Development and validation of a scale measuring hotel website service quality (HWebSQ). (July 2020) - Le, Van Huy
Abstract: This research aims to develop and validate a scale to measure website service quality in the hotel industry, namely HWebSQ. It also establishes the predictive power of the new scale by examining its relationship with an expected outcome, i.e. customer purchase intention. The research employs a detailed scale development process: domain specification, item generation, scale refinement, purification and validation. Data were collected from tourists who stayed at 4-to-5-star hotels in Vietnam. The findings confirm HWebSQ to be a valid and reliable measure of hotel website service quality containing 34 items with 7 dimensions. These include website functionality, website design, response time, ease of use, information quality, interactivity and security. Each of these dimensions is positively associated with customer purchase intention. The newly developed HWebSQ scale would be valuable to managers of hotels and other accommodation services who are interested in designing and managing websites aimed at attracting and retaining customers. Highlights: HWebSQ scale contains 34 items with 7 dimensions. Dimensions identified: Functionality, Design, Response time, Ease of use, Information quality, Interactivity, Security. The HWebSQ scale is consistent across different tourist groups. The three strongest predictors of purchase intention are interactivity, information quality and response time. Hotel managers can use the scale as a practical checklist to diagnose the quality of their websites.