Online branding: Development of hotel branding through interactivity theory

The present study aims to develop and test a theory-based model of website interactivity as an online branding tool. It explores the relationships among website interactivity, the dimensions of brand knowledge, and brand value in the context of hotel booking websites. An online questionnaire was completed by four hundred forty two (n = 442) responses who booked a hotel room in the previous year. Leaning on the fundamentals of branding literature and the website interactivity theory, a model was designed and seven hypotheses were tested. A two-phase analysis was considered, first a Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and then a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were conducted to test hypotheses. The results of the study show that the dimensions of website interactivity, namely two-way communication and user control, positively impact the dimensions of brand knowledge, namely brand awareness and brand image, which in turn impact brand value. We offer both theoretical and managerial implications.