Academic Referent Group Influences on Hospitality Students’ Intentions to Enroll in an Online Course

Abstract

Despite the popularity and growth of online courses in hospitality higher education, there still exists ambivalence toward this form of course delivery. Greater scheduling flexibility and accommodation of an ever-growing population of nontraditional students are presented as supporting online course adoption in programs still apprehensive toward this form of instruction. Given the pervasive nature and accessibility of Internet-based learning, this study utilized the technology acceptance model to determine the academic referent group influences on students’ intentions to enroll in an online course. Findings revealed plausible referent group influences that could be leveraged to encourage students to enroll in an online course, which would ultimately facilitate a positive learning experience.

Keywords:

• technology acceptance model 2
• hospitality students
• referent groups
• subjective norm
• online course