Moderating the impact of e-commerce expenses on financial performance in US upper upscale hotels

The heavily fragmented hotel industry, embracing the changes in their guests’ use of electronic devices, has spent considerable resources to incorporate electronic commerce (e-commerce) practices. The extant literature offers inconclusive findings with regard to the effect of e-commerce on firm performance, especially when firm size is considered. Given the high fragmentation of size in the hotel industry, understanding its role in the deployment of e-commerce could result in substantial benefits for both hotel firms and consumers. Using the financial performance of 689 observations of over 110 hotels during 2007–2012, this study finds that e-commerce expenses positively impact firm performance, and that firm size moderates the relationship between e-commerce expenses and firm performance.