What keeps the mobile hotel booking users loyal? Investigating the roles of self-efficacy, compatibility, perceived ease of use, and perceived convenience

With the advancements in mobile technologies, mobile hotel booking (MHB) has become an important distribution channel for hotels and online travel agencies (OTAs). Understanding MHB users' loyalty intentions toward this technology has become equally important for MHB service providers, as it is essential for them to retain their customers. However, existing literature in the context of mobile booking has mainly focused on the adoption and acceptance of this technology. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a research model that incorporates antecedents of mobile shopping loyalty in a hotel booking context. The proposed model was tested through structural equation modeling (SEM) by using empirical data collected from 396 MHB users. Study results revealed that convenience, compatibility, and perceived ease of use (PEOU) had a significant impact on the users' loyalty intentions toward MHB technology. In addition, compatibility significantly influenced PEOU and convenience and PEOU had a significant impact on loyalty and convenience. Study results provide valuable theoretical and practical implications for various players in the hotel and travel industry including hoteliers, OTAs, mobile app developers and hospitality technology vendors. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.