The Effects of Website Quality, Review Ratings and Cewebrity Reviews on Online Booking Intention: A Serial Mediation Model

Abstract

Social media and online reviews have had a tremendous impact on the hotel accommodation industry. Online reviews are a highly appreciated source of information for travellers making decisions about booking a hotel room through online travel agencies (OTA). This encourages researchers to investigate the direct and serial mediation effects of review ratings (RR) and cewebrity reviews (CR) on the relationship between booking website quality (BWQ) and online booking intentions (OBI). The stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework was used to validate the hypotheses. Data were obtained from 665 users who experienced booking through OTA in India’s cities. SPSS and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) were used to analyze the data. Researchers have used importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) to map the attributes and priorities of OBI. These findings suggest that BWQ positively affects OBI. Serial mediation of RR and CR in the relationship between BWQ and OBI was statistically significant. The findings revealed that when guests became more concerned about reviews, the relationship between BWQ and OBI became stronger. This research contributes to online reviews in the field of hospitality services as well as to stakeholders involved in the hotel booking process.