The impact of consumers’ attitudes towards technology on the acceptance of hotel technology-based innovation

Abstract

Purpose Technology-based innovation (TBI) is a primary approach across the hospitality industry to improve customer experience. It is essential to know the critical factors that affect consumers’ acceptance of hotels’ TBI. The effect of consumers’ attitudes toward technology is hypothesized to affect the acceptance of TBI besides commonly used technology acceptance models. Design/methodology/approach A model of attitudes toward technology influence on TBI was constructed and tested by inviting participants to watch a video of a keyless check-in process of a leading hotel chain and then completed a questionnaire. The attitudes toward technology were measured using the technology adoption propensity (TAP) scale. Findings Attitudes toward technology strongly affect the hotel’s booking intention (BI) used as a proxy for consumers’ acceptance of hotels’ TBI. However, attitudes toward technology can only influence BI through the mediating variables of trust and curiosity. Practical implications The findings provide useful insights, encouraging hotels to positively enhance consumers’ attitudes toward technology when introducing TBI services. Originality/value Most research on the acceptance of e-commerce technology focuses on consumers’ resulting attitudes or emotions using the products or services. In contrast, this study investigates the effect of consumers’ attitudes toward technology on accepting hotels’ TBI service. The study demonstrated that attitudes toward technology substantially impact the acceptance of hotels’ TBI service. Furthermore, the study provides empirical support on the use of the TAP scale in complex TBI services.