Effect of E-Business Adoption on the Quality of Travel Agency-Supplier Relationship in Thailand

Abstract

The emergence of e-business (the business of buying and selling goods and services on the Internet) has created a new business paradigm, which impacts marketing channels of the service industry, including tourism. This research study applies quantitative methods to examine whether antecedent factors pose impact on e-business when e-business factors affect the relationship between travel agencies and their suppliers. Methods: the structured interview was performed on site. The sample comprised 409 retail travel agencies in Thailand selected by stratified sampling method. The conceptual model was explained by path analyses using SEM. Results and Discussion: For the travel agency, customer pressure yielded the greatest impact on e-payment whereas normative pressure created the most impact on e-procurement. Both customer and normative pressure influenced the travel agencies’ short-term trust with their suppliers; however, the latter created greater impact. In addition, e-business adoption caused impact on the agencies’ short-term trust toward the suppliers as well as their long-term commitment either directly or indirectly via perceived reciprocity as a mediator. Interestingly, this research work unexpectedly found that epayment was a key contributing factor in building agencies’ short-term trust with their suppliers.