Developing and testing a global model to explain the adoption of websites by users in rural tourism accommodations

This article analyzes the factors determining the intention to use the websites of the rural tourism accommodations to search for information and to make online reservations. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a model is developed to explain the intention to use the websites, incorporating as explanatory variables the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (basic variables of the TAM) and the following key attributes of tourism websites: information, interactivity, and navigability. The results of a sample of 1083 users indicate that (1) the perceived usefulness is the main direct antecedent of the intention to use the websites to search for information and make online reservations, and that (2) information on the accommodation and destination positively influences the perceived usefulness, whereas both the interactivity and navigability have a positive effect on the perceived ease of use of the websites. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.