Effects of haptic cues on consumers' online hotel booking decisions: The mediating role of mental imagery

Tourism Management 77 (2020) 104025

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Effects of haptic cues on consumers’ online hotel booking decisions: The mediating role of mental imagery Xingyang Lv a, Huifan Li b, *, Lan Xia c a

School of Business Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 611130, China School of Economics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China c Department of Marketing, Bentley University, Waltham, MA 02452, USA b

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Haptic cue Mental simulation Mental imagery Tactile experience Online reviews Hospitality industry

This study proposes that haptic cues (in online reviews, companies’ descriptive information provided) signifi­ cantly influence consumers’ willingness to book hotel rooms online. Four studies examining the effect of haptic cues and using both primary and secondary data produced consistent results. We identified mental imagery as the underlying mechanism. In addition, the effect of haptic cues is moderated by the match between type of traveler and type of mental simulation. Haptic cues with outcome (process) simulation are more effective when matched with business (leisure) travelers who are performance (process) oriented. Implications for practice are discussed.

1. Introduction Tactile experience plays a crucial role in the purchase and con­ sumption of services (Hult�en et al., 2009) and is an indispensable part of travel experiences (Agapito, Valle, & Mendes, 2014). For example, the texture and the comfort of the bed and pillow are among the most important attributes influencing hotel booking decisions (Kim & Perdue, 2013). However, for travel services such as hotels, for which consumers book in advance online or by telephone, it is impossible to provide direct tactile information. Indeed, neither online sales platforms represented by online travel agencies (OTA), nor official hotel websites can provide consumers with sufficient tactile experiences to help them with reser­ vations. Tiffany Field (1998), director of the Touch Research Institute in Miami, coined the phrase “touch hunger” to describe the absence of tactile stimulation being reported by many people in society today. Therefore, Spence and Gallace (2011) raise the key question of what a company can (and should) do in the Internet age to deliver at least some of the tactile aspects of product experiences to the increasing number of shoppers who purchase over the Internet. To address this question, this research explores the relationship be­ tween haptic cues and consumers’ willingness to book a hotel room online as well as the effect of different ways of delivering haptic infor­ mation. Although research demonstrates that the need for tactile in­ formation significantly affects consumers’ buying behavior when purchasing goods such as clothing on the Internet (Citrin, Stem,

Spangenberg, & Clark, 2003; Grohmann, Spangenberg, & Sprott, 2007; McCabe & Nowlis, 2003; Peck & Childers, 2003b, 2006), research on tactile experiences in the hospitality industry is scarce. We propose that although consumers cannot obtain direct tactile information when booking online, such information could be conveyed through other senses using mental simulation (Klein, 2003; Taylor, Pham, Rivkin, & Armor, 1998). Thus, using both secondary data and experiments, we investigate the relationship between tactile information provided through verbal and visual means and consumers’ willingness to book online. Our research provides theoretical contributions to sensory marketing especially in the hospitality industry. Previous research on hotel booking decision mostly focused on impacts of various physical attributes of hotels, such as parking spaces, number of restaurants, and abstract rating systems (star ratings) (Gavilan, Avello, & Martinez-Navarro, 2018; Ye, Law, Gu, & Chen, 2011). However, drawing on sensory mar­ keting, sense of touch, and mental imagery literature, this research shows that haptic information can be communicated using other senses which helps to develop mental imagery; thus significantly affecting consumers’ online hotel booking intentions. Results suggest that con­ sumers can obtain sensory experience from online word-of-mouth (WOM) reviews and companies’ website that communicate haptic information. The remainder of the article proceeds as follows. We integrate the literature on sensory marketing, mental imagery, and mental simulation

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Li). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.104025 Received 25 November 2018; Received in revised form 10 September 2019; Accepted 29 October 2019 Available online 19 November 2019 0261-5177/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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to develop our theoretical framework and hypotheses. We then present our studies explicating how, why, and when haptic cues affect con­ sumers’ willingness to book online. We conclude with managerial im­ plications from our findings and future research directions.

booking.

2. Literature review, research framework, and hypotheses

In essence, we propose that tactile information matters even when direct tactile experience is not available. The underlying mechanism is that consumers experience tactile information by means of sensory compensation and mental imagery (Klein, 2003; Taylor et al., 1998). Mental imagery plays a role similar to an actual sensory experience, assisting consumers in evaluating a product’s tactile attributes without real tactile experience. Mental simulation is a process where-in people can use text, pictures, and other means to create mental imagery similar to real experiences even without going through them under the guidance of instructions to imagine (MacInnis & Price, 1987) or when combined with perceptual information available at that moment (Lee & Gretzel, 2012). For example, Lee, Gretzel, and Law (2010) found that text de­ scriptions of sensory experience on destination websites activated mental simulation and encouraged mental imagery. Mental imagery further influences subsequent behaviors (Babin & Burns, 1997; Peck, Barger, & Webb, 2013; Peck & Shu, 2009) by facilitating the formation of situational mental imagery (Yoo & Kim, 2014). Core benefits that hotels need to provide to consumers are sleep and relaxation (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). Therefore, consumers’ tactile experiences will affect their hotel decisions. In the online reservation environment, when consumers rely on haptic cues (text or image) to assess hotels’ tactile experience, they first use mental simulation to develop mental imagery based on haptic cues and then make further decisions. Mental imagery can achieve an effect comparable to that of a real tactile experience and becomes a mediator connecting haptic cues with consumers’ hotel booking decisions. Therefore, we hypothesize the mechanism of the effect:

H1. When booking a hotel online, haptic cues (described verbally or presented visually) will have a significant effect on consumers’ will­ ingness to book.

2.1. Sensory marketing Sensory marketing aims to engage consumers’ senses and influence their perceptions, judgments, and behavior (Krishna, 2012). To date, in view of the importance of the five human senses in the consumer experience, abundant sensory research studies have been conducted in the fields of hospitality, tourism, and consumer behavior to explore the individual as well as holistic impacts of the senses on consumers’ pur­ chase decisions (Agapito et al., 2014; Crouch, 2002; Everett, 2008; Grohmann et al., 2007; Hult�en et al., 2009; Krishna, 2012; Krishna, Cian, �lu, 2017; Krishna, Cian, & Sokolova, 2016; Pan & Ryan, 2009; & Aydınog Quan & Wang, 2004; Small, Darcy, & Packer, 2012). For example, in the advertising domain, research shows that smell enhances memory (Lwin, Morrin, & Krishna, 2010). Thus, many brands have strived to develop their own unique scents to form “signature scents” and to provoke consumers’ recognition, such as the white tea fragrance popularized by the Westin Hotel chain (Hult� en et al., 2009). Relatedly, color is a dominant visual feature affecting consumer perceptions and behaviors (Aslam, 2006; Bellizzi, Crowley, & Hasty, 1983). Labrecque and Milne (2012) found that hue, saturation, and value of brand logos and package designs influenced brand personality perceptions and purchasing intent. Additionally, sound obviously has an impact on product evaluation, advertisement evaluation and perception of ambience in restaurants, hotels, or retail stores (Krishna, 2012). Biswas, Lund, and Szocs (2019) revealed that volume of ambient music (and noise) had systematic ef­ fects on consumers’ preferences for healthy (vs. unhealthy) foods.

H2. Mental imagery plays a mediating role in the relationship between haptic cues and consumers’ willingness to book.

2.2. Sense of touch and mental imagery As with other senses, touch is an essential sensation for people to perceive the world and obtain property information about objects, including texture, hardness, weight, and so forth (Klatzky, Lederman, & Metzger, 1985). Previous research provides ample evidence that infor­ mation obtained from touching products often plays an important role in purchase decisions (Citrin et al., 2003; Peck & Childers, 2003a, 2003b, 2006; Peck & Shu, 2009; Peck & Wiggins, 2006; Shu & Peck, 2011). However, touching may not be possible in some shopping venues such as online. Despite this, the inability to directly stimulate the skin does not mean that it is impossible to reach consumers through other senses (Spence & Gallace, 2011). Research shows that text, images, and visual metaphors can function as sensory compensation (Ghosh & Sarkar, 2016; Klein, 2003) and provide tactile information (Kim & Lennon, 2008). For example, when selling clothes online, providing descriptions of product softness (Peck & Childers, 2003a) or using expandable, high-definition product images (Fiore & Jin, 2013) can effectively reduce decision-making barriers caused by lack of touch (McCabe & Nowlis, 2003). In the hospitality industry, Kim, Kim, and Bolls (2014) also noted that hotel advertisements could lead consumers to imagine comfortable beds through descriptions contained therein. In addition, firms commonly use visual metaphors, which juxtapose two images often without accompanying verbal explanations, in their advertising and marketing communication messages (Jeong, 2008; Sopory & Dil­ lard, 2002). Mitchell and Olson’s (1981) widely cited study showed that both an ad with verbal text (“soft”) and an ad with an image of a kitten led participants to perceive the product as softer than ads containing other types of visual images, and the softness rating for the kitten ad was even higher than the ad with an explicit verbal message. Thus, we hy­ pothesize that in the online context, haptic cues in the form presented through other vehicles (verbal or visual) will influence consumer

2.3. Haptic cues with process or outcome simulation Mentally simulating a product experience can have powerful effects ~ o, Sujan, Kacker, & Sujan, 2008; Escalas & on consumer behavior (Castan Luce, 2003, 2004; Kappes & Morewedge, 2016; Petrova & Cialdini, 2008). Doing so helps augment the naturally ignored aspect of the product (Zhao, Hoeffler, & Zauberman, 2007). Research differentiates between two types of elaboration: process simulation and outcome simulation (Pham & Taylor, 1999; Zhao et al., 2007, 2011). Process simulation encourages individuals to focus on the process that leads to a desired outcome and generates a spontaneous planning process in which individuals link actions to outcomes through a step-by-step plan (Escalas & Luce, 2004; Taylor et al., 1998). By contrast, outcome simulation involves elaboration on the end state that individuals want to achieve (Taylor et al., 1998). Both types of mental simulation are effective though under different conditions. Research shows that mental simulation is most effective when the type of simulation is matched with a processing mode or processing goal (Zhao, Hoeffler, & Zauberman, 2011). Guests have different goals in mind when considering hotels. Business travelers tend to be performance oriented. Hotel stay is a means to an end and the focus is on the outcome. A good night’s sleep will prepare them for their work (Chen, Severt, Shin, Knowlden, & Hilliard, 2018; Rhee & Yang, 2015). By contrast, leisure travelers tend to be process oriented. Hotel stay is an end to itself. Consumers tend to stay at a hotel for a prolonged period but also participate in a large number of leisure activities, such as recreation, relaxation, and entertainment (Ariffin & Maghzi, 2012). Haptic cues can facilitate both types of simulation. Haptic cues with outcome simulation focus on the benefits of the tactile experience, such as a good night’s sleep, while those with process simulation put 2

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4.2. Effects of haptic cues on perceived review usefulness

emphasis on the usage process, such as bedding softness and mattress elasticity. Thus, we predict that for business travelers, haptic cues with outcome simulation will lead to higher willingness to book than those that evoke process simulation. For leisure travelers, we predict that haptic cues with process simulation will lead to higher willingness to book than those with outcome simulation. In summary, interaction between type of traveler (business travelers vs. leisure traveler) and type of simulation (outcome simulation vs. process simulation) plays a moderating role in the relationship between haptic cues and consumers’ willingness to book (see Fig. 1). Therefore, we propose the following:

Relying on previous research on online reviews (Kirmani, Hamilton, Thompson, & Lantzy, 2017; Ye, Law, & Gu, 2009), Study 1 took the usefulness of WOM (Useful) as the outcome variable, number of haptic cues as independent variable while controlling for hotel price (ln (Price)), reviewer’s user level (User_level),1 reviewer’s rating of the hotel (Score), number of pictures (pictures), and number of words used in WOM comments (ln (Words)). We constructed the regression equa­ tion (Model 1) as follows: Useful ​ ¼ ​ C þ β1 lnðPriceÞ þ β2 User_level þ β3 Score þ β4 Pictures

H3. For business (leisure) travelers, haptic cues with outcome (pro­ cess) simulation will stimulate mental imagery to enhance willingness to book.

þ β5 lnðWordsÞþβ6 Touch þ ε: Table 1 reports the results of the hierarchical multiple regression. As a basic model, Model 1 shows that the logarithm of the price, number of pictures, and the logarithm of the number of words in WOM all had significant effects on perceived usefulness; in general, these results are consistent with those of previous studies (e.g., Ye et al., 2009). However, the effects of user level and WOM scores were not significant, which could be because consumers were more concerned about the specific content of WOM (pictures and text). Customers often take user levels and scores as reference, so their role is relatively limited. Model 2 shows the significant and positive effect of haptic cues (β ¼ 0.20, t ¼ 14.02, p < 0.001), providing some indirect support for H1. After we added haptic cues, the R-square value increased from 0.168 to 0.203, with F change equaling 196.597 and significant at the .1% level. This indicates the significant role of haptic cues as we expected.

3. Overview of studies To test the hypotheses, we conducted four studies. Based on real online data, Study 1 examines whether consumers find tactile infor­ mation in online hotel reviews helpful. Study 2 uses an experiment to test the effect of verbally communicated haptic cues on consumers’ online hotel booking decisions and the mediating role of mental imag­ ery. Study 3 tests the effect of pictorially presented haptic cues on willingness to book. Study 4 uses both secondary data and an experi­ ment to further explore the role of match between type of simulation and type of traveler in the relationship between haptic cues and consumers’ willingness to book online. 4. Study 1: Real online review data for assessing the role of tactile information demand in online hotel booking decisions

4.3. Discussion Study 1 used real online review data to test the effect of tactile in­ formation. The study showed that haptic cues in WOM comments significantly enhanced consumers’ perceived usefulness of reviews. With this finding, we can infer that when making online hotel reserva­ tions, haptic cues are important influencing factors in consumer decision making. In the following studies, we examine the effect of haptic cues on customer booking intentions and explore the underlying mechanism of the effect.

Online reviews, in which consumers describe their experiences of hotel stays, are an important source of consumer information when making hotel booking decisions and tactile information is included in their descriptions. In Study 1, we examined whether haptic cues in WOM comments could significantly affect consumers’ perceived usefulness of the reviews. 4.1. Data and coding method

5. Study 2: Manipulating verbal haptic cues

We used a web-scraping tool to collect hotel reviews on Ctrip.com, the largest OTA website in China. We identified a popular tourist attraction in Beijing (Bird’s Nest) and chose the first 100 hotels with the search of Bird’s Nest. After removing hotels with no reviews, we were left with 100,729 reviews. Ctrip has a “useful” button at the bottom right of each WOM record, allowing WOM visitors to evaluate the review. We used the number of “usefulness” as the dependent variable. After filtering out reviews that did not have any “useful” count, we were left with 4,489 reviews. We coded haptic cue in the reviews with reference to the operational definition formulated by Lederman and Klatzky (1987). Examples of positive haptic cues are “The bed was neither soft nor hard, and was comfortable and relaxing”, “The bathroom was excellent with a good range of water temperature and pressure”, “The slippers were soft and thick, and had a good texture”, and those of negative haptic cues are “The room was very hot, and the air conditioner had no cold air”, “The pillow was too high and uncomfortable to sleep”. Each review was coded with the number of haptic cues embedded, with 0 equal to no haptic information and 1 equal to one haptic description, and so on. Each haptic cue was further coded as positive or negative. Three coders coded all the reviews independently, and inconsistencies were resolved through discussion. The reliability of the coding was 0.867. The results yielded 660 reviews (14.7% of total) with haptic cues. Of the reviews, 323 (7.2%) had positive cues, 367 (8.2%) had negative cues, and 30 (0.68%) had both positive and negative cues.

In Study 2, we manipulated verbal haptic cues (no vs. positive vs. negative) to examine the effect on consumers’ online hotel booking in­ tentions. More important, we examined the mediating role of mental imagery. 5.1. Participants, procedure, and measures We recruited 153 participants with the help of a large online survey company in China. The experiment used a hotel booking context. Par­ ticipants were asked to “imagine that you are planning a trip to Beijing. According to your schedule and budget, you need to find a budget hotel near the Bird’s Nest for a night. Now you are searching for hotels on Ctrip.” We specified the location and the type of hotel as controls. We restricted participants to those outside Beijing and required that all had prior experience in staying in budget hotels. Then, we randomly assigned them to one of the three experimental groups. After we elimi­ nated cases with missing data, 120 valid samples remained. Participants are 51.75% male with average age of 31.8, and 95% of whom have a 1 User level refers to the level of each commenter on Ctrip. According to the number of comments on Ctrip, the user levels, from low to high, are com­ menters Nicker who posted 1–4 comments, Darren who posted 5–29 comments, and Expert who posted 30 or more comments.

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Fig. 1. Illustrates our proposed conceptual framework. Table 1 Effects of haptic cues on perceived usefulness. Model/dependent variables

Model 1/Useful

Model 2/Useful

Variable

Unstandardized coefficients

Standardized coefficients

Constant ln (Price) User_level Score Pictures ln(Words) Touch R2

1.465 .183 .002 .019 .327 .459

.061 .001 .011 .277 .242

t

Sig.

Unstandardized coefficients

5.117 4.383 .054 .768 19.788 17.341

.000 .000 .957 .442 .000 .000

1.178 .180 .060 .017 .008 .028 .016 .309 .262 .336 .177 .769 .200 0.203 (F ¼ 189.854, p ¼ 0.000)

0.168 (F ¼ 180.628, p ¼ 0.000)

Standardized coefficients

t

Sig.

4.192 4.383 .561 1.148 19.044 12.285 14.021

.000 .000 .575 .251 .000 .000 .000

F change ¼ 196.597 (df1 ¼ 1, df2 ¼ 4482), p ¼ 0.000, △R2 ¼ 0.035. Note: Variance inflation factors of the variables in both models are between 1.026 and 1.165.

monthly income between $600 and $2400. Manipulation of verbal haptic cues was embedded in the customer reviews (see Appendix 1). In the no-haptic-cue condition, only hotel attribute information was provided. In the positive- (negative-) hapticcue condition, consumers’ haptic experiences were described. We developed the reviews from actual hotel information and consumer re­ views of 7 Days Inn, one of China’ s famous chain budget hotel brands, and referenced the haptic information classification developed by Lederman and Klatzky (1987). After the instruction, participants were then presented with the ho­ tel’s booking page. This page fully simulated the display format of Ctrip, showing all the information on the original booking page but not the name of hotel (see Appendix 2), with manipulated consumer review information displayed. After browsing the page, participants were asked about their willingness to book the hotel (1 ¼ not at all, 7 ¼ extremely). We also measured their mental imagery using items adapted from Walters, Sparks, and Herington (2007) (see Appendix 3; α ¼ 0.944). Finally, we collected demographic information and measured involve­ ment (“To what extent were you involved in the decision you just made?”) and individuals prone to haptic information (“How important is the tactile experience to you?”) All measures were on 7-point Likert-type scales.

the groups (Finvolvement(2, 117) ¼ 0.829, p ¼ 0.439). 5.2.1. Willingness to book As Fig. 2 shows, the results of ANOVA indicated that the main effect of haptic cues on willingness to book was significant (F(2, 117) ¼ 49.38, p < 0.001; Mno haptic cues ¼ 4.80, Mpositive haptic cues ¼ 5.48, Mnegative haptic cues ¼ 3.13). Specifically, willingness to book in the group with positive haptic cues was significantly higher than that of the group with no haptic cues (t ¼ 3.224, p ¼ 0.002), and the willingness to book in the group with negative haptic cues was significantly lower than that without haptic cues (t ¼ -6.526, p ¼ 0.000). Taking the manipulated haptic cue as an independent variable, we converted it into two dummy variables: (1) positive haptic cues, coded as 1 for positive haptic cues and 0 otherwise, and (2) negative haptic cues, coded as 1 for negative haptic cues and 0 otherwise. The control variables included gender, age, and income level. With willingness to book serving as the dependent variable, the regression results were significant (F ¼ 19.671, p < 0.001, R2 ¼ 0.462, △R2 ¼ 0.445), and the coefficients of the two haptic cue dummy variables were significant; the standardized coefficient of positive haptic cues was 0.216 (t ¼ 2.716, p < 0.001), and the standardized coefficient of negative haptic cues was 0.537 (t ¼ 6.759, p < 0.001). These results provide support for H1, in that haptic cues had a significant impact on consumers’ hotel booking intentions, with positive haptic cues having a positive impact and negative haptic cues having a negative impact.

5.2. Results Participants in the three experimental groups rated the importance of the hotel’s tactile experience at the same high level (6.15, 6.08, and 6.20, respectively). The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (FIm­ portance(2, 117) ¼ 0.231, p ¼ 0.794) showed the difference was not sig­ nificant, indicating that tactile experiences were important in consumers’ hotel reservation decisions. The involvement values were 5.15, 5.30, and 5.05, respectively, with no significant difference among

5.2.2. Mediation We applied the bootstrapping method (Preacher & Hayes, 2004) and conducted two mediation analyses. As Table 2 shows, the results indi­ cated that the indirect effect of positive haptic cues (yes vs. no) through mental imagery was significant (β ¼ 0.707, LLCI ¼ 0.426, ULCI ¼ 1.080). At the same time, positive haptic cues (no vs. yes) no 4

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Fig. 2. Effects of haptic cues on willingness to book. Table 2 Test of the mediating effect of mental imagery. Hypotheses H2

Samples

Type of effect

No haptic cues & positive haptic cues No haptic cues & negative haptic cues

a

Effect

Direct effect Indirect effect Direct effect Indirect effect

0.032 0.707 1.115 0.560

SE 0.238 0.166a 0.307 0.238a

t

p 0.136

0.892

3.633

0.001

95% CI LLCI

ULCI

0.506 0.426a 1.726 1.072a

0.442 1.080a 0.504 0.121a

Indicates estimate values from bootstrapping.

longer had a significant direct effect on the willingness to book (β ¼ 0.032, LLCI ¼ 0.506, ULCI ¼ 0.442). Similarly, we tested the mediating effect of mental imagery for the conditions of negative haptic cues versus no cues. The results showed a significant (negative) indirect effect (β ¼ 0.560, LLCI ¼ 1.072, ULCI ¼ 0.121). Meanwhile, negative haptic cues (no vs. yes) still had a significant influence on the willingness to book, but the direct effect was reduced (β ¼ 1.115, LLCI ¼ 1.726, ULCI ¼ 0.504). Thus, mental imagery played a partially mediating role. The results summarized in Fig. 3, confirm H2.

tactile sense with a virtual tactile sense to assist consumers in completing the evaluation and selection of the hotel. Specifically, mental imagery had a full mediating role for positive haptic cues. However, the mechanism for negative haptic cues was more complex, as it is only a partial mediator, and the result of a � b � c’ was positive, which suggests that there may be other complementary mediators. 6. Study 3: Manipulating pictorial haptic cues and instructions to imagine While study 2 showed that haptic information could be communi­ cated verbally, Study 3 aimed to examine whether it could be transferred visually. The internet provided a rich environment for visual and audio information. Research confirms the positive influence of pictures on consumers’ beliefs and brand attitudes (Kisielius, 1982) and the guiding role in purchasing behavior (Chowdhury, Olsen, & Pracejus, 2008). Empirical studies in the tourism field find that pictures in destination advertisements can result in positive attitudes and consequently influ­ ence tourists’ purchase intentions (e.g., Laskey, Seaton, & Nicholls, 1994; Walters et al., 2007). Thus, marketers are able to use images to evoke mental imagery to compensate for the lack of tactile information (Fiore & Jin, 2013). These visual images help consumers form sensory expectations, and even offset their need for touch (Petit, O., Velasco, C., & Spence, 2019). However, a simple picture may be misread or not elaborated without clear instructions. Instructions to imagine (e.g.,

5.3. Discussion Study 2 showed that hotels’ verbal haptic information can have a significant impact on willingness to book. Compared with a mere description of hotel attribute information, positive haptic cues led to a significant increase in consumers’ willingness to book, while negative cues led to a significant decrease. Moreover, the magnitude of influence of the negative haptic cues was greater than that of the positive haptic cues, consistent with the effect of negativity bias identified in consumer decision-making literature (Ahluwalia, Burnkrant, & Unnava, 2000; Roehm & Tybout, 2006). The mediation analysis further showed that although consumers could not have direct haptic experiences, the verbal description of the haptic information activated mental imagery, which served as a mediator of the effect on booking intention; it replaced a real

Fig. 3. The mediating role of mental imagery (Study 2). 5

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“imagine a picture”) is an effective method to assist images in stimu­ lating mental imagery (Babin & Burns, 1997; Mittal, 1988). That is, they can prime consumers’ imaginations, help them imagine a scenario of using the product, and establish their connection with the product (Babin & Burns, 1997; Lutz & Lutz, 1978). Thus, in Study 3, we further tested H1 and H2 by manipulating pictorial haptic information and in­ structions to imagine.

and were researching and booking hotels on Ctrip. After finishing browsing, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire. In addition to measures used in Study 2, we asked participants to describe the haptic information in the presented pictures (Fig. 4, Panels A and B) and to rate the credibility of the picture sources using the item “To what degree do you trust the pictorial cues in the experiment compared with those in pictures appearing in typical online reviews?” (1 ¼ there is more trust in pictorial cues in WOM reviews, 7 ¼ there is more trust in pictorial cues in the experiment). Based on the endorsement of OTA and business commitment, the credibility of the picture sources was not significantly different (FTrust (3,156) ¼ 0.538, p ¼ 0.657).

6.1. Design, procedure, and measures We used a hotel’s information presented on its website as the context of the experiment and focused on positive haptic cues only, as both types influenced booking decisions (though in the opposite direction) and had the same underlying mechanism. The scenario described a five-star hotel without a specific brand name. Consumers who had experience with staying in 5-star hotels were recruited through the same online panel with a small cash incentive (n ¼ 160). Participants’ ages ranged from 22 to 60 years (Mage ¼ 45.8 years), and 51.2% were men. We used a 2 (haptic cue: low vs. high) � 2 (instructions to imagine: yes vs. no) between-subjects design. We chose the bed as the context to embed haptic cues because beds are one of the hotel’s most important elements (Heo & Hyun, 2015; Kim & Perdue, 2013). Pictures in the experiment came from “Heavenly Bed” at the Westin Store (westinstore.com). We manipulated haptic cues using a picture of the bed (low haptic cue) (Fig. 4, Panel A). In the high haptic cue condition, participants saw a light feather together with the bed (Fig. 4, Panel B). For the groups with instructions to imagine, they saw a picture with the words “Imagine the feeling of sleeping on this bed.” For the groups without instructions, participants saw only the picture. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the four experi­ mental conditions. They were told that they were planning a vacation

6.2. Pretest We conducted a pretest to check for manipulations. We recruited 80 people from online communities, showed them one of the pictures, and asked them to freely describe the hotel. The same coders as in Study 1 coded participants’ descriptions following the same principles. The reliability of coding is 0.863. The independent sample t-test results for the number of tactile cues (MA ¼ 1.68, MB ¼ 2.30, t ¼ 3.323, p ¼ 0.001) showed that compared to the participants who viewed Panel A of Fig. 4, those who viewed Panel B of Fig. 4 found more tactile cues. In summary, the pictures used in the experiment were suitable as experi­ mental materials. 6.3. Results 6.3.1. Willingness to book We analyzed the data using a two-way ANOVA. There was a signif­ icant effect of Instructions to imagine (F(1, 149) ¼ 15.095, p ¼ 0.000) and also a marginally significant effect of pictorial haptic cues on

Fig. 4. Pictures demonstrated in Study 2. 6

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booking intention (F(1, 149) ¼ 3.612, p ¼ 0.059), supporting H1. More important, there was a significant interaction between pictorial haptic cues and instructions to imagine (F(1,149) ¼ 4.393, p ¼ 0.038; see Fig. 5). There was no significant difference in the effect of pictorial haptic cues on willingness to book in the absence of instructions to imagine (Mlow ¼ 4.98, Mhigh ¼ 4.95; t ¼ 0.110, p ¼ 0.913). By contrast, there was a significant difference in the effect of pictorial haptic cues in the presence of instructions to imagine (Mlow ¼ 5.28, Mhigh ¼ 5.95; t ¼ 2.911, p ¼ 0.005).

7. Study 4: Differential effects of haptic cues with process or outcome simulation 7.1. Study 4a: effects of haptic cues for different types of travelers using online review data 7.1.1. Data and results Similar to Study 1, we used online reviews to examine the match between different types of customers and haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simulation. We used Sanya, a tourist city on the Hainan island in south China, as the focal destination on Ctrip. It is an ideal destination for both leisure and business travelers. By searching keywords (5-star hotel and Bay of Sanya) on Ctrip, 115 hotels emerged. According to tags of traveler types in Ctrip reviews and following the criteria of usefulness greater than 1, we selected reviews by travelers who indicated they traveled for business (n ¼ 985) and reviews by tourists who indicated they traveled with partners or friends to represent leisure travelers (n ¼ 1,379). Next, haptic cues with process or outcome simulation in WOM were coded separately, and each cue in the corresponding category was recorded one point at a time. The specific data coding and analysis process was the same as in Study 1, the reliability of coding was 0.841. Table 4 reports the results. A paired sample t-test indicated that for leisure travelers, the number of haptic cues with process simulation was significantly higher than that of haptic cues with outcome simulation (ΔM ¼ 0.282, t ¼ 11.750, p ¼ 0.000). For business travelers, the number of haptic cues with outcome simulation was significantly higher than that of haptic cues with process simulation (ΔM ¼ 0.196, t ¼ 8.015, p ¼ 0.000). We included both sample groups in an independent sample t-test. The results showed that the number of haptic cues with process simulation for lei­ sure travelers was significantly higher than that of business travelers (Mleisure ¼ 0.488, Mbusiness ¼ 0.194; t ¼ 11.563, p ¼ 0.000). However, the number of haptic cues with outcome simulation for leisure travelers was significantly lower than that of business travelers (Mleisure ¼ 0.206, Mbusiness ¼ 0.390; t ¼ 8.578, p ¼ 0.000). These results show that different types of travelers value haptic cues with different orientation (outcome vs. process simulation). Leisure travelers placed more emphasis on haptic cues with process simulation, while business trav­ elers paid more attention to haptic cues with outcome simulation. In addition, when we used Model 2 for regression analysis, the results (see Table 5) showed that the total number of haptic cues (haptic cues with process simulation þ haptic cues with outcome simulation) had a significant effect on perceived usefulness (β ¼ 0.199, p ¼ 0.000), which further validated the robustness of the conclusions in Study 1.

6.3.2. Mediation analysis through mental imagery Next, we conducted mediation analysis, with pictorial haptic cues as the independent variable (low ¼ 0, high ¼ 1), mental imagery (α ¼ 0.96) as the mediator, instructions to imagine as the moderator (no in­ structions to imagine ¼ 0, have instructions to imagine ¼ 1), and will­ ingness to book as the dependent variable. As Table 3 shows, bootstrap analysis (Preacher, Rucker, & Hayes, 2007) found a significant indirect effect of pictorial haptic cues on willingness to book through mental imagery, but only when instructions to imagine were present (β ¼ 0.477, LLCI ¼ 0.153, ULCI ¼ 0.819), not when instructions to imagine were absent (β ¼ 0.058, LLCI ¼ 0.349, ULCI ¼ 0.452). When instructions to imagine were present, participants indicated greater mental imagery when pictorial haptic cues were high rather than low (Mlow ¼ 5.14, Mhigh ¼ 5.64; t ¼ 2.940, p ¼ 0.004). However, when instructions to imagine were absent, there was no longer a pictorial haptic cues effect (Mlow ¼ 4.76, Mhigh ¼ 4.82; t ¼ 0.288, p ¼ 0.774). These results further confirm H2. 6.4. Discussion Study 3 tested whether tactile experience can also be communicated through pictorial information. The results showed conditional signifi­ cant effect. In the absence of instructions to imagine, pictorial haptic cues did not have a significant impact on willingness to book, and mental imagery was not effectively stimulated. With the addition of instructions to imagine, mental imagery was significantly evoked, and haptic cues had a significant effect on willingness to book. In summary, with the help of instructions to imagine, pictorial haptic cues play a similar role to that of text haptic cues in influencing consumers’ will­ ingness to book. Additionally, in Study 3, a 5-star hotel was used as the experimental scenario which differed from the budget hotel used in Study 2. Results showed that haptic cues still significantly affected consumers’ hotel booking decisions, generalizing our results.

Fig. 5. Interactive effects of pictorial haptic cues and instructions to imagine on willingness to book. 7

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Table 3 Mediating tests of mental imagery. Mediators

Type of effect

Mental imagery

Direct effect Indirect effect

Moderator Instructions to imagine

Effect

SE

t

p

95% CI

0 1

0.057 0.058 0.477

0.104 0.204a 0.168a

0.551

0.583

LLCI

ULCI

0.148 0.349a 0.153a

0.262 0.452a 0.819a

Note: We set haptic cues as dummy variables in the presence of instructions to imagine. When the level of haptic cues was high, it was 1. When the level was low, it was 0. “Have instructions to imagine” equaled 1, and “no instructions to imagine” equaled 0. a Indicates estimate values from bootstrapping.

Sanya on a business trip and see the following description of one hotel when you book online.” We told leisure travelers, “You are ready to go to Sanya to spend vacation and see the following description of one hotel when you book online.” To manipulate haptic cues with process (vs. outcome) simulation, we presented the haptic cues using verbal de­ scriptions adapted from generic hotel descriptions commonly appearing on hotel website (e.g., shopmarriott.cn), emphasizing either process or outcome of the tactile experience. The hotel information page followed the format of Ctrip. No specific brand name was provided to prevent existing perceptual influences. After reading the scenario, all participants filled out a questionnaire similar to that in Study 2. In addition, we checked the manipulation of haptic cues with process (vs. outcome) simulation using four items adapted from Escalas and Luce (2004): “I can imagine the specific scene of touching the mentioned items above of the hotel”; “I can imagine the specific experience process of touching the above-mentioned items of the hotel while staying in the hotel; “I can think of the benefits these items in the hotel bring to me ”, and “I can imagine the feeling of staying in the hotel and touching these items in the hotel.”

Table 4 Encoding results of word of mouth. Type of traveler

Number of samples

Haptic cues with process simulation (SD)

Haptic cues with outcome simulation (SD)

Number of haptic cues (Percentage)

Business traveler Leisure traveler

985

0.194 (0.479)

0.390 (0.570)

456 (46.3%)

1379

0.488(0.755)

0.206(0.422)

692(50.2%)

Note: We obtain data in the "Difference" column by subtracting the number of haptic cues with outcome simulation from the number of haptic cues with process simulation.

7.1.2. Discussion Using online review data, Study 4a confirmed, in the reviews, busi­ ness travelers provided more haptic cues with outcome simulation than those with process simulation, and leisure travelers provided more haptic cues with process simulation than those with outcome simulation. In other words, business travelers significantly valued haptic cues with outcome simulation while leisure travelers significantly valued haptic cues with process simulation. In the next study, we conducted an experiment to test whether, when considering a hotel, different travelers were more sensitive to haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simula­ tion, and explore the mediating effect of mental imagery.

7.2.2. Results Manipulation check revealed that participants in the condition of haptic cues with outcome simulation exhibited higher “outcome simu­ lation” than did participants in the condition of haptic cues with process simulation (MOutcome ¼ 5.69 vs. MProcess ¼ 5.09; t ¼ 5.55, p ¼ 0.000), and participants in the condition of haptic cues with process simulation showed higher “process simulation” than did participants in the condi­ tion of haptic cues with outcome simulation (MProcess ¼ 5.74 vs. MOut­ come ¼ 4.84; t ¼ 9.092, p ¼ 0.000). As Fig. 6 shows, for willingness to book, a two-way ANOVA showed no main effect of haptic cue with different simulation (F(1,150) ¼ 0.008, p ¼ 0.927) or type of traveler (F(1, 150) ¼ 0.803, p ¼ 0.372) but confirmed the predicted significant interaction between the two factors (F(1, 150) ¼ 20.192, p ¼ 0.000). Specifically, for business travelers, haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simulation increased willingness to book (MOutcome ¼ 5.88, MProcess ¼ 5.33; t ¼ 3.164, p ¼ 0.002). How­ ever, for leisure travelers, haptic cues with process simulation was more effective than haptic cues with outcome simulation (MProcess ¼ 6.03, MOutcome ¼ 5.45, t ¼ 3.123, p ¼ 0.003). These results supported H3. A mediation analysis set the dummy variable as “match”, coded as 1 when the haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simulation matched

7.2. Study 4b: Manipulation of haptic cues with process versus outcome simulation and type of traveler 7.2.1. Participants, procedure, and measures Similar to study 2, study 4b used a scenario-based approach. The experiment used a 2 (haptic cues: with process simulation vs. with outcome simulation) � 2 (type of traveler: leisure vs. business) betweensubjects design. We recruited participants (n ¼ 160) using the same online panel as in Study 2, but we restricted participants to those coming only from areas outside the province in which Sanya is located. Of the participants, 48% were men, and those aged 22–60 years made up 93.1% of the total sample. We randomly assigned participants to one of the four conditions. We manipulated the type of traveler by informing participants about the nature of their trip. We told business travelers, “You are ready to go to Table 5 Results of the regression analysis. Model

Model 2

Variable

Unstandardized coefficients

Standardized coefficients

t

p

Constant ln(Price) User_level Score Pictures ln(Words) Touch R2

4.546 .366 .110 -.108 .268 1.069 1.136 0.235 (F ¼ 120.588, p ¼ 0.000)

.070 .022 -.027 .177 .263 .199

5.681 3.799 1.221 1.470 8.761 12.450 9.963

.000 .000 .222 .142 .000 .000 .000

8

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Fig. 6. Effect of match (vs. mismatch) between type of travelers and haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simulation on willingness to book.

business (vs. process) travelers and 0 when it mismatched. We used the bootstrapping test to detect the mediating effect of mental imagery (α ¼ 0.879) on the relationship between match and willingness to book. Using a sample size of 5,000 and at a 95% confidence interval, the re­ sults of the mediation test did not include zero (LLCI ¼ 0.233, ULCI ¼ 0.609), indicating that the mediating effect was significant; the mediating effect of mental imagery was 0.425. The effect of match on willingness to book was no longer significant, and the interval (LLCI ¼ 0.031, ULCI ¼ 0.306) contained zero, indicating that the effect was fully mediated by mental imagery.

consumers’ willingness to book compared with pictures with low haptic cues, but only when consumers are given instructions to imagine; in the absence of instructions to imagine, pictorial haptic cues do not signifi­ cantly affect willingness to book. Mental imagery again serves as a mediator in this interaction effect. Results suggest that pictorial cues can communicate haptic information, but require a verbal activator. Finally, in Study 4, using online data and an experiment, we test the interactive effects of haptic cues with process (vs. outcome) simulation and type of traveler on consumers’ willingness to book online. The secondary data analysis results show that different travelers value haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simulation. Business travelers put more emphasis on haptic cues with outcome simulation while leisure travelers are more susceptible to haptic cues with process simulation. In addition, we find that consumers’ level of mental imagery is higher when haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simulation match business (vs. leisure) travelers. Our research offers both theoretical and empirical contributions.

7.2.3. Discussion The results of Study 4 showed that the effect of haptic cues on willingness to book was enhanced when haptic cues with outcome (vs. process) simulation matched the type of traveler. As there is a clear difference in consumption goals between business and leisure travelers, it is evident they are sensitive to different tactile experiences. For leisure travelers, hedonic consumption dominates, with the hotel being an important place for acquiring traveling experiences. Thus, they are more sensitive when haptic cues are described with the process of tactile ex­ periences. Conversely, business travelers are more performance oriented and are therefore more sensitive to the benefits or outcome of the tactile experiences.

8.1. Theoretical implications Our results provide important theoretical implications to the litera­ ture on sensory marketing, mental imagery and hotels’ online reviews. First, previous studies on sensory marketing conducted in hospitality and the marketing field mainly focus on tactile experience in the phys­ ical environment (Ghosh & Sarkar, 2016; Peck & Childers, 2003b; Peck & Wiggins, 2006; Williams & Bargh, 2008). However, the lack of research on online tactile experience is undoubtedly a missed opportu­ nity given that people typically book hotel rooms online today. From a sensory compensation perspective, we advance the idea that haptic ex­ periences can be delivered through other senses. Text, images, and in­ structions to imagine can function as effective methods to communicate haptic information and significantly influence consumers’ willingness to book online. Thus, our research enriches sensory marketing research and extends tactile marketing research to the field of hospitality. Second, we identify the underlying mechanisms that link haptic cues to consumers’ willingness to book online, which provide the theoretical basis for tactile sensory compensation. Although previous studies show that imagining touch (haptic imagery) can serve as a surrogate for touch (Peck et al., 2013; Walters et al., 2007), the underlying mechanism is not clear. Thus, we add to the literature on mental imagery and online tactile experience transmission by proposing and demonstrating that mental imagery significantly mediates the effect of text or image haptic cues on consumers’ willingness to book online.

8. General discussion Through four studies, using secondary and experimental data, we examined the effect of haptic cues. Analyzing data from an OTA, Study 1 shows that the number of haptic cues in online customer reviews significantly influences consumers’ perceived usefulness of those re­ views. This means that consumers will actively search hotels’ touchrelated information when they are making a hotel reservation online. In Study 2, we use an experiment to test the effect of text haptic cues on consumers’ willingness to book online. Compared to the situation with no haptic cues, situations with positive haptic cues increase con­ sumers’ willingness to book, while negative haptic cues strongly decrease willingness to book. This information embodies the asym­ metric effect of haptic cues (similar to the effects of online WOM). In addition, mediation analysis revealed that mental imagery plays an important role. In Study 3, we replace text haptic cues with pictorial haptic cues to test if haptic information could also be communicated visually. The study finds that pictures with high haptic cues significantly increase 9

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Third, we provide new insights into the effect of hotels’ online re­ views by focusing on haptic cues as an antecedent of consumer pur­ chasing behavior. Previous studies on hotels’ online review content are limited to valence and emotions toward WOM content (Racherla, Con­ nolly, & Christodoulidou, 2012; Sparks & Browning, 2011; Vermeulen & Seegers, 2009). Given that touch is a key dimension of hotel experiences, our research explores the effect of text haptic cues from online reviews on perceived usefulness from the perspective of consumers’ sensory experiences.

8.3. Limitations and future research This research is not without limitations, which in turn may provide opportunities for future research. First, although we show that negative haptic cues can significantly decrease consumers’ willingness to book in Study 2, in Studies 3 and 4, we did not include negative haptic cues in an effort to simplify our research. Similarly, we analyzed the mechanism of haptic cues from the perspective of mental simulation but did not thoroughly explore the influencing mechanism of negative haptic cues subject to the theory itself. Mental imagery stimulated by negative haptic cues only serves as a partial mediator, which indicates that there are other complementary mediators and that the influencing mechanism of negative haptic cues on consumers’ willingness to book is more complicated than positive haptic cues. Future research could test the applicability of our research conclusions with negative haptic cues to improve robustness and extend the scope of the theory application. Second, in Study 2, the no-haptic cue condition (as the control condition) is presented with many technical details to deliver the same product information in the non-sensory way. It may interfere with par­ ticipants’ natural processing. Future research could vary the control conditions (e.g., just the absence of the information) to test if partici­ pants would respond differently. Third, this research only examines the effects of haptic information on customer purchase intentions. Future studies could delve into the relative importance of tactile information to consumers’ hotel booking decisions by including other important determinants of hotel stay experience (e.g., cleanliness, decor, space size) in the web content analysis. Finally, the development of sensory marketing theory highlights the unique marketing power of the senses. However, transmission of specific senses such as touch always face great difficulties subject to online media forms, especially for service companies for which experience is at the core (e.g. hotels). How to effectively compensate for the sense of touch is a major problem in marketing. This article only discusses haptic cues in the form of texts and pictures, and thus whether there are other tactile compensation methods remains to be explored. Further research on tactile compensation strategies would provide useful guidance for online hotel marketing and also give direction for the development of OTA and other online channels.

8.2. Managerial implications This research also has practical implications for marketers. First, hotel marketers should try to satisfy consumers’ tactile information demand and make full use of haptic cues to influence their online booking intention. Using vivid haptic cues such as text descriptions, high-definition pictures, and even virtual reality, hotel marketers can deliver tactile experiences to compensate for the sense of touch. In addition, for hotel sales channels such as OTA, the fixed display format of hotel products should be improved, such as providing hotels with more booth space to showcase their unique tactile experience advan­ tages and thus enhancing sensory interactions between consumers and the website. Second, the effect of haptic cues on consumers’ willingness to book online depends on whether mental imagery is triggered. Not all haptic cues can significantly facilitate intention to book online. Thus, for the types of haptic cues in need of a greater degree of imagination (e.g., pictorial haptic cues), in addition to ensuring the quality of haptic cues, marketers can enhance consumers’ inclination to imagine by using in­ structions to imagine, to assist them in activating mental imagery. Finally, it is essential to satisfy different travelers with haptic cues of different orientation. For business travelers, who stay at a hotel simply to sleep and relax, the hotel serves to guarantee other core activities during their trip, and thus they put more emphasis on the outcome of their hotel experiences. Therefore, hotels, especially budget hotels geared toward satisfying consumers’ functional demand, should present haptic cues with outcome simulation in their marketing communica­ tions. For leisure travelers, core activities include leisure experience at a hotel, and thus they pay more attention to the process of the experience. As a result, hotels, especially hotels visited during holidays, should add more haptic cues with process simulation, which depict the touch pro­ cess and sensation, and even demonstrate the process of tactile experi­ ence with more dynamic tools such as graphics interchange format (GIF) pictures and videos to evoke consumers’ mental imagery and facilitate their intention to book online.

Funding This study was supported by a grant obtained from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71372098).

Appendix 1. Text descriptions of haptic cues in Study 2 No haptic cues: (1) The hotel selects 260T high-density quilt covers, 40 pieces of yarn density combed sheets and other pure cotton beddings. (2) Functional mattress with patent: ridge design, spring with stainless steel and filled with sponge. (3) Pillows are filled with natural buckwheat husks and have special arc designs. Positive haptic cues: (1) The hotel selects 260T high-density quilt covers, 40 pieces of yarn density combed sheets and other pure cotton beddings with soft fabrics, which are skin-friendly and smooth. (2) Functional mattress with patent: ridge design, spring with stainless steel and filled with sponge, which fits human bodies and having highquality supportability and resilience. (3) Pillows are filled with natural buckwheat husks and have special arc designs, with great supportability and elastic resilience. Negative haptic cues:

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(1) The hotel selects 260T high-density quilt covers, 40 pieces of yarn density combed sheets and other pure cotton beddings with rough fabrics, which are not skin-friendly and smooth. (2) Functional mattress with patent: ridge design, spring with stainless steel and filled with sponge, which does not fit human bodies and having low-quality supportability and resilience. (3) Pillows are filled with natural buckwheat husks and have special arc designs, which are bad in supporting and easily get a hole once you sleep in. Appendix 2. The simulated hotel booking page on Ctrip in Study 2

Appendix 3. Mental imagery scale from Walters et al. (2007) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

The mental images that came to mind formed a series of events in my mind in which I was a part of. The mental images that came to mind made me feel as though I was actually experiencing the destination featured in this advertisement. This advertisement made me fantasize about having the opportunity to experience the featured destination. I could easily construct a story about myself and the featured destination based on the mental images that came to mind. It was easy for me to imagine being at this destination. Whilst reviewing this advertisement I found myself daydreaming about the featured destination. Whilst reviewing the advertisement many images came to mind. The mental images that came to mind were very clear and specific. The images that came to mind acted as a source of information about the featured destination I could actually see myself in this scenario. Overall the images that came to mind while I examined the advertisement were sharp/dull. Overall the images that came to mind while I examined the advertisement were intense/weak. Overall the images that came to mind while I examined the advertisement were clear/unclear. Overall the images that came to mind while I examined the advertisement were vivid/vague.

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X. Lv et al.

Tourism Management 77 (2020) 104025 Dr. Huifan Li is an Associate Professor in School of Economics at Nankai University, Tianjin, China. Dr. Li’s research interest focuses on service marketing and consumer behavior.

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Dr. Lan Xia is an Associate Professor in the Marketing Department at the McCallum Graduate School of Business, Bentley University. Her major areas of research include behavioral pricing, price fairness perceptions, service pricing, consumer information processing, and online consumer behaviors.

Dr. Xingyang Lv is an Associate Professor in School of Business Administration at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China. Dr. Lv’s research interest focuses on services management, marketing and consumer behavior.

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