Modern technology is creating customer experience. Its algorithm could remember, predict, and provide customized needs of customers. The self-service technology (SST) is a service innovation that communicates with users through either internet-based social media or applications. Yet, the hotels in Thailand are like other businesses that applied SST. The employees could better communicate, create human relationship, and understand profoundly customer needs than technology. Therefore, the adoption technology in hotels, especially small hotels, must be efficient and effective. This study aims to assess the SST components that serve the small hotel customers' needs and evaluate electronic service quality and technology adoption leading to satisfaction and repurchase intention. This study mainly used quantitative method by structural equation modelling. The scope of the study is customers who experienced using small hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in Thailand. Nakhon Ratchasima is the fifth biggest province in Thailand and one of the top destinations of Thai people.
TopIntroduction
The advancement of technology goes swiftly and was employed in all business sectors for creating customer experiences. Further, the algorithm of technology could remember, predict, and provide customize needs of customers. In addition, the application of technology is widely adopted as well as the number of internet users rose dramatically from 4.5 billion people in 2020 to 4.9 billion persons in 2021. In Thailand, the number of internet users ranked number 8 in Asia Pacific and expected to reach more than 61 million people in 2025 (Statista, 2021). This reflects the internet and application services would become more common in the service industry. More than a decade, (Taneja, 2011) shed the light on information technology adoption in airline business that passenger has gone digital and mobile. The passenger behavior has shifted from personal contact in the service processes to the usage of information technology, such as booking the ticket, payment, and check-in (Kankaew, 2022). Sophisticatedly, scholars employed technology to collect data for the research from the social media sources, like (Herjanto et al, 2021) administered netnography approach to review and analyze passenger’s negative feedback on airline services. The netnography is technology-based to study the groups, communities, or individual in their own environment in specific time (Dawson, 2020). Today, specifically, amid the pandemic we have witnessed that the e-commerce was significantly success. The self-service technology (SST) is a service innovation. It communicates with users or customer through the internet and applications. The SST was extensively in myriad sectors including services, such as hotel for checking-in and out, airline check-in, travel booking, left baggage at the airport, purchasing, and buying goods in department store, food ordering, and mobile banking (Hanks, Line, & Mattila, 2015; Huang, Lee, & Chen, 2019; Myra, Ringgold, Atienza, Susilo, & Len, 2020).
Yet, the hotels in Thailand are like other businesses that applied SST. Howbeit, the adoption of self-service technology in the hotel shall consider the importance of high service quality. It is a key element which distinct the hotel from one another. Moreover, the service that creates value and positive customer experience shall come deliver from the hotel workforces. Since, the employees could better communicate and understand profoundly of customer needs than technology (Hallin, 2018). It should be underlined that the readiness and prompt to serve the customer smoothly and expectedly are crucial. Nevertheless, the majority of big hotels and chained hotels are promptly aligned the implication of information technology for guest services and resilience to the changes. On the contrary, small hotels are mostly own and managed as a family business. Notably, the small hotels which located outside the capital city of Thailand (Bangkok) and surrounding areas. It is where the technology infrastructures are in the development phases in some areas.