Predicting customers’ intentions to check in on Facebook while patronizing hospitality firms

Abstract

Within the last decade, the introduction of Web 2.0 has created many opportunities for hospitality organizations. Facebook has become one of the most influential and powerful social media platforms. However, limited efforts have been made to explore customers’ intentions to check in on Facebook while visiting hospitality companies. Based on motivation theory, this study developed a research model containing two main categories of variables: (1) extrinsic factors (i.e. social influence, external rewards, and Cyber community utility) and (2) intrinsic factors (i.e. presenting oneself, perceived enjoyment, and altruism), and suggested that these potential variables can directly influence customers’ behavioral intention to check in. Data collected from 490 respondents in Taiwan were tested against the research model using the structural equation modeling approach. The results indicated that all the proposed variables (i.e. social influence, external rewards, Cyber community utility, presenting oneself, perceived enjoyment, and altruism) were the critical components significantly influencing online customers’ intention to check in on Facebook; the proposed model accounted for 70.7 % of the variance. The findings of this study will not only help hospitality and tourism practitioners in understanding the perceptions of potential customers, but also provide insights into research on technology’s influence on hospitality.