Unpacking conflicting evaluations and ambivalence in online hotel booking: The moderating role of perceived enjoyment in user retention

Abstract

The online travel industry, particularly hotel booking platforms, operates in a highly competitive environment where user retention is crucial for reducing acquisition costs and ensuring long-term profitability. While ambivalence toward technology has been linked to unfavorable outcomes, its antecedents and associations with user retention in the context of online hotel booking platforms remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining how key platform features—perceived security risk, effort, usefulness, and enjoyment—are associated with user ambivalence and retention. Using structural equation modeling with survey data from 387 participants, the findings reveal that perceiv..