Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Tourism Management Perspectives
j ourna l homepage: www.e lsev ie r .com/ locate / tmp
Harnessing social media platforms to measure customer-based hotel brand equity
Luis Callarisa a,⁎, Javier Sánchez García a,1, John Cardiff b,2, Alexandra Roshchina b,2
a Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Jaume I University, Campus Riu Sec, Avda. Sos Baynat s/n, 12071 Castellon, Spainb Department of Marketing and Business Computing, Institute of Technology Tallaght, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland
In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in the volume of user-generated content being madeavailable in socialmedia platforms of theWeb 2.0 genre. Among themost valuable from amarketing perspectiveis the prevalence of online reviews of products and serviceswhich can serve as vast, up-to-the-minute sources ofdata for research andmarketingmanagement. In this paper,we describe ourwork on the analysis of the differentcomponents of brand equity and their relations in hotels, using data extracted from social media platforms. Byusing online sources of reviews, we can achieve a greater degree of confidence in our findings as we have accessto a far greater quantity of reviews spanning any given timeframe. Additionally we can have greater confidencein the information contained therein, as the reviews reflect the opinions of the customers considered at leisure,usually after their return from the hotel, rather than a hastily completed survey as the customer leaves the hotel.
The brand appears in marketing literature as a powerful tool ofdifferentiation for products and companies (Clifton, 2003). Althoughtourism is a critical sector for many countries, there are few systematicstudies on hotel brands (Hankinson, 2005; Kim & Kim, 2005; Konecnik& Gartner, 2007). The increased competition between various destina-tions and hotels with similar characteristics makes the brand a keydifferentiating factor (Cai, 2002; Fesenmaier, 2007; Morgan, Pritchard,& Pride, 2002; Pike, 2005).
Today it is essential for hotel managers to measure the effectivenessof their brand to remain competitive in the marketplace (Blain, Levy, &Ritchie, 2005). For this to be effective, it must be undertaken from theperspective of the customer (Wang, Hsu, Hsu, & Hsieh, 2011). Thereare empirical research studies which focus on the experience of travelersand their perception of the brand of destinations and tourist accommo-dation as key variables to measure the impact of brands on consumerbehavior (Blain et al., 2005; Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009;Kim & Kim, 2005).
Social media forums play an important role for touristsin the ex-change of travel experiences (Xiang & Gretzel, 2010). Consumer blogs,which frequently contain product and service reviews, have becomeone of themost important themes in research on social media in tourism(Pan, MacLaurin, & Crotts, 2007; Pühringer & Taylor, 2008; Waldhör &
Rind, 2008). These studies show the importance of understanding theroles of blogs to create and share new experiences (Pudliner, 2007), theveracity of the comments of travelers (Mack, Blose, & Pan, 2008), andthe use of information in the marketing intelligence system (Pühringer& Taylor, 2008;Waldhör & Rind, 2008). This is demonstrated by the suc-cess of social media sites such as Tripadvisor.com3 and Zagat.com4 as ameans of social communication among tourists (Gretzel & Yoo, 2008;O'Connor, 2010; Vermeulen & Seegers, 2008).
From a branding perspective, the analysis of social media forums isespecially relevant, because these can be used by individuals to takepart in discussions in order to inform and influence consumers aboutbrands or organizations. Additionally, electronic word-of-mouth hasbeen shown to be a powerful influence on whether or not to select abrand (Casaló, Flavián, & Guinalíu, 2010).
The overall objective of this study is to analyze the different compo-nents of brand equity, through the valuations of the hotels on a digitalplatform such as Tripadvisor.com. This complements existing work onmeasuring brand destinations and tourist accommodations from theperspective of customers in the field ofWeb 2.0 through virtual forumssuch as TripAdvisor (Au, Law, & Buhalis, 2010). This work is interestingfor a number of reasons. Firstly, it allows us to define the concept ofbrand value for hotels in a virtual environment. Secondly, the studyanalyzes the components of brand value hotels in a virtual environmentand establishes the relationships between them.
This paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we consider socialmedia forums and their importance in the context of current andfuture tourism. In Section 3 we develop the concept of brand equityand the various dimensions of which it is comprised. In Section 4,
74 L. Callarisa et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 4 (2012) 73–79
we describe themethodology we used in our investigation. In Section 5we present the main findings and the conclusions are presented inSection 6.
2. Eliciting customer opinions from social media
The emergence and growth of social media in virtual environments,particularly under the umbrella of the so-called “Web 2.0” genre ofapplications, has brought significant business opportunities for bothorganizations and their customers (Erdem & Cobanoglu, 2010; Kim &Hardin, 2010; O'Connor, 2010). Kim, Song, and Jones (2011) assertthat the forums and virtual communities can be a significant knowledgesource in which knowledge recipients can access and acquire theknowledge.
Social media platforms allow the creation and development ofnew activities and provide powerful capabilities to bring together ina virtual environment both users and potential users and resources(Erdem & Cobanoglu, 2010; Kim & Hardin, 2010; O'Connor, 2010;Xiang, Wöber, & Fesenmaier, 2008).
Marketing of hotels can be exploited in virtual environments tocreate new types of services and improve current products, creatingnew businesses, increasing the current supply of goods and services,and creating new capabilities the main objective of which is to satisfycustomers and seek the differentiation in the market (Fesenmaier,2007; Wang, Yu, & Fesenmaier, 2002; Xiang & Gretzel, 2010). In addi-tion, through improved customer knowledge and their needs, hotelscan adjust their costs because they can deliver precisely what thecustomer wants (Kim & Hardin, 2010; O'Connor, 2010; Wang et al.,2002). This new business model has important repercussions for theleisure industry and tourism in general, because it forces companies toadapt, design and develop marketing strategies specifically targeted tosocial media sites (Fesenmaier, 2007; Kim & Hardin, 2010; O'Connor,2010).
Social media sites containing user generated comments and reviewscan affect the creation of the brand, providing companies with greatereffectiveness in the communication process for their goods andservices, as well as with greater awareness in brand loyalty, perceivedquality and brand associations (Wang et al., 2011; Xiang & Gretzel,2010). It also affects the creation and development of relationships,removing barriers between hotels and their customers, suppliers andother agents.
Understanding the marketing potential of social media is onlyone part of the task of capitalizing on the benefits it can generate;the other part principally depends on the willingness and ability torespond efficiently and effectively to criticisms published by reviewers.The appropriate design of the virtual tourism community is based on acomprehensive understanding of the consumers' functional, social, andpsychological needs aswell as how these needs interact with each other(Wang et al., 2002). Furthermore it is critical to understand how theseneeds interact, affecting the levels of member satisfaction (Tapscott &Williams, 2006).
3. Customer-based hotel brand equity
Brand equity is a key concept for brand management and is now atthe center of a debate regarding its definition and measurement (Lin,Pearson, & Cai, 2011; Tsanga, Leea, & Lia, 2011; Yoo & Donthu, 2001).Its study can be approached from three different perspectives:customer, financial, and a combination of both (Kim & Kim, 2005;Srivastava & Shocker, 1991).
A literature review shows us that there is a lack of empirical stud-ies of the customer-based brand equity in the ambit of the services(Chang & Liu, 2009; Kim, Jin-Sun, & Kim, 2008; Kim & Kim, 2005;Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2010) and of tourism in particular (Kim &Kim, 2005; Konecnik & Gartner, 2007; Lee & Back, 2008). For con-sumers, tourism services are much more multidimensional than
other goods or services (Pike, 2005). We consider it necessary todeepen the dimensions comprising brand equity from the perspectiveof tourism, and the relationships that occur between them (Keller,1993; Boo, Busser, & Baloghu, 2009; Wang et al., 2011).
3.1. Brand value
Although there is no generally accepted definition of perceivedvalue of brand, the price-based definition is the most frequently useddefinition (Sweeney, Soutar, & Johnson, 1999; Tsai, 2005; Woodruff,1997). However, the literature indicates that perceived value is treatedas a multidimensional construct (Callarisa, Moliner, & Sánchez, 2011;Hall, Robertson, & Shaw, 2001; Sánchez, Callarisa, Rodríguez, &Moliner, 2006; Sirgy& Johar, 1999; Sweeney& Soutar, 2001), composedof at least three dimensions: functional, emotional and social. In ourcase, we focus on the functional dimension (value for money) in thecontext of a hotel brand. In this sense, the customer's choice of abrand depends on the perceived balance between the price of a productand its usefulness (Lassar, Mittal, & Sharma, 1995). Aaker (1996) pointsout that brand equity can bemeasured by asking customers if the brandoffers good value for the money paid, or if there is reason to buy onebrand instead of competition.
The literature also indicates that the perceived value of a brandis positively associated with future behaviors, such as purchase orsearch intentions (Oh, 2000), and the willingness to buy (Sweeney etal., 1999; Tsai, 2005; Wang et al., 2011). Furthermore, there is also apositive relationship between perceived value and loyalty (Kwun &Oh, 2004), where the customer's perceived value plays an importantrole in building customer loyalty (Oliver, 1997; Zeithaml, 1988).
H1. Brand value has a positive impact on a hotel's brand loyalty.
3.2. Brand quality
Brand quality is one of the key dimensions of brand equity (Aaker,1996; Keller, 2003; Lassar et al., 1995). In a customer-based brandequity model, Keller (2003) identified seven dimensions of quality:performance; features; conformation quality; reliability; durability;serviceability; and style and design.
In the field of tourism, it appears that perceived quality deter-mines brand value of trip (Murphy, Pritchard, & Smith, 2000) anddestination (Deslandes, 2003), and in turn has a positive effect onbrand loyalty (Boo et al., 2009; Cretu & Brodie, 2007).
H2. Brand quality has a positive impact on a hotel's brand value.
H3. Brand quality has a positive impact on a hotel's brand loyalty.
3.3. Brand awareness
Hotelmarketing should beprimarily aimed at increasing visibility bycreating a unique and differentiated brand (Fesenmaier, 2007). Brandawareness is “the ability for a buyer to recognize or recall that a brandis a member of a certain product category” (Aaker, 1991) and consistsof both brand recognition and recall (Keller, 1993).
In the tourism sector, brand awareness is a catalyst of the brandeffects on the consumer behavior (Kim & Kim, 2005; Kwun & Oh,2004; Lee & Back, 2008; Oh, 2000; Sivakumar & Raj, 1997; Webster,2000). Brand awareness is one of the most important factors forretrieval of information about the brand (Keller, 1993), and is consideredas a first and necessary, but not sufficient, step leading to trial and repeatpurchase (Konecnik & Gartner, 2007). However, brand awareness is animportant antecedent of customer value (Kwun & Oh, 2004; Oh, 2000;Webster, 2000) and contributes to the financial performance of hotels(Kim & Kim, 2005).
H4. Brand awareness has a positive impact on a hotel's brand value.
Table 1A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index 2010.
Ranking City Weighted overall score
1 New York 6.222 London 5.863 Tokyo 5.424 Paris 5.355 Hong Kong 4.146 Chicago 3.947 Los Angeles 3.908 Singapore 3.459 Sydney 3.4410 Seoul 3.29
Effectiveness measurement of the brand in tourism is mainly basedon the image (Cai, 2002; Hall, 2002; Hankinson, 2005; Prebensen, 2007;Tasci, Gartner, & Cavusgil, 2007). Brand image can be viewed fromthe standpoint of social and self-image of the brand personality(Grace & O'Cass, 2005; Kapferer, 1997; Lassar et al., 1995; Sirgy & Su,2000) because it has also been considered an element of brand person-ality (Hosany, Ekinci, & Uysal, 2006; Patterson, 1999; Phau & Lau, 2000;Upshaw, 1995). Brand image has been significantly related to cus-tomers' self-concepts (Aaker, 1996; Belk, 1988; de Chernatony &Dall'Olmo Riley, 1998; Solomon, 1999). On the other hand, the imagehas been linked to issues such as the service offered by the brand(Kim & Kim, 2005), which is the approach taken in this study.
From the consumer's perspective, there is evidence that brandimage may influence customer choice (Andreassen & Lindestad,1998; Bloemer, Ruyter, & Wetzels, 1998) and the perceptions of cus-tomer value (Maklan, Stan, & Knox, 1997). In addition, brand imagemay also have an influence on consumer loyalty (Cretu & Brodie,2007; Zeithaml, 1988).
H5. Brand image has a positive impact on a hotel's brand value.
H6. Brand image has a positive impact on a hotel's brand loyalty.
3.5. Brand loyalty
Every successful brand represents a set of loyal customers thatrespond more favorably to that brand than non-loyal consumers do.Although loyal customers may not necessarily purchase the productagain, they may give out positive word-of-mouth reviews (Kim, Lee, &Hiemstra, 2004;Wang et al., 2011). This is a critical aspect of this researchas this effectively constitutes “electronic word-of-mouth” in virtual com-munities. Customer loyalty is a core dimension of brand equity (Aaker,1996), and an increase in customer loyalty tends to enhance brand equity(Yoo, Donthu, & Lee, 2000). Loyalty has been defined as a ‘deeply heldcommitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product/service consis-tently in the future’ (Oliver, 1999).
In relation to hotels, brand loyalty is highlighted in two studies.Firstly, Konecnik and Gartner (2007) note the importance of this vari-able in the brand equity model. Secondly, Kim and Kim (2005) analyzebrand loyalty from the attitudinal and behavioral perspectives and pro-pose a significant relationship between brand value and brand loyalty.
Taking into account the hypotheses suggested in the paper, theinitial model (model 1) we propose is shown in Fig. 1.
Brand Image
Brand Awareness
Brand Quality
Brand Loyalty
Brand Value
H1
H4
H5
H6
H2
H3
Fig. 1. Preliminary model: model 1.
4. Methodology
4.1. Selection of cities and hotels
For selection of cities, we used the 2010 A.T. Kearney Global CitiesIndex that ranks the metropolitan areas of 65 cities according to 25measures across five dimensions of globalization (business activity,human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and politi-cal engagement), defined generally as the ability to attract, retain andgenerate global capital, people and ideas. Table 1 shows the 10 citieswith the highest weighted overall score.
Table 2 shows the overall results of the 10 largest hotel chains in theworld (Euromonitor, 2010).We analyze these chains in the 10 cities listedabove. As there is no direct measure of brand awareness, and followingtheworkof KimandKim(2005)who suggest that this dimension is close-ly related to the performance of the company,we consider the percentageof market share as an indicator of brand awareness (Uncles, East, &Lomax, 2010), since the larger the market share of a hotel chain, themore hotels it will have. Accordingly, these hotels will be better known,and come to theminds of consumers faster. In addition, Li (2010) suggeststhat brand loyalty may be affected by non-performance factors, such asbrand parity, brand market share, and loyalty proneness.
4.2. Data collection process
The TripAdvisor site provides a large variety of user-generatedcontent. For the purposes of our experiment we have utilized infor-mation contained therein about hotels, reviews and people.
In order to extract the relevant information from the Tripadvisorsite, we constructed and implemented an algorithm in order to extracta sufficient volume of review and related information. This program(a Webcrawler) is implemented in Java and was used to download
Table 2Global Hotels Performance 2004/2009.
Ranking Company 2004%valueshare
2009%valueshare
2009 valuesales, US$million
%valueCAGR2004–2009
1 Marriott International Inc. 4.8 4.8 18,693.9 3.82 Hilton Worldwide – 4 15,576.6 –
76 L. Callarisa et al. / Tourism Management Perspectives 4 (2012) 73–79
automatically data which matched the criteria we specified. We usedtheWebcrawler to retrieve hotel reviews relating to the 10most popu-lar hotel brands in each of the 10 most popular destinations. Thesereviewswere then collected and stored in Excel format. The TripAdvisordataset constructed in this manner consists of 11,917 reviews (reviewtext, review ratings and a number of additional fields) based on a totalof 653 hotels (hotel name, number of stars, etc.).
Taking into account the data obtained in this process and themarketshare of each hotel chain, items thatmeasure the 5 dimensions formingthe brand equity are explained: (1) brand value: value (1 to 5),(2) brand quality: rooms, location, cleanliness and sleep quality (1 to 5),(3) brand image: service (1 to 5), (4) brand loyalty: recommen-dation (1 yes and 0 not recommended) and overall loyalty (1 to 5), and(5) brand awareness: market share of the chain.
5. Results and discussion
In this section, we applied the two-step approach of Anderson andGerbing (1988). First, the quality of the measurement scales is deter-mined with a confirmatory factor analysis. Secondly, the causal modelis analyzed (based on latent variables), to test the hypotheses wehave proposed.
5.1. Analysis measurement scales of the model
The CFA shows the need to distinguish two dimensions of quality:internal (room, cleanliness and sleep quality) and location. This isbecausewhen considering the 4 items that determine the quality togeth-er, factor loading of location was less than 0.5 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988; Hair,
Brand quality - in
Brand quality -location
Brand image
Braaware
0.444(13.46)
0.543(16.83)
1.000(7.99)
Fig. 2. Model 3. Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square=22.0722; df=20; p=0.33660; GFI=0.9that determine the significance of the parameter.
Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2006). The model fit is adequatebecause the probability associated with chi-square is 0.87416 (Bentler& Wu, 1995).
Convergent validity is demonstrated for two reasons (Table 3).Firstly, because the factor loadings are significant and greater than0.8 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988; Hair et al., 2006), and secondly because theaverage variance extracted (AVE) for each of the factors is alwaysgreater than 0.5 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Scale reliability is verifiedsince the values of composite reliability indices for all the factorsare larger than 0.6 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988).
Regarding dimensionality, seven dimensions are obtained: brandawareness (market share), brand image (service), brand quality —in(rooms, cleanliness and sleep quality), brand quality —location, valuebrand (value), brand loyalty—recommend, and brand loyalty —overall.
Discriminant validity is assessed by the AVE (Fornell & Larcker,1981). For this, a construct should share more variance with its indi-cators than with other constructs of the model. This happens whenthe square root of the AVE between each pair of factors is greaterthan the estimated correlation between these factors, such as in thisstudy, where the highest correlation is 0.777 and the lowest squareroot of the AVE is 0.863.
5.2. Structural model analysis
We analyzed the model 1 proposed in Fig. 1, however the EQSoutput indicated that the outputwas not trusted as the iterative processhad not converged. Following the proposals of Boo et al. (2009) an alter-native model (model 2) was proposed, which considered the followingrelationships: brand awareness→brand experience (measured bybrand quality and brand image)→brand value and brand loyalty, andbrand value determined by brand loyalty; the result was the same asin the previous case. Accordingly, we propose an alternative model inwhich the sequence of relations was: brand awareness→brandquality→brand image→brand value→brand loyalty, obtaining thesame results as in previous models.
Since brand awarenesswas a totally objective variable (not based onperceptions) introduced in the model, we considered the possibilitythat it was the central variable of a third alternative model, in whichbrand awareness (measured by market share of hotel chains) is deter-mined by brand quality and brand image. In this sense, many successfulcompanies with an inferior brand image merge and acquire companieswith a superior brand image in order to increase their market share(Lee, Lee, & Wu, 2011; Nguyen & Kleiner, 2003). Brand awareness inturn determines the brand value, and brand value influences brandloyalty (Fig. 2). In this case the model fit is adequate (model 3).
The effects of the variables included in themodel are discussed below.First, the interior quality and location determine the brand image (0.543and 0.444, respectively). The image influences brand awareness (1.000).Brand awareness determines the value (0.984). And finally, the value
Brand loyalty -
recommend
Brand loyalty -overall
0.478(27.39)
0.866(82.72)
Brand valuend ness
0.984(7.97)
89; AGFI=0.975; RMSEA=0.050. *Parameters in bold and in brackets are the t values
Fig. 3. Model 4. Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square=22.0722; df=20; p=0.33660; GFI=0.989; AGFI=0.975; RMSEA=0.050. *Parameters in bold and in brackets are the t valuesthat determine the significance of the parameter.
affects the recommendations (0.866) and to a lesser extent, global loyalty(0.478). In short, we obtain a model consistent with the proposals ofseveral authors (Kim & Kim, 2005; Lee & Back, 2008; Oh, 2000) inwhich awareness is considered as the central element of the effects ofthe brand in the tourists behavior.
In addition, a final alternativemodel was proposed (Fig. 3), in whichwe consider that the brand experience (quality and image) simulta-neously determines brand awareness. In this case, although the modelfitted properly, the influence of location on awareness is less important,given a value of 0.061 (although this parameter is significant, t=4.907).Model 4 is therefore rejected and model 3 is considered conceptuallybetter, since from the standpoint of hotel management, localization isa key aspect, because depending on the location of a hotel the cost ofinvestment varies considerably.
Table 4 shows the degree of fulfillment of the hypotheses; we see thathypotheses 1 and 4 are fulfilled through the direct effects of brand valueon loyalty and of awareness on value. The other hypotheses are alsofulfilled taking into account the total effects (direct and indirect), asthese total effects are significant for all relationships raised in the theoret-ical model.
6. Conclusions
6.1. Summary and findings
Hotel clients have changed the way they consume and how to plantheir trips (Erdem & Cobanoglu, 2010; Kim & Hardin, 2010; O'Connor,2010). Whereas previously people planned their trips in advancethrough intermediaries, they are now leaving decisions to the lastminute. Hoteliers must take account of this newmodel of consumptionand learn to adapt (Erdem & Cobanoglu, 2010).
H4 Brand awareness→brand value Awareness→valueH5 Brand image→brand value Image→valueH6 Brand image→brand loyalty Image→overall loyalty
Image→ recommend
In this paper, we have analyzed the different components of brandequity in relations to hotels. We have used social media data –in ourcase reviews extracted from the Tripadvisor site –as our source. Ourcontention is that online reviews have more credibility than reviewforms, completed at the hotel. Not only dowe have access to a far largernumber of reviews, but we have a greater degree of confidence in theircontents, as the reviews reflect the opinions of the customers consid-ered at leisure. These reviews are not always taken into account byhotel management (O'Connor, 2010).
The Euromonitor report of March 2010 notes the rise of technologycompanies that are setting the change from applications on mobiledevices to social networking. In this sense, the impact on the tourismindustry is tremendous, especially in making last minute travel plans.It is estimated that by 2015, 55% of travel and tour packages will behired through the consumer's smartphone (Euromonitor, 2010). There-fore, this study provides detailed information on how hotel managerscan take advantage of information made available through socialmedia sites andWeb 2.0 forums. This will achieve a better understand-ing of the motivations for travelers to use this type of media, to readreviews of hotels in which they are considering staying, and to producereviews of hotels in which they have stayed.
We have analyzed the brand value through information obtainedfrom Tripadvisor of the top 10 hotel chains in the top 10 cities inthe world, according to A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index 2010. It isnoted that there is a clear linkage between the 5 dimensions ofbrand equity (value, awareness, quality, image and loyalty). Althoughthe initial theoretical model proposed does not fit properly, in ourcase, in line with previous studies (Kim & Kim, 2005; Lee & Back, 2008;Oh, 2000), we find that brand awareness (measured by the marketshare of hotel chains) is the central element of all relationships be-tween the dimensions of brand equity. The sequence of relationshipsestablished in the validatedmodel (model 3) was found to be as follows:
Total effect (t value) Fulfillment
0.478 (27.39)0.866 (82.72)0.535 (16.14) Indirectly through the image and awareness.0.437 (13.16)0.256 (13.80) Indirectly through the image, awareness and value.0.209 (12.13)0.463 (15.96)0.379 (13.22)0.984 (7.97)0.984 (84.88) Indirectly through awareness.0.471 (7.99) Indirectly through awareness and value0.852 (75.85)
Although in this paper, we have considered five dimensions of brandequity, in future work we will be expanding these to incorporate ananalysis of the writing style of reviewers, in order to elicit a deeperanalysis of their opinions and personality traits.
6.2. Business implications
In tourism, traditional distribution channels must coexist with theemergence of new digital media (Xiang & Gretzel, 2010). To respondadequately to these changes, companies that offer tourist productsand especially hotels, need to better understand the dynamics of thetechnology in order to offer better and promote their businesses anddestinations to travelers seeking information or schedule their tripsusing the Internet (Erdem & Cobanoglu, 2010; O'Connor, 2010). Withchanges in the Internet that allow easy and simple means of contentgeneration, consumers are gaining more power over what and howinformation is distributed and used on the Internet. Forums such asTripadvisor can increase the relevant knowledge about destinationsand tourist accommodations and therefore have become a critical factorin the context of tourismmarketing and specifically in themanagementof the brand and the achievement of future loyalty behaviors.
To succeed in the future, hotels need to consider actively the socialnetworking and user generated content and try to exploit theseadvances to increase its turnover and try to build customer loyalty.
A first step in this process would be more actively monitor andmanage its reputation in virtual spaces. However, as described byO'Connor (2010), the level of participation by hotels in social mediaforums such as TripAdvisor is very low. Thus, despite the ease ofresponding to reviews, fewhotels use this option, which calls into ques-tion the seriousness and involvement of the hotels in the propermanagement of user-generated content. Due to the potential influenceof websites like Tripadvisor, it seems logical that the hotels should takethe time tomonitor and respond to information and views appearing insuch forums. While a hotel may not modify or delete the negativereviews, sites like TripAdvisor provide a “right of reply” where hotelmanagers can respond to those criticisms. However, it has been foundthat this application is used by less than 0.5% of hotels. This is particular-ly worrying, as although word‐of‐mouth cannot be controlled, com-ments on Tripadvisor and similar sites can be managed and shouldnot be ignored (Kim et al., 2004; Locker, Homan, & Bovaird, 2007).
Today the internetmodel is changing, as is the different brand imagecreated by the supplier to that which exists on the Web created bythe continuous and active dialogue between consumers (Milan, 2007).E-business marketing and brand managers need to be fully aware ofthe benefits of observing online customer behavior and comments inorder to improve customer satisfaction, new product developmentand innovation (Khammash & Griffiths, 2011). For this reason, hotelshave to be more proactive and establish a continuous dialogue withthe customer, in order to protect their brand equity.
References
Aaker, D. A. (1991). Managing brand equity. New York: The Free Press.Aaker, D. A. (1996). Building strong brands. New York: The Free Press.Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review
and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411–423.Andreassen, T. W., & Lindestad, B. (1998). Customer loyalty and complex services: The im-
pact of corporate image on quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty for customerswith varying degrees of service expertise. International Journal of Service IndustryManagement, 9(1), 7–23.
Au, N., Law, R., & Buhalis, D. (2010). The impact of culture on e-complaints: Evidence fromChinese consumers in hospitality organisations. In U. Gretzel, R. Law, & M. Fuchs(Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2010 (pp. 285–296).Vienna, Austria: Springer-Verlag.
Bagozzi, R., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal ofthe Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74–94.
Belk, RussellW. (1988, September). Possessions and the extended self. Journal of ConsumerResearch, 15, 139–168.
Bentler, P. M., &Wu, E. J. C. (1995). EQS for Windows user's guide. Encino, CA: MultivariateSoftware, Inc.
Blain, C., Levy, S. E., & Ritchie, R. B. (2005). Destination branding: Insights and practicesfrom destination management organizations. Journal of Travel Research, 43, 328–338.
Bloemer, J., Ruyter, K., & Wetzels, M. (1998). On the relationship between perceivedservice quality, service loyalty and switching costs. International Journal of IndustryManagement, 9(5), 436–453.
Boo, S., Busser, J., & Baloghu, S. (2009). A model of customer-based brand equity and itsapplication to multiple destinations. Tourism Management, 30(1), 219–231.
Brakus, J. K., Schmitt, B., & Zarantonello, L. (2009). Brand experience: What is it? How isit? Does it affect loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 73(2), 410–425.
Cai, L. A. (2002). Cooperative branding for rural destinations. Annals of Tourism Research,29(3), 720–742.
Callarisa, L., Moliner, M. A., & Sánchez (2011). Multidimensional perspective of per-ceived value in industrial clusters. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 26(2), 132–145.
Casaló, L. V., Flavián, C., & Guinalíu,M. (2010). Relationship quality, community promotionand brand loyalty in virtual communities: Evidence from free software communities.International Journal of Information Management, 30, 357–367.
Chang, H. H., & Liu, Y. M. (2009). The impact of brand equity on brand preference andpurchase intentions in the service industries. The Service Industries Journal, 29(12),1687–1706.
Clifton, R. (2003). The future of brands. In R. Clifton (Ed.), Brands and branding(pp. 227–241). New York, NY: Bloomberg Press.
Cretu, A. E., & Brodie, R. J. (2007). The influence of brand image and company reputationwheremanufacturers market to small firms: A customer value perspective. IndustrialMarketing Management, 36(2), 230–240.
de Chernatony, L., & Dall'Olmo Riley, F. (1998). Defining a brand: Beyond the literaturewith experts' interpretations. Journal of Marketing Management, 14(5), 417–443.
Deslandes, D.D. (2003): Assessing consumer perceptions of destinations: A necessaryfirst step in the destination branding process. (Doctoral dissertation). The FloridaState University.
Erdem, M., & Cobanoglu, C. (2010). The impact of consumer-generated media andsocial networking in hospitality: The implications for consumers and hospitalitymanagers. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 19(7), 697–699.
Euromonitor (2010). Global market information database. [Online].Fesenmaier, D. R. (2007). Introduction: Challenging destination promotion. Journal of
Travel Research, 46(1), 3–4.Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equationsmodelswith unobservable
variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.Grace, D., & O'Cass, A. (2005). Service branding: Consumer verdicts on service brands.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 12(2), 125–139.Gretzel, U., & Yoo, K. H. (2008). Use and impact of online travel reviews. In P. O'Connor,
W. Hopken, & U. Gretzel (Eds.), Information and communication technologies intourism 2008 (pp. 35–46). New York: Springer.
Hair, J. H., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariatedata analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hall, D. (2002). Brand development, tourism and national identity; the re-imaging offormer Yugoslavia. Brand Management, 9(4/5), 323–334.
Hall, J., Robertson, N., & Shaw, M. (2001). An investigation of perceived value andconsumable goods. Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research, 42(2), 23–31.
Hankinson, G. (2005). Destination brand images: A business tourism perspective.Journal of Services Marketing, 19(1), 24–32.
Hosany, S., Ekinci, Y., & Uysal, M. (2006). Destination image and destination personality:An application of branding theories to tourism places. Journal of Business Research,59, 638–642.
Kapferer, J. N. (1997). Strategic brand management: Creating and sustaining brand equitylong term (2nd ed.). London: Kogan Page Limited.
Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing consumer-based brandequity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1–22.
Keller, K. L. (2003). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managingbrand equity. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Khammash, M., & Griffiths, G. H. (2011). ‘Arrivederci CIAO.com, BuongiornoBing.com’—Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), antecedences and consequences.International Journal of Information Management, 31, 82–87.
Kim, J., & Hardin, A. (2010). The impact of virtual worlds on word-of-mouth: Improvingsocial networking and servicescape in the hospitality industry. Journal of HospitalityMarketing & Management, 19(7), 735–753.
Kim, W. G., Jin-Sun, B., & Kim, H. J. (2008). Multidimensional customer-based brandequity and its consequences in midpriced hotels. Journal of Hospitality & TourismResearch, 32(2), 235–254.
Kim, H. B., & Kim, W. G. (2005). The relationship between brand equity andfirms' performance in luxury hotels and chain restaurant. Tourism Management, 26,549–560.
Kim, W. G., Lee, C., & Hiemstra, S. J. (2004). Effects of an online virtual community oncustomer loyalty and travel product purchases. Tourism Management, 25(3),343–355.
Kim, J., Song, J., & Jones, D. R. (2011). The cognitive selection framework for knowledgeacquisition strategies in virtual communities. International Journal of InformationManagement, 31, 111–120.
Kimpakorn, N., & Tocquer, G. (2010). Service brand equity and employee brandcommitment. Journal of Services Marketing, 24(5), 378–388.
Konecnik, M., & Gartner, W. C. (2007). Customer-based brand equity for a destination.Annals of Tourism Research, 34(2), 400–421.
Kwun, J. W., & Oh, H. (2004). Effects of brand, price, and risk on customers' valueperceptions and behavioral intentions in the restaurant industry. Journal of Hospitalityand Leisure Marketing, 1(1), 31–49.
Lassar, W., Mittal, B., & Sharma, A. (1995). Measuring customer-based brand equity.Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12(4), 11–19.
Lee, H., Lee, C., & Wu, C. (2011). Brand image strategy affects brand equity after M&A.European Journal of Marketing, 45(7/8), 1091–1111.
Li, X. (2010). Loyalty regardless of brands? Examining three nonperformance effects onbrand loyalty in a tourism context. Journal of Travel Research, 49(3), 323–336.
Lin, Y., Pearson, T., & Cai, L. (2011). Food as a form of destination identity: A tourismdestination brand perspective. Tourism andHospitality Research January, 11(1), 30–48.
Locker, L., Homan, L., & Bovaird, J. (2007). On the use of multilevel modeling as an al-ternative to items analysis in psycholinguistic research. Behavior Research Methods,39, 723–730.
Mack, R. W., Blose, J. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Believe it or not: Credibility of blogs intourism. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 14(2), 133–144.
Maklan, Stan, & Knox, Simon (1997). Reinventing the brand: Bridging the gap betweencustomer and brand value. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 6(2), 119–129.
Milan, R. (2007). 10 things you can do in response to traveller reviews, http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/070920_10_things_you_can_do_in_response_to_traveler_reviews/
Morgan, N., Pritchard, A., & Pride, R. (Eds.). (2002). Destination branding: Creating theunique destination proposition. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Murphy, P. E., Pritchard, M. P., & Smith, B. (2000). The destination product and its im-pact on traveller perceptions. Tourism Management, 21(1), 43–52.
Nguyen, H., & Kleiner, B. H. (2003). The effective management of mergers. Leadership &Organization Development Journal, 24(7/8), 447–454.
O'Connor, P. (2010). Managing a hotel's image on TripAdvisor. Journal of HospitalityMarketing & Management, 19(7), 754–772.
Oh, H. (2000). Diner's perceptions of quality, value and satisfaction. Cornell Hotel andRestaurant Administration Quarterly, 41(3), 58–66.
Oliver, R. (1999). Whence consumer loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 63, 33–44.Oliver, R. L. (1997). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York:
McGraw-Hill.Pan, B., MacLaurin, T., & Crotts, J. C. (2007). Travel blogs and their implications for
destination marketing. Journal of Travel Research, 46(1), 35–45.Patterson, M. (1999). Re-appraising the concept of brand image. Journal of Brand Manage-
ment, 6(6), 409–426.Phau, I., & Lau, K. C. (2000). Conceptualizing brand personality: A review & research
propositions. Journal of Targeting, Measurement & Analysis for Marketing, 9(1),52–69.
Pike, S. (2005). Tourism destination branding complexity. Journal of Product and BrandManagement, 14(4), 258–259.
Prebensen, N. K. (2007). Exploring tourists' images of a distant destination. TourismManagement, 28, 747–756.
Pudliner, B. A. (2007). Alternative literature and tourist experience: Travel and touristweblogs. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 5(1), 46–59.
Pühringer, S., & Taylor, A. (2008). A practitioner's report on blogs as a potential source ofdestination marketing intelligence. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 14(2), 177–187.
Sánchez, J., Callarisa, R., Rodríguez, R., & Moliner, M. (2006). Perceived value of thepurchase of a tourism product. Tourism Management, 27, 394–409.
Sirgy, M. J., & Johar, J. S. (1999). Toward an integrated model of self-congruity andfunctional congruity. European Advances in Consumer Research, 4, 252–256.
Sirgy, J., & Su, C. (2000). Destination image, self-congruity, and travel behaviour:Toward an integrative model. Journal of Travel Research, 38, 340–352.
Sivakumar, K., & Raj, S. P. (1997). Quality tier competition: How price change influencesbrand choice and category choice. Journal of Marketing, 61(3), 71–84.
Solomon, M. R. (1999). Consumer behavior (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Srivastava, R. K., & Shocker, A. D. (1991). Brand equity: A perspective on its meaning andmeasurement. Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute.
Sweeney, J., & Soutar, G. N. (2001). Consumer perceived value: The development of amultiple item scale. Journal of Retailing, 77(2), 203–220.
Sweeney, J. C., Soutar, G. N., & Johnson, L. W. (1999). The role of perceived risk in thequality–value relationship: A study in a retail environment. Journal of Retailing,75(1), 77–105.
Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. D. (2006). Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changeseverything. New York: Penguin Group.
Tasci, A. D. A., Gartner, W. C., & Cavusgil, S. T. (2007). Measurement of destinationbrand bias using a quasi-experimental design. Tourism Management, 28(6),1529–1540.
Tsai, S. (2005). Utility, cultural symbolism and emotion: A comprehensive model ofbrand purchase value. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 22, 277–291.
Tsanga, N., Leea, L., & Lia, F. (2011). An examination of the relationship betweenemployee perception and hotel brand equity. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing,28(5), 481–497.
Uncles, M. D., East, R., & Lomax, W. (2010). Market share is correlated with word-of-mouth volume. Australasian Marketing Journal, 18(3), 145–150.
Upshaw, L. (1995). Building brand identity: A strategy for success in a hostile marketplace. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Vermeulen, I. E., & Seegers, D. (2008). Tried and tested: The impact of online hotelreviews on consumer consideration. Tourism Management, 30(1), 123–127.
Waldhör, K., & Rind, A. (2008). etBlogAnalysis —Mining virtual communities usingstatistical and linguistic methods for quality control in tourism. In P. O'Connor,W. Höpken, & U. Gretzel (Eds.), Information and communication technologies intourism 2008 (pp. 453–462). New York: Springer.
Wang, Y., Hsu, K., Hsu, S., & Hsieh, P. (2011). Constructing an index for brand equity:A hospital example. The Service Industries Journal, 31(2), 311–322.
Wang, Y., Yu, Q., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2002). Defining the virtual tourist community:Implications for tourism marketing. Tourism Management, 23(6), 407–417.
Webster, F. E., Jr. (2000). Understanding the relationships among brands, consumersand resellers. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 17–23.
Woodruff, R. B. (1997). Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25(2), 139–153.
Xiang, Z., & Gretzel, U. (2010). Role of social media in online travel information search.Tourism Management, 31, 179–188.
Xiang, Z., Wöber, K., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2008). Representation of the online tourismdomain in search engines. Journal of Travel Research, 47(2), 137–150.
Yoo, B., & Donthu, N. (2001). Developing and validating a multidimensional consumerbased brand equity scale. Journal of Business Research, 52, 1–14.
Yoo, B., Donthu, N., & Lee, S. (2000). An examination of selected marketing mix ele-ments of brand equity. Journal of Marketing Research, 24, 258–270.
Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). Consumer perception of price, quality, and value: A means–endmodel and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2–22.
