Older Travelers’ E-Loyalty: The Roles of Service Convenience and Social Presence in Travel Websites

Yahua Bi and Insin Kim
Additional contact information
Yahua Bi: Department of Tourism and Convention, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea
Insin Kim: Department of Tourism and Convention, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: The research aims to examine what service convenience factors drive customer satisfaction in travel websites from the perspective of older travelers, and if older travelers’ satisfaction enhances e-loyalty. Additionally, drawing on socioemotional selectivity theory, this study argues that the social presence in travel websites plays a significant moderating role in increasing older travelers’ satisfaction. To empirically verify the conceptual model, an online survey was conducted targeting older travelers aged over 50 in the USA who have purchased products via travel websites. The data from 308 older travelers were analyzed, and the results revealed four dimensions of service convenience positively influence satisfaction. Unexpectedly, access convenience and transaction convenience do not influence older travelers’ satisfaction. The older travelers’ satisfaction with travel websites has a positive impact on e-loyalty. Additionally, social presence amplifies the effect of post-purchase convenience on satisfaction. The current research makes a significant contribution to understanding older travelers’ perceptions and behaviors for using e-commerce service in the field of tourism and provides practitioners with effective ways to attract older travelers for sustainable management of travel websites.

Keywords: e-loyalty; service convenience; satisfaction; social presence; older travelers; travel website (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/410/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/410/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:410-:d:305238

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().