Open AccessAdoption of Internet and Web Technology for Hotel Marketing: A Study of Hotels in Thailand
Author(s) -
Suree Khemthong,
Larry E. Roberts
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of business systems, governance and ethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1833-4318
DOI - 10.15209/jbsge.v1i2.74
Subject(s) - early adopter , business , marketing , hotel industry , the internet , hospitality industry , advertising , tourism , world wide web , computer science , political science , law
This paper examines the effect of three groups of characteristics: organisational, technological, and environmental on the adoption of Internet and Web based marketing activities (IWMA) in the hotel industry by using data collected from a sample of 152 hotels in Thailand. The adoption of IWMA has been categorised into two levels: 1) non-early adopter hotels, and 2) early adopter hotels. The results indicate that Thai hotels that adopted IWMA at the early adopter stage were larger in size, and more likely to be more ready to adopt IWMA than non-early adopter hotels were. Managers of Thai hotels in the early adopter stage were more likely to perceive the benefits and recognise compatibility when adopting IWMA than were managers in the non-early adopter hotels. Customer power and level of government support were considered to be the push factors for hotels in the use of IWMA at the early adopter stage more than for non-early adopter hotels.