Online Booking: A Case Study

The appliance of the Internet has become a major trend in practice of nowadays society. Information can be freely exchanged, due to the interconnected computer networks. It provides free exchange of information. In 2001, there were over 400 million computers on more than 400.000 networks worldwide connecting with one another. Thus, showing that the Internet has become a powerful channel for business marketing and communication. The Internet has turned into a virtual market place, where customers have a wide range of products or services to their disposal. Competition and price gather at one place making it easier for the customer to compare products or services and the price (Yang et al., 2004, p. 1).

In the hospitality industry to make bookings

Time and effort have been maintained as major factors that affect choice of channels (Trenz, 2015). A different study that is conducted by Peng et al., (2013) state that online booking is determined by the characteristics derived from the Internet. This includes perceived risk, security, convenience, time saving and usefulness. Secondly, the online booking decision is influenced by the characteristics of the online suppliers, including information quality, competitive price, pricing patterns, service performance and reputation, terms and conditions, and mean rating in online review sites (p.

This factor is claimed to play a role in the decision making of bookers to book offline, since it is considered to affect the intention to purchase from the web (Järveläinen & Puhakainen, 2004, p. 333). According to Järveläinen & Puhakainen (2004), the trust in oneself is the perception of one’s capability to achieve a goal such as making an online purchase. Therefore prior experience of a computer system increases comprehension and comfort in using the system. In addition, the effects on trusting one’s ability and vendor have significant effects on trusting the intention to purchase from an online vendor. De Jager & Ezeudiji (2015) acknowledge that the making of online arrangements can be complex, in the case of the airline industry this occurs when different rules are adhered to such as hotel cancellations. This creates anxiety for the online user who is not used to this complexity. Izquierdo-Yusta & Martinez-Ruiz (2011) emphasize that with the arrival of new technology the lack of human interaction being a challenge. Technology increases the choice for travelers and they are able to compare prices. According to Fong et al., (2013) costs and benefits are compared with one another of online and offline channels and after that it is decided which channel should be prioritized. Next to this, time and effort have been appointed as being major factors that affect the