A Study about the Influence of Online Sales Channel at the Hotel Industry on the Commitment of Relationship and Loyalty

Abstract

The online sales channel which can be able to supplement problems of offline sales channel at the hotel industry is recognized as important means to create more many value than existing conventional offline sales channel and to secure predominance in competition. The purpose of this study was to define variable about the sales channel by reviewing literature related to online sales channel of the hotel industry and commitment of relationship, and to investigate whether online channel can be utilized as applicable tool to practical sales function based on actual proof analysis about the effect of variables on the commitment of relationship and the loyalty of customers. For proof analysis, SPSS 15.0 was used for basic statistics, and AMOS 7.0 was utilized for structural model and hypothesis verification. The result of this study was that factor(distribution channel, brand, communication, and promotion) of sales channel is one of very important factors in hotel industry. It will be very important to estimate the success of hotel company that which channel is selected for marketing activity. And it was confirmed that diversification of sales channel, preference of hotel brand, and enhancement of communication factors are very important in online than offline sales channel, since generation frequently using online is increased. It was identified that these factors can influence greatly on loyalty only when it was formed based on trust and satisfaction, that is commitment of relationship. And it was considered that these factors can be important factor which should be studied in the point of further marketing method.