Consumer confusion and decision postponement in the online tourism domain: the moderating role of self-efficacy

Purpose Internet emergence has evolved the business of tourism companies, and every tourism company is available online and provides abundant choices, which causes consumers' confusion. The current study aims to investigate the interaction effect of demographic variables on confusion, decision postponement as a negative consequence of confusion and self-efficacy as a moderator in light of the stimulus organism response (SOR) model. Also, an attempt has been made to integrate the smart technology-based solution to deal with consumers' confusion. Design/methodology/approach Three-way ANOVA, Andrew Hayes process, structural equation modelling and random forest algorithm were used to assess the 507 self-filled questionnaire responses for examining consumers' confusion. Findings The results reveal that confusion decreases with increased education levels for each gender and age group. Also, for every gender and education level, consumer confusion increases and then decreases. Further, it was observed that self-efficacy effectively moderates the influence of different confusions on decision postponement. An artificial intelligence-enabled predictive model with an accuracy of 71.49% was established, which forecasts the possibility of consumers' decision postponement. Practical implications This study offers the comprehension of how the travel site administrators and stakeholders have used artificial intelligence-enabled solution for consumers' confusion and to reduce decision postponement. Originality/value To the best of the authors' awareness, this is one of the first studies to unveil the interaction effect of demographic factors on confusion, assess the role of self-efficacy as a moderator and provide artificial intelligence-enabled solutions for consumers' confusion.