Antecedents and consequences of consumers’ trust in hybrid travel websites

ABSTRACT

Since most travel websites have shifted from single-role (i.e. transaction- or review-based features) to dual-role platforms (i.e. both transaction- and review-based features), this study proposes a modified model which outlines all antecedents and consequences of customers’ trust in hybrid travel websites. Survey responses provided by 610 hybrid travel website users show consumers’ trust propensity, perceived company reputation, perceived website security, perceived website reliability, perceived reviewer credibility, and perceived review quality to be positive and significant predictors of trust in hybrid travel websites. The findings also show that trust is a linchpin in determining consumers’ intention to purchase, follow, and recommend.

KEYWORDS:

• E-commerce
• online trust
• website trust
• hybrid travel websites
• transaction-based features
• review-based features
• consumer-generated content
• behavioral intentions

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on improving an early version of this paper. The author would also like to thank the support by the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor. This research is partly supported by a research grant funded by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.