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Introduction
Cell phones have become one of the most important electronic devices of the modern world. With their evolution into smartphones, the biggest change is that consumers are able to connect to the internet at anytime and anywhere. The number of smartphone users also increases dramatically every year. In the second quarter of 2010, 25 percent of all cell phone users in the USA owned smartphones ([18] Nielsenwire, 2010), and approximately 45 percent of cell phone users will have a smartphone by 2015 ([10] Elkin, 2011).
Smartphones have brought many changes to the hospitality industry. Approximately 40 percent of leisure travelers in the USA research travel information using smartphones, and about 25 percent of smartphone users book their trips using their phones ([2] Adobe Scene Inc., 2011). To respond to these current trends, hospitality companies have offered mobile applications to customers allowing them to purchase products and services using smartphones. However, studies about mobile applications and smartphones in the hospitality industry are scarce. Therefore, this study aims to identify factors influencing consumers to download mobile applications from the hospitality companies applying the technology acceptance model (TAM).
Literature reviews
Smartphone and mobile commerce
The technology was not mature when the first smartphone was introduced in 1999 and smartphones did not become popular until 2003 ([20] Raento et al. , 2009). In addition, smartphones sales exceeded laptop sales in 2007 and will be replacing personal computers soon ([28] Want, 2009). Likewise, the global internet development has been more focused on the mobile internet than on the PC internet ([29] Wu et al. , 2010). According to [17] Ngai and Gunasekaran (2007), the two major functions of smartphones are mobility and broad reach. This allows consumers to conduct business and be reached via smartphones at anytime and anywhere. With them, users can check their e-mail, browse the web, play games, use GPS, and utilize organizer-type applications (e.g. diaries, contacts, and notepads) ([5] Charlesworth, 2009). Furthermore, mobile shopping in the USA increased from $396 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2009 ([1] ABI Research, 2010). According to [2] Adobe Scene Inc. (2011), many people have purchased products or services using their mobile phone and more than half of the consumers were satisfied with their mobile experiences. Consumers'...