. The more online marketing channels are developed for better communication with customers, the more customers’ engagement and loyalty are consequently expected to increase.   Data were collected using a set of questionnaire the reliability of which was measured with Cronbach’s alpha and the coefficient was found between 0.800 – 0.876. The 400 Bangkok customers were obtained through multi-stage sampling. Later, data were analyzed using LISREL Software. The results showed that the constructed SEM was congruent with the empirical data at a very high level after modifying the model. The causal factors accounted for 91% of the adoption of eWOM (AeWOM) variance. AeWOM received direct effect from Attitudes (ATT), followed by Information Relevant (IR) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) respectively. In addition, AeWOM also received indirect effect from Product Rating (PR), followed by Perceived Usefulness (PU), and Perceived Creditability (PC) respectively. Therefore, promoting the AeWOM, in this case, requires deeply understanding customer insight. It leads to the creation of appropriate content marketing, use big data analysis for determining marketing activities, and continual interaction with customers as to keep eWOM up to date.