Empirical Research
IT Governance and Digital Application of Online Customers Expectations
Reviewed By Ezendu Ariwa & Sarah Olaya
Volume 5 - Issue 3
Oct 17, 2007 - 7:57:20 AM
According to Chung and law (2003); Jeong et al (2003); Jeong and Lambert (2001) and Kim et al, (2003) all found that the information satisfaction was the most important requirement of online customers’ purchases decision making, which remain largely unmet despite the growing importance of e-commerce within the hospitality industry. According to Kim et al, (2005), the changing trend in the business activities is largely attributable to the fast and improved developments in information and telecommunications. As a result, Chung and Law, (2003) noted that the Internet is also helping to drive down overhead costs for the hospitality industry and cost of information for the customers, as the traditional method of communication is slowly being phased out.
Similarly Kim et al (2005) argued that the Internet gives the customers more advantages by allowing them to obtain valuable information such as prices and hotel facilities without the need of getting into contact with any sales agents. In addition, the Internet provides the customers with numerous supplies allowing customers to access a pool of products and services information from which they can make choices and compare prices.
In response to these demands, the hotel industry is fast adopting e-commerce so as to benefit from the global opportunities, distinguish themselves from their competitors and lower the costs of reservation processes. Kim et al, (2003) pointed out that the Internet offers optimum flexibility to enable hotels operators to react more swiftly to the changes in the business environment. However, before the hotels can reap these benefits, Jeong and Lambert (2001), pointed out that these benefits will not come on a silver platter. They emphasized that it is no longer adequate simply to market products and services online, but it is vital for hoteliers to fully understand the factors that determine online customers’ courses of actions (i.e. to buy or not to buy). This is of the main concerns on the effectiveness of hotel web sites, which include the values of the information content for online customers’ purchase decisions.
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