Understanding Post-adoption Behavioural Intentions of Mobile Travel App Users

The growth in smartphones and mobile connectivity has seen a corresponding increase in mobile applications (apps). One area of growth has been travel apps, which enable people to plan travel, make bookings, or access information. The tourism industry has invested considerable resources and funds into travel apps that aim to improve the traveller experience. However, for their investments to be profitable, the industry must ensure that after the initial adoption, travel apps are continuously used as intended and are recommended by travellers to others. Thus, building on the expectationconfirmation model developed for information systems (Bhattacherjee, 2001b), this study developed and tested a conceptual framework to strengthen the understanding of travel app use by examining travellers’ post-adoption behavioural intentions. This study used a sequential mixed methods approach consisting of two stages: qualitative and quantitative. The first stage of the study employed in-depth interviews with 22 travel app users who had downloaded and used travel apps on their portable devices (i.e., smartphones or tablets) for a particular travel-related purpose in the last 12 months. The qualitative phase was used to propose an extended Bhattacherjee’s (2001b) model by identifying additional influential factors of functional value, hedonic value, satisfaction, and trust as predictors of travel app users’ continued use and recommendation intentions. It also identified several moderators including travel app types, familiarity, and technology proficiency. The second stage involved conducting an online survey. Data were collected from 509 travel app users to test the proposed model, using structural equation modelling and multigroup analyses. The results of the structural model indicated that continued use and recommendation intentions were directly influenced by perceived usefulness, ease of use, incentives, enjoyment, satisfaction, and trust, with perceived usefulness exerting the greatest influence on both continued use and recommendation intentions. More specifically, travel app users’ continued use and recommendation intentions were mediated by overall satisfaction and trust with the travel app performance based on their expectations. In addition, the results revealed that travel app users’ satisfaction was driven by perceived ease of use (functional value) and enjoyment (hedonic value), and building trust was notably connected to perceived usefulness. The results also indicated that the partial moderating effects of travel app types, users’ levels of familiarity, and technology proficiency on the proposed set of relationships in travel app post-adoption formation. Travellers who used apps mainly for searching travel-related information decided their future behaviour with respect to travel apps on the basis of trust and the enjoyment they gained from the app use; however, those who used apps for booking accommodation and airlines cared most about the usefulness of the travel apps. For the low-familiarity travel app users, the results revealed that their post-adoption behavioural intentions tended to be decided more by functional and financial benefits than the high-familiarity travel app users. In addition, the results indicated that the low-technology proficient users were more strongly affected by the accuracy and consistency of the travel app than high-technology users were on continued use intention. This study advances the literature by offering insights from travel app users’ experiences. A qualitative approach was used to investigate the factors that affected the users’ post-adoption behavioural intentions and further delineated the relationships between those factors and travellers’ continued use and recommendation intentions. The study also extends the literature on post-adoption behaviour and the expectationconfirmation model by considering functional value, hedonic value, and trust based on the expectations–travel app performance congruence with mobile app use experiences in the tourism industry. In addition, the fundamental contribution of this study is to provide theoretical justification, as well as empirical evidence, in support of the linkages between the key factors, satisfaction, and trust in the process of post-adoption behavioural intention development for travel apps. The findings also provide insights for travel companies, accommodation providers, and marketers relating to the importance of financial benefits and monetary value from travel app use, such as mobile deals, last-minute deals, and discounted rates for travel activities. The findings indicate travel companies, accommodation providers, app developers, and marketers need to spend more time promoting mobile and last-minute deals and on developing suitable pricing strategies tailored specifically for app users. Furthermore, this study offers insights into how travel companies and marketers can differentiate the ways they treat their customers based on travel app types, the level of familiarity with travel apps, and technology proficiency. Another significant benefit of this study for travel app developers and service providers is the ability to understand travellers’ congruence between expectations and travel app performances. This can enhance the reliability of information and functions provided in apps to decrease traveller uncertainty regarding their choices and future behaviour.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Dept Tourism, Sport & Hot MgmtGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex