Why Do Consumers Trust Online Travel Websites? Drivers and Outcomes of Consumer Trust toward Online Travel Websites

TLDR

Egypt, a leading Middle Eastern e‑commerce market with advanced IT infrastructure, is poised for rapid e‑commerce expansion similar to other nations with comparable consumption patterns. The study tests a model of antecedents (consumer experience, propensity to trust, reputation, perceived website size, ease of use, perceived usefulness, and website quality) and consequences of trust toward online travel websites, hypothesizing that trust predicts consumer attitude, perceived risk, and purchase intention. Data from 1,431 online travel website users in Egypt were analyzed using structural equation modeling. All antecedents except consumer experience significantly influence trust, and trust in turn predicts positive attitude, lower perceived risk, and higher purchase intention.

Abstract

Egypt is currently one of the leading nations especially in the Middle East region with a well-established e-commerce environment and advanced IT infrastructure, but rapid growth of e-commerce will soon occur in other nations with similar consumption patterns. This study tests a model of antecedents (consumer experience, propensity to trust, reputation, perceived website size, ease of use, perceived usefulness, and website quality) and consequences of consumers’ trust toward online travel websites. Trust is expected to predict consumer attitude, perceived risk, and intention to purchase travel online. Data of 1,431 users of online travel websites were selected from the Supreme Council of Universities Database–Egypt (SCU) and analyzed through structural equation modeling. The findings show that all the aforementioned factors with the exception of consumer experience influence consumer trust toward online travel websites. Trust influences consumers’ attitude, perceived risk, and intention to purchase travel online.