Applying flow theory to booking experiences: An integrated model in an online service context

User-website interactions in service contexts create opportunities for positive online experiences that can foster brand equity, nurture trust, and eventually lead to long-term relationship building. The purpose of this study is to examine the concepts of "online customer experiences" and "flow" and their mediating roles in influencing customers' loyalty to a hotel booking website. To achieve this goal, a theoretical model was developed, which suggests that online flow in services includes both hedonic and utilitarian features. According to the study results, hedonic and utilitarian features affect the flow experience positively. The study results indicate that hedonic features have a stronger effect on the flow experience compared with utilitarian features. The findings imply that when customers experience flow in online hotel booking services, they develop a sense of trust toward the website. Positive experiences with the website enhance the brand equity. These findings can help researchers and service providers understand the flow concept in online hotel booking services.

[1]  R. J. Kent,et al.  The Global Internet Shopper: Evidence from Shopping Tasks in Twelve Countries , 2001, Journal of Advertising Research.

[2]  Jamie Carlson,et al.  Creating commercially compelling website-service encounters: an examination of the effect of website-service interface performance components on flow experiences , 2011, Electron. Mark..

[3]  Alessandro Inversini,et al.  Selling rooms online: the use of social media and online travel agents , 2014 .

[4]  Ramakrishnan Ramanathan,et al.  Guests' perceptions on factors influencing customer loyalty: an analysis for UK hotels. , 2011 .

[5]  Zvi Drezner,et al.  Model Specification Searches Using Ant Colony Optimization Algorithms , 2003 .

[6]  Donna L. Hoffman,et al.  Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach , 2000 .

[7]  Yi-Shun Wang,et al.  An examination of the determinants of customer loyalty in mobile commerce contexts , 2006, Inf. Manag..

[8]  Ming-Hui Huang,et al.  Designing website attributes to induce experiential encounters , 2003, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[9]  H. Assael.  Consumer behavior and marketing action , 1981 .

[10]  Anees Gopalani,et al.  The service‐enabled customer experience: a jump‐start to competitive advantage , 2011 .

[11]  Soung Hie Kim,et al.  ERP training with a web-based electronic learning system: The flow theory perspective , 2007, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[12]  Marie Christine Roy,et al.  The impact of interface usability on trust in Web retailers , 2001, Internet Res..

[13]  Hsin Hsin Chang,et al.  Consumer perception of interface quality, security, and loyalty in electronic commerce , 2009, Inf. Manag..

[14]  Hye-Rin Lee,et al.  The influence of the quality of the physical environment, food, and service on restaurant image, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. , 2012 .

[15]  Hsiang Chen,et al.  Flow on the net-detecting Web users' positive affects and their flow states , 2006, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[16]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity , 2000 .

[17]  James W. Gentry,et al.  The Impact of Flow and Communitas on Enduring Involvement in Extended Service Encounters , 2008 .

[18]  M. Gilly,et al.  eTailQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting etail quality , 2003 .

[19]  Hongki Kim,et al.  Effects of collaborative online shopping on shopping experience through social and relational perspectives , 2013, Inf. Manag..

[20]  Shih-Ping Jeng,et al.  Who may be loyal? Personality, flow experience and customer e-loyalty , 2012 .

[21]  Mark S. Johnson,et al.  The Different Roles of Satisfaction, Trust, and Commitment in Customer Relationships , 1999 .

[22]  Jamie Carlson,et al.  Examining the effects of website-induced flow in professional sporting team websites , 2010, Internet Res..

[23]  Kar Yan Tam,et al.  The Effects of Information Format and Shopping Task on Consumers' Online Shopping Behavior: A Cognitive Fit Perspective , 2004, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[24]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  Consumer Acceptance of Electronic Commerce: Integrating Trust and Risk with the Technology Acceptance Model , 2003, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[25]  Mu-Chen Chen,et al.  Flow Experience and Internet Shopping Behavior: Investigating the Moderating Effect of Consumer Characteristics , 2012 .

[26]  Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa,et al.  Consumer Trust in an Internet Store: A Cross-Cultural Validation , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[27]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[28]  R. Verma,et al.  Service Innovation and Customer Choices in the Hospitality Industry , 2005 .

[29]  Sonja Utz,et al.  Consumers rule: How consumer reviews influence perceived trustworthiness of online stores , 2012, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[30]  Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah,et al.  Impact of Flow and Brand Equity in 3D Virtual Worlds , 2010, J. Database Manag..

[31]  Viswanath Venkatesh,et al.  Determinants of Perceived Ease of Use: Integrating Control, Intrinsic Motivation, and Emotion into the Technology Acceptance Model , 2000, Inf. Syst. Res..

[32]  Lynn Dailey.  Navigational web atmospherics Explaining the influence of restrictive navigation cues , 2004 .

[33]  Mark B. Kolesar,et al.  A services-marketing perspective on e-retailing: implications for e-retailers and directions for further research , 2000, Internet Res..

[34]  Chung-Hyun Kim,et al.  Influence of thinking tendencies on online transaction of hybrid retailers , 2013 .

[35]  L. Wood.  Brands and brand equity: definition and management , 2000 .

[36]  Dianne Cyr,et al.  Modeling Web Site Design Across Cultures: Relationships to Trust, Satisfaction, and E-Loyalty , 2008, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[37]  Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah,et al.  Virtual World Affordances: Enhancing Brand Value , 1970 .

[38]  Chao Wen,et al.  It is not for fun: An examination of social network site usage , 2012, Inf. Manag..

[39]  S. Yang,et al.  Factors affecting the intention to use Facebook to support problem-based learning among employees in a Taiwanese manufacturing company , 2011 .

[40]  S. Sénécal,et al.  the Influence of Flow on Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Values , 2002 .

[41]  Marios Koufaris,et al.  The Effect of Web Site Perceptions on Initial Trust in the Owner Company , 2005, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[42]  Rohit Verma,et al.  Customer Experience in Online Financial Services: A Study of Behavioral Intentions for Techno-Ready Market Segments , 2011 .

[43]  Eileen Bridges,et al.  Hedonic and utilitarian shopping goals: The online experience , 2008 .

[44]  Elena Karahanna,et al.  Time Flies When You're Having Fun: Cognitive Absorption and Beliefs About Information Technology Usage , 2000, MIS Q..

[45]  Ying-Hueih Chen,et al.  Exploring the impact of trust and relational embeddedness in e-marketplaces: An empirical study in Taiwan , 2012 .

[46]  Marios Koufaris,et al.  Applying the Technology Acceptance Model and Flow Theory to Online Consumer Behavior , 2002, Inf. Syst. Res..

[47]  C. Morosan,et al.  The evolution of marketing research , 2014 .

[48]  David A. Griffith,et al.  The Role of Interface in Electronic Commerce: Consumer Involvement with Print Versus On-Line Catalogs , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[49]  Chia-Liang Hung,et al.  Enhancing Mobile Satisfaction through Integration of Usability and Flow , 2012 .

[50]  Yi‐Chin Lin,et al.  Evaluation of co‐branded hotels in the Taiwanese market: the role of brand familiarity and brand fit , 2013 .

[51]  Ming-Hui Huang,et al.  Web performance scale , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[52]  Lorin M. Hitt,et al.  Measuring Switching Costs and the Determinants of Customer Retention in Internet-Enabled Businesses: A Study of the Online Brokerage Industry , 2002, Inf. Syst. Res..

[53]  Kuo-Chien Chang.  How reputation creates loyalty in the restaurant sector , 2013 .

[54]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  E-Service and the Consumer , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[55]  Paul Benjamin Lowry,et al.  Explaining and Predicting the Impact of Branding Alliances and Web Site Quality on Initial Consumer Trust of E-Commerce Web Sites , 2007, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[56]  Vincent Wing Sun Tung,et al.  Tourism experience management research: Emergence, evolution and future directions , 2011 .

[57]  Paul Feldwick.  Do we really need ‘Brand Equity’? , 1996 .

[58]  D. Hoffman,et al.  The Influence of Goal-Directed and Experiential Activities on Online Flow Experiences , 2003 .

[59]  Ingoo Han,et al.  Effect of trust on customer acceptance of Internet banking , 2002, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[60]  Jyh-Jeng Wu,et al.  Towards understanding members' interactivity, trust, and flow in online travel community , 2005, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[61]  Susan Rose,et al.  Online customer experience in e-retailing: an empirical model of antecedents and outcomes , 2012 .

[62]  D. Aaker.  Building Strong Brands , 1995 .

[63]  Richard G. Lomax,et al.  A Beginner's Guide to Structural Equation Modeling , 2022 .

[64]  Byoungho Jin,et al.  The role of etail quality, e-satisfaction and e-trust in online loyalty development process , 2009 .

[65]  Y. Guo.  Flow in internet shopping: a validity study and an examination of a model specifying antecedents and consequences of flow , 2005 .

[66]  Rob Law,et al.  Distribution channel in hospitality and tourism: Revisiting disintermediation from the perspectives of hotels and travel agencies , 2015 .

[67]  Yongxia Skadberg,et al.  Visitors' flow experience while browsing a Web site: its measurement, contributing factors and consequences , 2004, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[68]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[69]  Ramakrishnan Ramanathan,et al.  An exploratory study of marketing, physical and people related performance criteria in hotels , 2012 .

[70]  Jakob Nielsen,et al.  Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity , 1999 .

[71]  Vinnie Jauhari,et al.  An exploratory study of competencies required to co‐create memorable customer experiences in the hospitality industry , 2013 .

[72]  M. Csíkszentmihályi.  Beyond boredom and anxiety , 1975 .

[73]  Tom Wengraf.  Qualitative Research Interviewing: Biographic Narrative and Semi-Structured Methods , 2001 .

[74]  B. Joseph Pine,et al.  The Experience Economy , 2020, Journal of Orthopaedic Experience & Innovation.

[75]  Heesup Han,et al.  Relationships among hedonic and utilitarian values, satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the fast‐casual restaurant industry , 2010 .

[76]  Cristian Morosan,et al.  Users’ perceptions of two types of hotel reservation Web sites , 2008 .

[77]  R. Law,et al.  Progress and development of information and communication technologies in hospitality , 2011 .

[78]  Dennis L. Hoffman,et al.  Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments : Conceptual Foundations 1 ) , 1998 .

[79]  Pekka Nikander,et al.  Users and Trust in Cyberspace (Transcript of Discussion) , 2000, Security Protocols Workshop.

[80]  Fevzi Okumus,et al.  Online experiences: flow theory, measuring online customer experience in e-commerce and managerial implications for the lodging industry , 2013, Information Technology & Tourism.

[81]  Jeffrey Sam Siekpe,et al.  AN EXAMINATION OF THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF FLOW CONSTRUCT IN A COMPUTER-MEDIATED ENVIRONMENT , 2005 .

[82]  Christian E. Waugh,et al.  What good are positive emotions in crises? A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[83]  R. Law,et al.  An Examination of the Relationship between Online Travel Agents and Hotels , 2013 .

[84]  Dianne Cyr,et al.  Extending Models of Flow and E-Loyalty , 2007 .

[85]  Steven Pace,et al.  A grounded theory of the flow experiences of Web users , 2004, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[86]  Terry L. Childers,et al.  HEDONIC AND UTILITARIAN MOTIVATIONS FOR ONLINE RETAIL SHOPPING BEHAVIOR , 2001 .

[87]  Melinda Korzaan,et al.  Going with the Flow: Predicting Online Purchase Intentions , 2003, J. Comput. Inf. Syst..

[88]  Mary B. Gregoire,et al.  The role of website quality in online hotel reservations. , 2005 .

[89]  David Gefen,et al.  Managing User Trust in B2C e-Services , 2003 .

[90]  K. Ruyter,et al.  Antecedents of commitment and trust in customer-supplier relationship in high technology markets. , 2001 .

[91]  L. Stoel,et al.  Consumer e-shopping acceptance: Antecedents in a technology acceptance model , 2009 .

[92]  Donna L. Hoffman,et al.  Flow Online: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects , 2009 .

[93]  Y. Ekinci,et al.  Brand equity, brand loyalty and consumer satisfaction , 2011 .

[94]  J. Jaccard,et al.  LISREL Approaches to Interaction Effects in Multiple Regression , 1998 .

[95]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[96]  Anil Bilgihan,et al.  The effect of website features in online relationship marketing: A case of online hotel booking , 2015, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[97]  B. Tabachnick,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 1983 .

[98]  Donnavieve N. Smith,et al.  Flow and Internet shopping behavior: A conceptual model and research propositions , 2004 .

[99]  Lingling Gao,et al.  Online consumer behaviour and its relationship to website atmospheric induced flow: Insights into online travel agencies in China , 2014 .

[100]  Khaldoon Nusair,et al.  Introducing Flow Theory to Explain the Interactive Online Shopping Experience in a Travel Context , 2011 .