Smart hotel in the eyes of the silver: developing and testing the silver tourists’ behavioural intention scale

Numerous studies have highlighted the behavioural intention of AI and robotics in the hospitality industry. Nevertheless, the impact of smart hotels on tourists’ willingness has been underexplored. Moreover, a lack of awareness exists of the attitude and behavioural intention of silver tourists towards smart hotels. Hence, the current study addresses the gap by investigating the antecedent factors of behavioural intention among silver tourists towards smart hotels. A mixed-method design was employed to analyse the depth and breadth of the subject. Study 1 was a qualitative study exploring silver tourists’ perceptions. Meanwhile, Study 2 utilised an online survey on silver tourists in China to investigate the hypotheses derived from Study 1. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results with partial least squares (PLS) path analysis demonstrated that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, safety and security, perceived personalisation, perceived enjoyment, and perceived value formed a positive attitude. Additionally, the present study contradicted past research and revealed that perceived convenience and reliability did not support the relationship with smart hotel attitude. This research contributes to the sparse literature on smart hotels and provides valuable insights for hotel management concerning silver tourists’ consumption intention.