E-commerce Adoption by Travel Agencies in Jordan

512 Pages·2015·4.19 MB·English

by  Mohammad Kasem

E-commerce Adoption by Travel
Agencies in Jordan

By
Mohammad Kasim Alrousan
Student Number: 20024308
December, 2014
A thesis submitted to Cardiff Metropolitan University for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Cardiff School of Management
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Supervised by
Professor Peter Abell
Dr Bernadette Warner
Abstract
The advents of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially the
Internet applications, have become indispensable tool to the tourism industry. ICTs have
had a major influence in changing the structure of this industry, to be information-
intensive industry. Travel agencies category of SMEs , have a vital role in tourism;
managing, coordinating and supplying all aspects thereof, such as transport sector,
hospitality sector and leisure attractions.
The factors affecting e-commerce adoption by SMEs have been well-documented in
developed countries, but inadequate studies have been conducted regarding e-commerce
adoption in the developing countries; particularly in Arab countries. Moreover, it has
been found that in spite of potential benefits for travel agencies of adoption of e-
commerce, travel agencies are commonly regarded as slow adopters of e-commerce,
lagging far behind the developed countries.
Therefore, the focus of this study is on investigating the factors affecting e-commerce
adoption by focusing on Jordanian travel agencies. To achieve this objective; an
integrated conceptual framework was developed on the basis of previous models and
theories relevant to ICTs and e-commerce adoption, namely Rogers’ Diffusion of
Innovation model, the Technology-Organisation-Environment model and Hofstede’s
Cultural Dimensions theory. The conceptual framework was developed for the
explanation of the factors affecting e-commerce adoption by travel agencies. These
factors were used to identify different levels of e-commerce adoption. These levels
include: non-adoption, e-connectivity, e-window, e-interactivity, e-transaction and e-
enterprise.
The quantitative method was applied in this study for data collection using self-
administrated questionnaire distributed to 300 Jordanian travel agents. The total number
of valid questionnaires was 206, constituting a response rate of 68.6%. The descriptive
analysis was used to explain demographic profiles of participants and current state of e-
commerce adoption level. Multinomial Logistic Regression was used to test the research
hypotheses. The research findings revealed that there are three different adoption levels
of e-commerce by Jordanian travel agencies: e-connectivity, e-window and e-
interactivity. The results showed that relative advantage, observability, business/partner
pressure, uncertainty avoidance and government support were the significant predictors
differentiating e-window from e-connectivity. Moreover, relative advantage,
observability, financial barriers, power distance, business/partner pressure and
government support proved to be significant predictors differentiating between e-
interactivity and e-connectivity. It was also found that observability, competitive
pressure, firm size and complexity were significant predictors differentiating between e-
interactivity and e-window. On the other hand, the results showed that compatibility,
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trialability, employees’ IT knowledge, top management support, manager’s attitude, and
customer pressure were insignificant predictors of any of the e-commerce adoption
levels.
Upon that, it can be argued with confidence that different levels of e-commerce adoption
are affected by different factors. This entails the necessity of addressing the above ten
significant predictors as they can be useful for managers, IT/web vendors and policy
makers in drawing a roadmap and strategies for expanding the use and benefits of e-
commerce adoption. Moreover, the conceptual framework of the study provide a best
explanation of factors affecting e-commerce adoption levels in travel agencies as an
example of SMEs, which contribute to the knowledge in the area of information systems
particularly in the context of e-commerce adoption in developing countries.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, any expression of my gratitude to the favours Allah has bestowed
upon me remains an understatement. It is only by these favours I have learned what I
would have never known and found the faith and guidance to complete this thesis.
My warmest gratefulness goes to my father Dr. Kasim Al-Rousan and my mother Seham
Al-Rousan for their support, encouragement and care not only during my PhD study but
ever since I was born. I am also thankful to my sisters and brother who sought to keep the
spark of confidence kindled within me. My heartfelt thanks are also to my dear wife Dr.
Dima Obeidat, for her patience, love and encouragement that kept motivating me.
I am very grateful to the director of my study, Professor Peter Abell, for his
encouragement, support, wisdom and knowledge. I have learnt many things from him and
his valuable knowledge, comments and instructions made the completion of this thesis
possible and at the same time a great experience for me. His humility and patience made
things much easier. I will never forget his inspiring directions and advices.
I also want to express my warmest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Bernadette Warner,
whose vast knowledge and experience in research direction provided me with valuable
feedback, empowered me with better research skills and improved the quality of this
thesis. Not only academically, but also her exemplary hard work, tactfulness and
friendliness offered an outstanding role model for me. I was so fortunate to have such a
great supervisor without whom this thesis would not have been completed.
My sincere gratitude and appreciation are due to Professor Eleri Jones for her support and
comments, especially at first stages of my research. She also gave me her valuable time
and helped me to publish a relevant paper at a distinguished journal despite her busy
schedule as a PhD Research Programme Director at Cardiff Metropolitan University. To
her I owe my sincerest respect and appreciation.
I would like to thank my father-in-law, Professor Turki Obeidat, for his valuable
comments, advices and encouragement throughout my research period. He taught me
about statistical techniques and his tips through various discussions added strength to my
work.
I am also thankful to Dr. Mohammad Bsoul who helped me to access certain journals that
I needed. He also gave me some comments which added a special flavour to my work. I
also thank my friends and colleagues Ahmad Al-Adwan, Bardia Hariri, Dr. Bader Al-
Fawwaz, Amr Madadha, and Wael Asem Al-rousan for their useful comments and
support.
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I also owe special thanks to my friend Firas Abd-Alhadi for reviewing the thesis
linguistically and providing valuable comments which made a big difference in the
quality of my research.
I also owe sincere thanks to Jordan Tourism Board for its support in this study. This
study would not have been possible without its corporation, especially in data collection.
Finally, I am so grateful to Cardiff Metropolitan University for offering a range of
educational facilities, such as a first class library and advanced education system that
enabled me to use the resources of other academic institutions as the British Library and
the library of the London School of Economic and Political Science which had a
significant effect on completing of this work successfully.

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DEDICATION

I dedicated this thesis to my father Dr Kasim Alrousan , to my
mother Seham Alrousan , to my sisters and brother , to my father-
in-law professor Turki Obeidat ,to my mother-in-law Muzaz Turki,
and to my wife Dima , who have supported and encouraged me to
achieve success and completion this PhD.

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Publications
Alrousan, M. and Jones, E. (In Press) ‘A conceptual model of factors affecting e-
commerce adoption by SME owner/managers in Jordan’, Int. J. Business Information
Systems.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One .................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Research Background ................................................................................................................ 2
1.2 Rationale of the Study ............................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Importance of the Study ............................................................................................................ 8
1.4 Research Aim and Objectives .................................................................................................. 10
1.5 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................... 11
1.6 Research Contribution ............................................................................................................. 12
1.7 Thesis Structure ....................................................................................................................... 14
Chapter Two .................................................................................................................................. 17
Technology and Tourism ............................................................................................................... 17
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 18
2.2 Information and Communication Technologies and E-commerce in Developing Countries .. 18
2.3 ICTs and E-commerce in Jordan .............................................................................................. 27
2.3.1 Overview of Jordan ........................................................................................................... 27
2.3.2 ICTs and E-commerce in Jordan ...................................................................................... 29
2.3.3 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan ........................................................... 30
2.3.4 SMEs and E-commerce in Jordan .................................................................................... 32
2.4 Tourism Industry ..................................................................................................................... 33
2.4.1 Tourism in Jordan ............................................................................................................. 35
2.4.2 Tourism and ICTs ............................................................................................................. 36
2.4.3 Disintermediation and Reintermediation ........................................................................ 40
2.4.4 Travel Agencies in Jordan ................................................................................................. 44
2.4.5 Travel Agencies and E-commerce in Jordan ..................................................................... 45
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2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 46
Chapter Three ................................................................................................................................ 48
Theoretical Background................................................................................................................. 48
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 49
3.2 Theories and Models in Technology Adoption ........................................................................ 49
3.2.1 Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)..................................................................................... 50
3.2.2 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) ............................................................................. 53
3.2.3 Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) ................................................................. 58
3.2.4 Diffusion of Innovation Theory ......................................................................................... 61
3.2.5 Culture and Technology ................................................................................................... 69
3.3 Integrated Models and Theories ............................................................................................. 77
3.4 Previous Studies on E-commerce Innovation Adoption .......................................................... 82
3.5 Studies of Factors Affecting E-commerce Adoption in SMEs .................................................. 86
3.5.1 Technological Factors ....................................................................................................... 86
3.5.2 Organizational Factors ...................................................................................................... 89
3.5.3 Managerial Factors ........................................................................................................... 92
3.5.4 Environmental Factors...................................................................................................... 96
3.6 Studies of Factors Affecting E-commerce Adoption in Travel agencies .................................. 98
3.7 Maturity Models of E-commerce .......................................................................................... 102
3.8 Limitations and Gap in literature........................................................................................... 109
3.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 111
Chapter Four ................................................................................................................................ 127
Hypotheses and Conceptual Framework .................................................................................... 127
4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 128
4.2 The Proposed Conceptual Framework .................................................................................. 128
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4.3 Hypotheses and Relationship to Research Development ..................................................... 144
4.3.1 Attributes of Innovation ................................................................................................. 145
4.3.1.1 Relative Advantages ................................................................................................ 145
4.3.1.2 Compatibility ........................................................................................................... 146
4.3.1.3 Complexity ............................................................................................................... 148
4.3.1.4 Trialability ................................................................................................................ 149
4.3.1.5 Observability ............................................................................................................ 151
4.3.2 Organisational Factors .................................................................................................... 152
4.3.2.1 Firm Size .................................................................................................................. 152
4.3.2.2 Financial Barriers ..................................................................................................... 154
4.3.2.3 Employees’ IT Knowledge ........................................................................................ 156
4.3.3 Managerial Factors ......................................................................................................... 157
4.3.3.1 Top Management Support ...................................................................................... 158
4.3.3.2 Power Distance ........................................................................................................ 159
4.3.3.3 Uncertainty Avoidance ............................................................................................ 161
4.3.3.4 Manager’s Attitude toward E-commerce Applications ........................................... 163
4.3.4 Environmental Factors ................................................................................................... 165
4.3.4.1 Competitive Pressure .............................................................................................. 165
4.3.4.2 Supplier/Business Partner Pressure ...................................................................... 166
4.3.4.3 Customer Pressure .................................................................................................. 167
4.3.4.4 Government Support ............................................................................................... 168
4.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 170
Chapter Five ................................................................................................................................. 173
Research Methodology ............................................................................................................... 173
5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 174
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