Can the amount of information and information presentation reduce choice overload? An empirical study of online hotel booking

ABSTRACT

During online hotel booking, travelers are exposed to numerous hotel options, possibly making them feel overwhelmed with choices. Based on an online hotel booking scenario, two 2 × 2 factorial design experiments (Study one: 2 choice sizes × 2 amount of information; Study two: 2 choice sizes × 2 presentation of information), each with a sample of 242 participants, have been conducted to test the effect of choice size on perceived overload. The results find the choice overload effects and the associated internal mechanism, as well as the moderating effects of amount of information and presentation of information.

KEYWORDS:

• Choice overload
• tourist choice behavior
• online hotel booking
• amount of information
• information presentation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Approval for Human Participants

This research has obtained formal, prospective, approval from Departmental Research Committee (on behalf of Human Subjects Ethics Sub-Committee), School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Approval Reference Number: HSEARS20210519001

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [71902169].