ANTECEDENTS OF TRUST TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING IN CHINA AND SAUDI ARABIA. THE MODERATING ROLE OF DISPOSITION TO TRUST

Chinese and Saudi Arabians are among the world's biggest spenders on tourism and hospitality. Moreover, in both countries the purchase channel that has experienced the highest growth rate is represented by the internet. Digital platforms are often involved in travelers’ decision making. In particular, a key role is played by online travel agencies (OTAs), which are defined as the electronic business providers that offer travel-related products and/or services in the virtual market place. In the context of hospitality and tourism industry, studies about decision-making in e-commerce are still lacking significantly in both theoretical and empirical perspective. Indeed, the amount of studies about consumers in the online travel shopping context is relatively small. Limited studies have been conducted on the antecedents of trust in the context of tourism e-commerce. Furthermore, the studies of consumers' behavior on online travel platforms are still rare within the context of developing countries. Therefore, this study aims to examine the factors that influence consumers to trust OTAs and the relationship between trust and online purchasing intentions in two emerging markets, China and Saudi Arabia. Six factors are proposed for building consumer trust towards online travel agencies: website information quality, consumers reviews quality, service quality, previous online shopping experience, perceived risk, and disposition to trust. Consumers purchase intention is a result of trust towards the online travel website. Data of Saudi Arabian and Chinese users of OTAs were collected by an online questionnaire and then analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings reveal that the predictors of trust towards OTAs differ among consumers from China and Saudi Arabia. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.