E-service quality: A study of online hotel booking websites in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper aimed to examine how web design, responsiveness, reliability, enjoyment, ease of use, security, and customization influence e-service quality of online hotel booking agencies in Hong Kong. Quantitative approach was used to examine the relationships between each of the dimensions and overall e-service quality. Based on findings in prior studies, current study extended the framework to the dimensions of ease of use, security and customization in addition to the dimensions of web design, responsiveness, reliability and enjoyment. An online survey website was set up to collect responses from students of two higher education institutes in Hong Kong. 162 valid responses were collected for analysis. Results found that web design (p = .002) and customization (p <.001) positively influenced e-service quality of online hotel booking agencies. Online hotel booking companies can concentrate their resources to these identified dimensions, in particularly through web design and customization, to achieve the desired level of e-service quality. This study has practical implications to online hotel booking agencies on how to enhance their e-services quality. It conceptualized and tested a multiple-item scale for measuring the e-service quality delivered by online hotel booking intermediaries. Moreover, it examined the proposed framework with three additional dimensions ease of use, security, and customization included. This paper concludes by discussing the findings of this study and highlighting areas for future research in the realm of e-service quality.