Using the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) to Explain the Intention to Book Tourism Products Online

Literature Review

The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is an extension of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) that predicts behavior over which people do not have complete volitional control. TPB achieves this by “including a predictor of behavioral intention and behavior called perceived behavioral control” (Notani, 1998, p. 248). From the TPB, Taylor and Todd (1995) develop the decomposed TPB (DTPB). This model aims to explain the behavior of users based on the relationship between beliefs, attitudes, intention, and behavior. According to this model, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are the elements that help to understand the reasons or factors explaining individual actions, even if the intention is considered as the best indicator of behavior (Herrero Crespo & Rodríguez del Bosque, 2008). DTPB focuses on the identification of beliefs and factors those influence the three determinants of behavior, namely attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. This model decomposes attitude into three variables, namely perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and compatibility, a variable arising out of Rogers’s diffusion of innovation theory (Rogers, 1995). Compatibility is “the extent to which [an] innovation is perceived as consistent with existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential users” (Rogers, 1995, p 224; In Eastin, 2002, p. 253).

Compatibility is largely used as an antecedent of attitude. Chen, Gillenson and Sherrell (2002) propose a model integrating Theory of diffusion of innovation- TDI- and TAM and conclude that compatibility influences attitude toward online purchasing and that it is an antecedent of perceived usefulness. Chen and Tan (2004), in a study designed to determine the key success factors for the acceptance of online stores, find that the compatibility variable is an antecedent of attitude among perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and perceived service quality. The greater compatibility is, the higher the likelihood of the adoption of online stores. Vijayasarathy (2004) and Lin (2007) also show that compatibility has an impact on attitude toward the acceptance of the Internet as tool.