Website Evaluation of the Top 100 Hotels Using Advanced Content Analysis and eMICA Model

Abstract

This study analyzes the features offered by the websites of the top 100 independent hotels on four continents, as listed in Travel + Leisure in 2010. The study demonstrates the application of a modified extended Model of Internet Commerce Adoption (eMICA) technique for technical depth and content analysis for breadth as well as inferential statistics and perceptual mapping. The study assesses the presence of fifty-nine website features on the hotels’ websites grouped according to the three eMICA stages of promotion, provision, and processing and also grouped in seven dimensions determined by the content analysis, namely, functionality, innovation, interactivity, marketing, navigation, online processing, and service. The results of website evaluation modeling suggest that (1) hotels in Asia have more of the features than those of the other continent, (2) Europe and Asia were the leading continents in website development depth based on the eMICA model, and (3) each continent’s webpages were distinct as follows: (a) European hotel webpages emphasized online and multilanguage support, (b) Asian sites emphasized on real-time interaction services and privacy policies, (c) Africa’s pages emphasized travel tips and weather information services, and (d) American hotel webpages led in Web 2.0 features.

Cooperativismo 2.0: presencia en Internet y desarrollo del comercio electrónico en las cooperativas oleícolas de Cataluña

“…Posteriormente, el modelo MICA se ha aplicado a diferentes sectores, principalmente en la industria del turismo (Doolin et al, 2002;Burgess et al, 2011;Ting et al, 2013;Daries et al, 2016) pero también en otros sectores como en el de la industria agrolimentaria (Platania, 2014;Sepúlveda et al, 2014;, lo que ha permitido mejorar el modelo de partida con un modelo extendido de Adopción del Comercio por Internet (eMICA), en donde se agregan varias capas de sofisticación y se adapta el modelo MICA al nuevo entorno virtual, y a las particularidades de la Red (ver tabla 6). Este modelo basado en una evaluación por fases permite evaluar los sitios Web desde un nivel promocional hasta los procesos transaccionales que constituyen la fase superior de estadio en un sitio Web, pero cuenta con algunas limitaciones.…”

Comparative evaluation study of the websites of China-based and international luxury hotels

“…Hotel websites, which provide the most comprehensive official information among all the other online channels, play an essential role in hotel marketing and online booking (Ting, Wang, Bau, & Chiang, 2013). Hotel promotions are currently distributed throughout various Internet platforms, such as official hotel websites, travel intermediaries, national tourism boards, and online social media (O'Connor, 2010;Sun, Fong, Law, & Luk, 2015).…”

“…Zafiropoulos and Vrana (2006) proposed an evaluation framework for hotel websites, which categorizes web information services into six information dimensions: facilities, guest contact, reservation/price information, surrounding area, management of website, and company profile. Ting, Wang, Bau, and Chiang (2013) The fourth category comprises studies that focus on applying marketing models in hotel website evaluations. Murphy, Forrest, Wotring, and Brymer (1996) analyzed the marketing performance of US-based hotel websites and offered suggestions for improvement on providing comprehensive information online.…”

“…Ting et al (2013) stated that cross-regional comparative studies are necessary because of the effect of cultural factors on the online behavior of consumers.…”

Website content and design in SME: insights from Portugal

“…Some authors evaluate detailed website features such as content (e.g., Ting et al, 2013), accessibility (e.g., Hanson and Richards, 2013) and usability (e.g., Lee and Kozar, 2012). Other authors focus on evaluating websites from the user (e.g., Luo et al, 2012) and a quality (e.g., Rocha, 2012) perspective.…”