A Hybrid SEM-ANN Method for Developing an Information Technology Acceptance and Utilization Model in River Tourism Services

Abstract

Tourism is a vital sector that contributes significantly to Indonesia’s economic growth. However, despite its great potential, the sector faces challenges in the application of information technology, as seen in the Go-Klotok application in Banjarmasin City which has not been well received by tourists. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that influence the acceptance of information technology in river tourism to improve the tourist experience and support the growth of the sector. This study aims to develop a model of technology acceptance and utilization in river tourism in South Kalimantan. To that end, this study modifies four main models, namely the Tourism Web Acceptance Model (T-WAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), the E-Tourism Technology Acceptance Model (ETAM), and The DeLone and McLean Model. This research identifies and analyzes various factors that influence technology acceptance in the context of river tourism. The research method uses a hybrid SEM-ANN approach, where Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to analyze the relationship between variables, while Artificial Neural Network (ANN) captures more complex data patterns. Data analysis in this study used the Hybrid SEM-ANN method with the SmartPLS application and the IBM SPSS Statistics 27 application. The hypotheses of this study were 14 hypotheses and 9 hypotheses were accepted. The results of the analysis of 471 respondents show that Social Influence, Perceived Benefits, and Information Quality significantly influence user intention to use information technology services, with Social Influence as the most dominant factor.