Digital Platform Attributes and Online Hotel Booking Intention: A Stimulus–Organism–Response Model of Trust in Hotel Booking

Digital booking platforms have transformed how tourists evaluate and select accommodation providers, yet the mechanisms through which platform attributes shape trust and booking intention remain insufficiently examined in emerging tourism markets. This study investigates the relationships among four digital platform attributes—Website Functionality, Website Usability, Social Presence, and Product Variety—Trust, and Online Hotel Booking Intention, while also comparing trust perceptions between users of official hotel websites and third-party online travel agencies (OTAs) in the Philippines. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework, the study employed a quantitative cross-sectional design involving 378 respondents, equally distributed between official hotel website users and OTA users. Confirmatory factor analysis produced a six-construct measurement model comprising 26 indicators. Structural analysis revealed that Website Usability (β = 0.194, p = 0.008), Social Presence (β = 0.400, p < 0.001), and Product Variety (β = 0.330, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with Trust, whereas Website Functionality was not significant (β = 0.136, p = 0.106). Trust showed a very strong association with Online Hotel Booking Intention (β = 0.922, p < 0.001). OTA users also reported significantly higher trust than official hotel website users (M = 4.015 vs. 3.700; t(376) = −3.760, p < 0.001, d = −0.387). The model explained 94.1% of the variance in Trust and 85.1% in Online Hotel Booking Intention. The findings position Trust as a central mechanism in online hotel-booking behavior and highlight the importance of usability and social presence in digital booking environments. However, substantial predictor overlap, elevated structural-model RMSEA, and residual conceptual overlap in the Product Variety indicators require cautious interpretation of the structural associations and preclude causal claims. The study extends S-O-R-based tourism research by integrating digital platform attributes with trust and booking intention while providing empirical evidence from the Philippine online hotel-booking context.