Institutional isomorphism and adoption of e-marketing in the hospitality industry: a new perspective for research

Abstract

Many factors have been used to explain adoption behaviours of managers in the hospitality industry. Studies employing these factors have been carried out with the assumption (implicit or explicit) that the managers are free and independent in their decision to adopt innovations such as the use of e-marketing without much attention to the effects of external pressures. In this paper we provide a relatively new conceptual framework for innovation adoption in the field of tourism based on the concept of institutional isomorphism. We argue that e-marketing adoption decisions by tourist operators can be influenced either singly or jointly by important aspects of institutional factors namely `institutional isomorphism', which, when combined with the traditional innovation adoption factors can enhance a better understanding of tour operators adoption behaviour.