THE INFLUENCE OF PRODUCT PRESENTATION ON HOTEL WEBSITE REVISIT INTENTIONS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF MENTAL IMAGERY

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 1, 49 - 65, 01.01.2018

Nobukhosi Dlodlo

Öz

The research on mental imagery in South Africa is nascent, thereby proffering
fertile ground for understanding how sensory experiences and conative reactions
towards hotel websites could be enhanced. This consequence steered the adoption
of a unique cognitive epoch in this work, wherein the influence of mental imagery
on the revisit intentions of hotel clientele is investigated. In this vein, this study
asserts that selected website atmospheric elements are responsible for activating
mental imagery among potential hotel guests. While using a self-administered
survey instrument on a sample of 372 South African consumers, a structural
equation modelling methodology was applied. The results of the study established
that aesthetics (β =+0.650; p˂0.01), symbolism (β =+0.276; p˂0.01) and
playfulness (β=+0.252; p˂0.01) are the three website stimuli that promote the
development of mental imagery among consumers who visit hotel websites.
Furthermore, mental imagery was found to have a positive and significant influence
on the revisit intentions of hotel guests (β=+0.703; p˂0.01). The results of this
study shed novel light on extant online retailing literature that seeks to advance the
mental imagery perspective. The study provides practical information to guide
tourism marketers with regard to the pivotal cues to look out for upon designing
hotel websites.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Aesthetics, playfulness, symbolism, mental imagery, hotel websites