Examining the Relationships among Antecedents of Guests? Behavioural Intentions in Ghana?s Hospitality Industry: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Abstract

This study empirically examines the critical antecedents of behavioural intentions and the structural interrelationships that exist among the antecedents in the hotel industry in Ghana. The study was a cross-sectional survey of 700 respondents using structured questionnaire personally administered. A usable 359 questionnaire were obtained, representing 51.3% response rate and analysed using Structural Equation Modelling approach. The findings indicate that the proposed model has high goodness-of-fit indices and explains 89.5 and 91% of the two behavioural intention variables loyalty and Positive Word of Mouth Communication (PWOMC) respectively. It also found that loyalty could be influenced through PWOMC, customer satisfaction, perceived service quality, perceived value and perceived quality of ambient factors, whereas PWOMC was influenced by satisfaction, perceived value and perceived quality of Ambient factors. Theoretically, the study fills the dearth of conceptual models in understanding the critical determinants of BI in the hotel sector in developing country context. It also provides important implications for marketing management in hotel industry. Limitations of the study are noted and recommendations for future research have been suggested. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in the area of consumer loyalty in the hospitality industry.