Abstract
How and why customers engage with mobile travel apps is vital to mobile marketing of travel-related companies. This paper discusses the antecedents and consequences of mobile travel app engagement. Specifically, this study aims to understand how travel app attributes stimulate mobile travel app engagement and lead to purchase intention. A research model is established based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model and the model is tested by Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM). The results show that ease of use, compatibility, and UI attractiveness positively influence mobile travel app engagement, and in turn, affect purchase intention. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis shows that the attributes affecting mobile travel app engagement differ across different customer groups. This paper discusses some theoretical and practical implications.
Highlights
The mobile Internet is not limited by time or space in same manner as home Internet resources, which makes it a natural fit for the tourism industry
To explore the determinants and outcomes of mobile travel app engagement, we developed a model to empirically test how app attributes might influence mobile travel app engagement and in turn drive purchase intention
Our results show that ease of use is related to behavioral engagement with mobile travel apps
Summary
“Mobile apps” are software applications installed on devices such as smartphones to allow users to perform specific tasks or execute certain functions [1]. Mobile travel apps are “ targeted at travelers” [3] to allow them to search for and book accommodations, tour activities, and flights on-demand [4] These advantages make mobile travel apps very popular among tourists. To better study mobile travel app engagement, it is necessary to characterize the differences between adoption, continuous usage, and app engagement. Continued usage behavior is often regarded as a process where by individual consumers utilize a product continuously and long-term after adoption [10]. The main purpose of the current study is to propose a model to explore the effects of travel app attributes on mobile travel app engagement, which subsequently affects purchase intention. The findings of this study may help travel-related companies guide their relationship marketing strategies to foster customer engagement and promote customer retention
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