To read this content please select one of the options below:

Modeling guests’ intentions to use mobile apps in hotels: The roles of personalization, privacy, and involvement

Cristian Morosan (Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA)
Agnes DeFranco (Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 12 September 2016

5551

Abstract

Purpose

The unprecedented development of hotel-branded mobile applications (apps) has been instrumental in facilitating the rich guest–hotel interactions, thus contributing to a high personalization of services. For true personalization, guests need to provide personal information via apps. Yet, no study to date has addressed how guests develop intentions to use such apps given the current personalization and privacy challenges. Therefore, this study aims to investigate hotel guests’ intentions to use hotel apps to access personalized services.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from personalization-privacy theory, this study conceptualized perceived personalization and privacy concerns as distinct constructs while recognizing two different privacy concerns constructs: general and app-specific privacy concerns. To build a comprehensive structural model that is appropriate for explicating intentions to use hotel apps, this study incorporates consumer psychology and information systems theoretical streams that provide constructs that unequivocally capture the unique set of consumer–app interactions in highly experiential settings such as hotels (e.g. innovativeness and involvement). Using a nation-wide sample of hotel guests from the USA, the model was validated using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling.

Findings

The predictors explained 79 per cent of the variability in the intentions to use hotel apps to personalize hotel services. The strongest predictor of intentions was involvement, followed by app-related privacy concerns and perceived personalization.

Research limitations/implications

First, this study’s extended theoretical framework was well supported, as it captures relevant elements of the mobile commerce ecosystem (e.g. personalization and privacy), thus extending the classic paradigmatic approach to information systems adoption beyond system beliefs. Second, this study clarifies the distinct roles of personalization and privacy in the context of hotel apps, which has not been examined in the context of m-commerce in hospitality. Third, the study clarifies the role of involvement as the most critical factor that can influence guests’ intentions to use hotel apps when personalization options and privacy concerns exist.

Practical implications

This study offers hotel decision-makers a mapping of the factors, leading to use of hotel apps for purchasing personalized hotel services.

Originality/value

This study provides a first theoretical perspective on the hotel app utilization behaviors that have not been studied so far, but carry a strong strategic and financial significance for the hotel industry (direct distribution, brand consolidation and extensive contact with guests).

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge insightful comments and suggestions in the development of this article from Mr Frank Wolfe. This research has been conducted with the support of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP).

Citation

Morosan, C. and DeFranco, A. (2016), "Modeling guests’ intentions to use mobile apps in hotels: The roles of personalization, privacy, and involvement", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 28 No. 9, pp. 1968-1991. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2015-0349

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Related articles