• Journal of Smart Tourism
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.5-15
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• 2023

With the growing trend of online global market, customers have further technological capabilities in searching for information and online shopping on the Internet. In addition, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is a significant factor that influences customer purchase intention. However, the perspective of online users on hotel websites is still in its infancy, especially in various cultural contexts. The current study examined a theoretical framework of hotel websites to understand how online users perceive the importance of hotel websites with regard to influencing purchase intention, within the content of Thai online users through an online questionnaire survey. Findings show that usability positively influences online Thai users' satisfaction. Moreover, eWOM has a significant positive influence on satisfaction, but eWOM has an indirect effect on the intention to purchase. Practical implications are further discussed.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2017

With the increasing trend of popularity of websites and social networking sites, it is quite evident that companies need to take cautionary measures in protecting the reputations with respect to company and brands. In this process, every company should indulge in enhancing their company and brand image through websites and social networking sites that fortify the bonding nature among them. The always-on nature of websites and social networking sites has contributed to their phenomenal marketing power and altered the balance of power between consumers and firms. Websites and social networks are used by hundreds of millions of people to communicate about a huge range of topics, including personal interests, activities, social events and even public issues. The paper explores a case study of the Ritz-Carlton hotel for their marketing strategy and organizational use of their website and social media in communicating with their customers. Even for the normal luxury traveler who would not have previously used the Internet to research a hotel or make a reservation, ritzcarlton.com is making it possible for them to do so in a sense of the luxury and typical Ritz-Carlton style. It seems to be a staple of the company for years to come.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.143-161
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• 2015

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations are a potpourri of diverse religions, races and cultures with rich natural and cultural heritage but yet to tap the full potential of tourism. An investigation into the glorifying heritage of these eight SAARC nations pinpoints towards their rich food and culinary heritage that is yet to be explored to carve them as food destinations that would definitely help ameliorating tourism too. The Global Report on Food Tourism of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reveals results from a survey on food tourism marketing promotion, from which internet marketing tools, such as websites have been effectively utilized to promote food tourism in a particular destination. (UNWTO, 2012). Sensing the importance of the websites in the promotion of food tourism for any destination, the present study aims at the comparative content analysis of the official tourism websites of SAARC nations to evaluate their performance from the perspective of promotion of culinary heritage on world -wide web. The modified Balanced ScoreCard (BSC) approach is incorporated into the evaluation by taking into consideration four perspectives: technical, user friendliness and site attractiveness, tourism effectiveness and food tourism effectiveness. A set of 88 critical success factors representing these four perspectives is then used to examine the websites. The study reflects on the relative strength and weakness of the tourism websites of SAARC nations in promoting food tourism and as well help suggesting the remedial measures catalyzing the food tourism promotion through websites.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.519-529
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• 2022

Many consumers are opting for online booking over traditional booking systems. Customers can actively seek out information about hotels and lodging services, as well as book rooms, at any time and from any location. Customers also feel more supported when they interact with virtual assistants or professionals. Recognizing this issue, several hotels have focused on improving their websites by incorporating aspects that encourage customers to book directly through the hotel's website. The study's goal is to discover what factors impact people's decisions to book a hotel stay through the hotel's website. Therefore, hotel managers and owners can make decisions to improve the hotel website to attract residents to Can Tho City. The factors are website quality, affective commitment, social presence, and e-trust that affect customers' decision to book through the hotel website. The study uses quantitative methods to collect data from 180 residents living in Can Tho. Through data analysis on SPSS and Amos software, the research results show that three factors considered, namely website quality, affective commitment, and social presence, positively influence customers' booking decisions. This finding also suggests that e-trust is less critical to residents in Can Tho City, different from what the study had predicted.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.117-121
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• 2020

Many of hotel customers obtain information from hotel websites to find the best alternative. One of the crucial information for the choice is spatial/visual information of hotel rooms. However, hotel website provides photographs only showing representative room features that may not be sufficient to give a full understanding of hotel room to customers. HMD-based 3D virtual environments (HVE) created by 3D camera could improve customers' experiences of hotel rooms by providing full virtual tours of hotel rooms. However, to the best of our knowledge, whether HVE can adequately provide similar customers' perception on spatial/visual information remains unproven as physical hotel rooms. The present study thus aims to verify how similar and reliable information on physical hotel room HVE provides to hotel customers in comparison with hotel website with 2D photograph and display-based 3D virtual environment. For this purpose, this study conducted a comparative experiment to investigate perception of three environments. As a result, the study found that HVE is more effective to provide spatial/visual information as similar as an actual hotel room. In addition, HVE increases customers' perceptions towards the reliability of information, the quality of hotel room and intention to book.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2011

This study was motivated by consideration of advertising effects on purchase intention of hotel customers in the situation that people can experience in web advertisements more easily and quickly through four main media. We intends to propose strategic web advertising marketing plans by investigating the relation among hotel web advertising attributions, advertising attitude, brand attitude and purchase intention of customers. In conclusion, in the situation that hotel service industry endeavors a lot to attract young customers, according to gentrified consumption culture and changes in an environmental trend, these results are expected to be used as data to establish web advertising marketing strategies to show trendy brand images to hotel customers, especially consumers of N Generation using official websites of hotels.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1433-1448
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• 2013

This study presents empirical evidence of the benefit of viewing narrative video clips on embedded virtual reality (VR) websites of hotels to relieve travel anxiety. As the effectiveness of using VR functions to relieve travel anxiety has been shown, we proposed that a VR website enhanced with narrative video clips could relieve travelers' anxiety about accommodations by showing the important aspects of a hotel. Thus, we created a website with a narrative video showing the escape route from a hotel room and another narrative video showing the surrounding neighborhood. We then conducted experiments by having human subjects explore the enhanced VR website and fill out a questionnaire. The results confirmed our hypothesis that there is a statistically significant relationship between relief from travel anxiety and the use of narrative videos on embedded VR websites of hotels.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.187-199
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to offer a new conceptual framework based on a combination of the TPB model, the TAM model, and two additional constructs consisting of eWOM and pricing value called the E-P-TAM-TPB model, and to assess the model's implications on hotel selection behavior. This study empirically examines the E-P-TAM-TPB model to evaluate and validate domestic tourists' online hotel booking intentions by using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. The data was collected from 355 domestic tourists who booked the room via the hotel website. The major findings of this study indicated that the E-P-TAM-TPB model has a positive significant influence on online hotel selection behavior. The results revealed that all proposed hypotheses were declared supported. Future studies should build on the framework by incorporating potential moderators to better understand how different groups of customers behave online in different segments of the hospitality industry. Managers must not only develop an easy booking process but also provide price value information to attract or impress clients. Tourists can compare room rates with other hotel websites and OTAs.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2018

MICE (Meetings, Incentive trip, Convention and Exhibition & Event) industry is a multifaceted industry with a variety of stakeholders including the public and private sectors, and PCOs (Professional Convention Organizers) play a mediating role in communicating opinions of the stakeholders. For enhancing their reliability and awareness, PCOs have their stakeholders' hyperlinks on the websites. This study attempted to analyze the hyperlink networks among PCOs (Professional Convention Organizers) and their stakeholders so as to understand the MICE industry ecosystem and find out whether the network structure of PCOs' shows different levels of hyperlink use with their stakeholders' websites based upon PCO's performance and size. The results showed the hyperlink network of MICE industry and that the bigger PCOs have higher centralities in the network.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.294-308
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to look into the service quality of websites and the attributes of review information thereon as perceived by visitors thereto and to analyze the effect that the service quality of festival websites and informative usefulness of testimonials would have on the satisfaction with use, along with the effect that the satisfaction with use would have on behavioral intention. Based on the results of this study, we intended to present measures that could help strengthen the intention to spread positive word-of-mouth for festivals and to visit a festival through satisfaction with a festival's website. The festival selected to achieve the objectives of this study was the Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival, which is one of the most renowned local food festivals in the Gyeongbuk region, having been held for 17 consecutive years, and has been selected as the top festival of Gyeongsangbuk-do for 4 consecutive years. We surveyed visitors to Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival who had searched for information on the Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival prior to its opening, as well as those who had participated in Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival before. The results of this study showed that review information on a food festival website, service quality design, adequacy of substance, responsiveness to customers, and system capability were found to have a positive effect on behavioral intention through satisfaction with use. The findings suggest that it is crucial to manage the service quality of websites in order to stimulate interest in, and induce visits to, food festivals.