Investigating the factors of hospitality company-branded Line stickers that influence users’ attitudes toward hospitality companies

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine a new research model which includes both hedonic and utilitarian determinants that influence Line users’ attitudes toward hospitality companies that offer free Line stickers for potential users.Design/methodology/approachTo target the right population, Line users who had used hospitality company-branded Line stickers are recruited as participants. Data from 372 usable questionnaires are tested against the research model by using the structural equation modeling approach.FindingsThe results show that all of the proposed variables, perceived usefulness, perceived social presence, perceived richness, perceived enjoyment, perceived novelty and perceived appeal, were found to be critical factors significantly influencing users’ attitudes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study targets Line users who had experiences in using hospitality company-branded Line stickers. Therefore, a validation using another large sample gathered elsewhere is required to generalize the findings.Practical implicationsThe findings can give hospitality managers an increased understanding of the attitudes of Line users toward the companies providing stickers to them; the results may be used as a guideline to develop more appropriate business strategies for hospitality organizations with which to promote their products/services.Originality/valueThe proposed model is new; little research has been done on examining Line users’ attitudes toward hospitality companies that offer free Line stickers for users. This study contributes to an understanding of the factors that actually influence users’ attitudes toward those hospitality companies offering brand Line stickers.