ZITE Augustine Banigo1, AKEKUE-ALEX Nennaaton2, OGONU Chituru Gibson3
1, 2, 3 Department of Marketing, Faculty of Administration and Management
Rivers State University Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt
aubzite@gmail.com
`Abstract`
The purpose of the research was to examine the relationship between website security and online patronage of 4-star hotels in Rivers State. Website security was the predictor variable while online patronage was the criterion variable with purchase intention, purchase action and repeat purchase as measures. Three alternate hypotheses were tested in the research. The study population consisted guests (customers) of 18 registered 4-star hotels in Rivers State. In view of the infinite and flowing nature of the population, the Cochran formula for computing sample size where the population is infinite, was used to derive a sample size of 384 guests. Structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data, while hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation with the help of the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences, version 23.0. The results from showed positive and statistically significant correlations between website security and all the indicators of online patronage used in the study. Therefore, the study concludes that website security relates to online patronage of four-star hotels in Rivers State. In order to increase their online patronage, four-star hotels in Rivers State; and recommends that managers of four-star hotels should constantly evaluate their website security status as this can ignite purchase intention, purchase action, and repeat purchase.
Keywords: Purchase action, purchase intention, repeat purchase, online patronage, website security.