The Effects of Perceived Risk and Cost on Technology Acceptance: A Study on Tourists’ Use of Online Booking

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine how tourists’ online booking sites related risk and cost perceptions affect their adoption level of this technology. In order to detect tourists’ adoption level, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was adapted to online reservation technology. In this context, relationships between perceived risk, perceived cost, and the variables of TAM which are perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and behavioral intentions were tested. The participants of the study were 242 Russian tourists visiting Antalya, which is an important touristic destination in Turkey. In the research, participants were determined with the convenience sampling method and the data was gathered through face to face survey method. In the analyses of relationships between and effects sizes of variables, Structural Equation Modeling was used. The results revealed that tourists’ risk perceptions about using online reservation technology have negative effects on TAM variables while cost perceptions have positive effects on these variables.