e-Social Influence and Customers' Behavioral Intentions on a Bed and Breakfast Website

The ubiquitous presence of bed and breakfast (b&b) establishments on social media provides prospective customers with a plethora of information when making lodging choices. To understand customers' behaviors during the decision-making processes, this study attempts to assess the causal relationships among customers' motivations to use b&b websites, their flow experiences, emotional responses, and behavioral intentions in an online environment. It also examines whether social influence in online environments (e-social influence) affects associations among customers' motivations, flow experiences, emotional responses, and behavioral intentions. Results indicate there are significant effects of hedonic and utilitarian motivations on customers' flow experiences, emotional responses, and behavioral intentions toward b&b websites. Furthermore, e-social influence modifies a set of relationships between hedonic motivation and flow experiences, between flow experiences and behavioral intention, and between emotional responses and behavioral intention. Managerial and theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.