International Journal of Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51
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International Journal of Hospitality Management
jo u r n al homep age: www.elsev ier .com/ locate / i jhosman
ew consumer behavior: A review of research on eWOM and hotels
ntoni Serra Cantallops ∗, Fabiana Salviniversity of the Balearic Islands, Spain
r t i c l e i n f o
eywords:lectronic word-of-mouthnline reviews
mpactsotels
a b s t r a c t
This study aims to gather and analyze published articles regarding the influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on the hotel industry. Articles published in the last five years appearing in six differentacademically recognized journals of tourism have been reviewed in the present study. Analysis of thesearticles has identified two main lines of research: review-generating factors (previous factors that cause
consumers to write reviews) and impacts of eWOM (impacts caused by online reviews) from consumerperspective and company perspective. A summary of each study’s description, methodology and mainresults are outlined below, as well as an analysis of findings.
This study also seeks to facilitate understanding and provide baseline information for future articlesrelated to eWOM and hotels with the intention that researchers have a “snapshot” of previous researchand the results achieved to date.
. Introduction
Advances in information technology and the introduction ofew methods of communication have led to increasingly signifi-ant changes in consumer behavior. These changes have produced
shift in focus in companies’ marketing strategies and businessdministration, especially in the hotel industry.
Purchase decision processes are composed of several variableshat influence consumer choice for certain products and services.ustomers might choose a hotel based on its location (for instance,lose to an airport, tourist location, or downtown), brand name,arious facilities (such as swimming pool, golf course, and spa andtness center), service quality, price, loyalty program, and qualityatings by past guests. Any or all of these would enter into the cus-omer choice mix (Verma, 2010). Atmosphere and design could bedded to the set of variables.
One of the factors evaluated in the consumer decision-makingrocess is word-of-mouth (WOM), defined by Harrison-Wallker2001) as “informal, person-to-person communication between aerceived noncommercial communicator and a receiver regarding arand, a product, an organization, or a service.” Dickinger and Basu1994) define WOM as “a volitional post-purchase communication byonsumers.” Most of the studies analyze WOM as a factor that, to
greater or lesser degree, influences consumers in choosing prod-cts and services. Yoon and Uysal (2005) consider that WOM “is one
of the most often sought sources of information for people interestedin traveling.”
Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), also often referred to asonline reviews, online recommendations, or online opinions, hasgained importance with the emergence of new technology tools.Litvin et al. (2008) define eWOM as “all informal communica-tions directed at consumers through Internet-based technology relatedto the usage or characteristics of particular goods and services, ortheir sellers.” They add that this includes communication betweenproducers and consumers as well as those between consumersthemselves. Their typology is two-dimensional: a) communicationscope: from one to one (emails), one to many (review sites) or manyto many (virtual communities); and b) level of interactivity: fromasynchronous (emails, review sites, blogs) to synchronous (chatrooms, newsgroups, instant messaging).
The main differences between WOM and eWOM can be iden-tified in the reach of the reviews’ impact (number of people whocan be influenced) and the speed of interaction. With regard to thiscomparison, Sun et al. (2006) conclude that “compared to traditionalWOM, online WOM is more influential due to its speed, convenience,one-to-many reach, and its absence of face-to-face human pressure.”Schiffman and Kanuk (2000) describe additional reasons for con-sumer attention to WOM and eWOM as follows: “The expectationof receiving information that may decrease decision time and effortand/or contribute to the achievement of a more satisfying decision out-come.” This breadth of eWOM scope and ease in accessing reviewscan deeply affect a company’s performance. Therefore, companies
are increasingly seeking to understand the factors that influencethe use of eWOM, as well as the impacts resulting from its use.
The tourism industry is strongly affected by eWOM and, withinthe tourism industry, hotels are probably the most affected. Based
2 A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Jo
n the growing importance of online reputation derived fromeviews (denoted in this article as eWOM) for hotels and otherembers of the tourism sector, this study proposes to analyze
xisting research on eWOM, with the aim of collecting and under-tanding issues related to this new form of communication and itsmpact on consumer behavior.
. Methodology
The present study has reviewed articles published in the last fiveears (2007–2011) regarding electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)elated to the hospitality industry. With the objective of reflectinghe majority of expressions and variations on this topic, arti-les were identified that included in their titles, keywords orbstracts terms such as eWOM; WOM; online reviews; User-enerated Content (UGC); Consumer-Generated Content (CGC);nline recommendation; e-satisfaction; e-complaints; online rep-tation; online travel communities; online opinions; social mediaarketing; hospitality industry and hotels.The articles were selected from six scientific journals based on
heir relevance, academic score and number of items related to thisheme. The journals selected for the study are as follows: Inter-ational Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal ofontemporary Hospitality Management, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,
ournal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Journal of Travel Research andourism Management.
Articles were analyzed for their content, methodology andesults achieved. In-depth evaluation revealed the recurrence ofpecific terms. For example, topics related to age and gender wereesearched in nine articles. In the same way, the incidence ofhe remaining specific and recurring topics was verified, such aserceived trustworthiness, useful reviews and decision makingrocesses, among others. It should be noted that the weight of eachopic was not taken into account, only the mention of these topicsnd research performed on them.
It became apparent from the analysis that the articles could berouped into two general lines of research: on one hand, the fac-ors related to the generation of comments; and on the other hand,he impacts these comments have on consumers and on companyerspective.
. Conceptual framework
As mentioned above, analysis of the articles identified two majorines of research. The first identified line of research is that relatedo review-generating factors. A second line of research evaluateshe impacts of eWOM from consumer and company perspective.
.1. Review-generating factors
Studies related to the review-generating process analyze factorsuch as motivation, gender influence, cognitive and psychologi-al aspects, satisfaction/dissatisfaction, group influence, sense ofommunity belonging, and elements related to service quality andelping other vacationers and/or companies, among others. Thus,he research question is: Is there any identifiable set of factors thatontributes to generating and publishing reviews?
.2. Impacts of eWOM
Given that on one side we have review-generating factors, theext issue under analysis is the impacts of eWOM. These impactsan be direct and/or indirect and are analyzed from both the con-umer perspective and the company perspective.
Fig. 1. Lines of research on eWOM and hotels.
• Consumer perspective: Studies have identified factors related topositive or negative reviews, including gender differences, reli-ability, confidence, different behaviors depending on valuationratios, content and ease of accessing the reviews, product accep-tance, media (blogs and virtual communities, emails, websites,product review sites. . .). Factors related to influence of purchase,decision models, repurchase intention and loyalty, among others,have also been studied.
• Company perspective: Studies have identified factors related tocompany-generated content, quality control, possibility of gen-erating price premium, specific marketing strategies, corporatereputation, providing recommendations for tourism marketersand community managers, among others.
As a general outline, the graphic below (Fig. 1) illustrates thelines of research regarding e-WOM identified in this study:
The following charts presents the studies found, sorted by yearand classified in the previously established lines of research, alsoincluding a brief description, the methodology used and the mainresults achieved (Table 1).
3.3. Review-generating factors
In relation to review-generating factors, or the factors that leadto electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), most of the analyzed stud-ies highlight aspects such as “Service Quality and Satisfaction”,“Failure and Recovery”, “Customer Dissatisfaction” and “Sense ofCommunity Belonging” as consumers’ main motivations for writ-ing reviews (Swanson and Hsu, 2009; Kim et al., 2009; Sun andQu, 2011, Sánchez-García and Currás-Pérez, 2011; Nusair et al.,2011). These studies identify a direct relationship between satis-faction or dissatisfaction with either positive or negative reviewsand what is a rather obvious and predictable consumer behavior.Without diverting the focus, some authors relate themes regarding“commitment”, “social identity”, “pre-purchase expectations” and“customer delighted” as important aspects in generating eWOM(Crotts et al., 2009; Casaló et al., 2010; Bronner and Hoog, 2011). Inaddition, to a lesser extent, some studies investigated differencesrelated to recommendation influences on gender and age (Sun andQu, 2011; Nusair et al., 2011; Bronner and Hoog, 2011).
Some of the research results reveal that negative reviews canbe generated more easily than positive. Swanson and Hsu (2009)argue that customers who experienced satisfactory incidents arenot necessarily more likely to recommend the service provideror to convince others to use the service provider’s offerings thantheir dissatisfied counterparts. In this line, Sánchez-García andCurrás-Pérez (2011) assert that dissatisfaction can directly causenegative WOM behavior, and regretful consumers are more proneto spread negative WOM–which is consistent with previous mar-
keting theory–probably with the goal of warning others rather thanlooking for revenge.
The most frequently mentioned motivations for eWOM accord-ing Bronner and Hoog, 2011, is to help other vacationers – for 70%
A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Journal of Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51 43
This study identifies and classifiescommonly experienced servicefailures and recovery strategies asperceived by tourism customersthat result in overall (dis)satisfyingencounters. Specifically, switchingbehaviors of (dis)satisfiedconsumers, the extent ofword-of-mouth engaged in, and itsvalence are investigated.
Literature review and the criticalincident technique (CIT) inconjunction with a structuredself-completion surveyquestionnaire were utilized in thisstudy. The critical incidents werecollected by marketing researchstudents at three universitieslocated in the Midwest, Southeast,and South Central regions of theUS.
The customers who experiencedsatisfactory incidents are notnecessarily more likely to recommendthe service provider or to convinceothers to use the service provider’sofferings than their dissatisfiedcounterparts. However, the increasednegative word-of-mouth associatedwith poor service recovery andsubsequent switching behavior needsto be taken seriously.
Kim et al. (2009) The effects of perceivedjustice on recoverysatisfaction, trust,word-of-mouth, andrevisit intention inupscale hotels
The purpose of this study is toassess the relative influences ofdistributive (DJ), procedural (PJ),and interactional (IJ) justices oncustomer satisfaction with servicerecovery and to examine therelationship between recoverysatisfaction and subsequentcustomer relationships: trust,word-of-mouth (WOM), and revisitintention.
Literature review and datacollection. On-site surveys wereadministered to collect data fromhotel guests who stayed andexperienced a service failure, atfive-star hotels.
The effect of DJ on satisfaction withservice recovery was stronger thanthose of PJ and IJ. Since DJ, PJ, and IJhave significant effects on trust, WOM,and revisit intention through recoverysatisfaction. Recovery satisfaction wasfound to be an important mediatingvariable. In addition, the mediatingrole of trust between recoverysatisfaction and WOM/revisit intentionis substantial. Thus, in a case wherestrong trust is formed between theservice provider and the customer, along-term relationship can beexpected.
Crotts et al. (2009) Measuring guestsatisfaction andcompetitive position inthe hospitality andtourism industry
The measurement of guestsatisfaction and delight is the focusof this article.
Web search engines are employedto gather all mentions of a firm(and its selected competition)made by former guests within aselected timeframe and posted onthe Internet. The source of guestcomments was TripAdvisor.com.
The authors argue that the methodprovides both an efficient and effectivemeans to determine a firm’scompetitive position in producingsatisfied guests who will not only comeback but also recommend the firm toothers.
Casaló et al. (2010) Determinants of theintention to participatein firm-hosted onlinetravel communitiesand effects onconsumer behavioralintentions
This study attempts to explainconsumers’ intentions toparticipate in online travelcommunities, and other consumerbehavioral intentions. In addition,this research investigates the linkbetween the intention toparticipate in a community andtwo behavioral intentions that maybenefit the host firm: the intentionto use the firm’s products/servicesand the intention to recommendthe host firm.
Literature review and datacollection from web survey ofmembers of several firm-hostedonline travel communities
The results reveal that the chosentheories (Technology AcceptanceModel -TAM, Theory of PlannedBehavior -TPB, and Social IdentityTheory) provide an appropriateframework for explaining the intentionto participate; this intention in turnhas a positive effect on the two otherbehavioral intentions.
Sun and Qu (2011) Is there any gendereffect on therelationship betweenservice quality andword-of-mouth?
This study examined thedifferential role of gender on therelationship betweencore/relational service qualitiesand WOM
Data Collection, questionnaire.Data from 277 travelers who havestayed in midscale hotels withFood and Beverage were analyzed.
A conceptual model for word-of-moutheffect. The results suggest there arewithin-gender differences in the effectof service qualities on word of mouth.
Sánchez-García andCurrás-Pérez (2011)
Effects ofdissatisfaction intourist services: therole of anger and regret
The study focuses on the mediatorrole of anger and regret ondissatisfaction and post purchaseconsumer behavior and specificallyon switching, complaint behaviorand negative word-of-mouthcommunication.
Literature review and quantitativemethod (questionnaire). A sampleof 359 users of restaurants and 308users of hotel services.
Emotions and (dis)satisfaction do notalways refer to the specific episodeexperienced with the service. In thecase of both hotels and restaurants themediator effect of anger and regret ondissatisfaction generated by servicefailure and subsequent consumerbehaviors has been mostly confirmed.
Nusair et al. (2011) Building a model ofcommitment forGeneration Y: Anempirical study one-travel retailers
This study develops a conceptualframework that explains howGeneration Y developscommitment to a travel webvendor, and selected relationshipoutcome (WOM) is alsoinvestigated.
Literature review andquestionnaire. Leaning on thefoundations of marketing literatureand the two theories (theorganizational commitment andthe Investment model).
A Model of commitment for GenerationY. Results indicated that affectivecommitment had a significant positiveimpact on WOM communications. Thisoutcome demonstrated that when aGeneration Y consumer staysaffectively committed to a travel webvendor because he/she has a favorableattitude toward that site, then theconsequent WOM communicationwould be in favor of the vendor.
44 A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Journal of Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51
Table 1 (Continued)
Author(s), publicationyear
Title Description Methodology Main results
Bronner and Hoog(2011)
Vacationers andeWOM: Who Posts,and Why, Where, andWhat?
The central questions are, whichtype of vacationers does post, withwhich motivations do they postreviews, on which type of site, andwhat are the messagecharacteristics?
The sample in this research is asubsample from the sample of theDutch“ContinuVakantieOnderzoek” (CVO[Continuous Vacation Panel]). Thispanel consists of respondents whoreport on their vacation behaviorfour times a year.
Vacationers who post and are having alargely other-directed motivationprefer consumer-generated sites,comment on more aspects of avacation, post mainly positive reviews,are more inclined to expressthemselves by combined use of textand ratings, and contribute more tosites accessible to other vacationers.Vacationers who post and are having alargely self-directed motivation, prefermarketer-generated sites, commentmainly on a limited number of aspects
oaroafiaiymw
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f the posters – a motivation is to enable other vacationers to make good decision. They divided the motivations for contributing toeviews into five main categories: (1) self-directed, (2) helpingther vacationers, (3) social benefits, (4) consumer empowerment,nd (5) helping companies. The authors also investigated what pro-le these posters have as compared with the general vacationernd found that a profile can be sketched of vacationers contribut-ng to review sites are: (1) more frequently from the age groupounger than 55; (2) more frequently from the high and lower-iddle income groups; (3) more frequently from couples, with orithout children.
Fig. 2 illustrates the principal factors that studies have foundhich motivate the generation of eWOM.
Casaló et al. (2010) examined consumers’ intentions to partic-pate in online travel communities and found that the intentiono participate depends on the community characteristics (useful-
ess and ease of use), which help form more positive consumerttitudes. He cites Nielsen (2006), who proposed user participationsually follows the well-known “90-9-1” rule, which means thatpproximately 90% of users of an online community are lurkers who
E-wom
Service Quality
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Dissatisfacti
on
Sense of Community Belonging
Social Identity
Pre-purchase
expectations
Helping other
vacationers
Helping companies
Failure and recovery
Fig. 2. Main review-generating factors.
of a vacation, post more negativereviews, and contribute more to sitesnot accessible to other vacationers.
read and observe but never contribute, 9% of users contribute fromtime to time, and only 1% of users actively produce new contentsaccounting for almost all the action. This would suggest eWOM isnot representative as a measure of customers’ feelings and valuegiven to a certain tourism service or product.
After analyzing the studies referring to eWOM generation, it wasobserved that researchers usually seek to identify: factors relatedto motivation and intent on generating reviews; profiles of usersthat generate reviews; the means to generate reviews; and reviewcontent analysis. Bronner and Hoog, 2011 argue that it can beconcluded that motivation does indeed influence the type of sitechosen by vacationers and the way in which they express them-selves on review sites, or to put it another way: why you want tocontribute influences where you are going to make your contribu-tion and what you are going to contribute.
In general, in this line of research it can be observed that:
- Most articles are written in 2011, which suggests that this topicis receiving an increasing level of attention by the academic com-munity.
- Very few articles refer specifically to eWOM and hotels- Despite the great efforts made by researchers, there is still no
clear definition about the set of review-generating factors andthe weight of these factors in the generation of comments. It isnoted there is a large number of influence variables and a recentresearch field, suggesting that there is a lot of work to do on thisaspect (future research) (Table 2).
3.4. Impacts of eWOM
In the second line of research identified in this study, the impactsof eWOM are analyzed both from the point of view of companiesas well as that of consumers, once the online comments were gen-erated. The impacts of eWOM on the consumer identified in thestudies can be direct and/or indirect.
3.4.1. Impacts of eWOM from the consumer perspectiveIt should be noted that studies largely aim to contribute
to company marketing strategies, given that they analyze con-sumer behavior and attitudes toward certain actions and scenarios.The issues highlighted in the studies relate to decision makingprocesses, consumers’ drive, perceived trustworthiness, level of
expertise, useful reviews and booking intention (Lee et al., 2011; Xieet al., 2011; Kim et al., 2011; Papathanassis and Knolle, 2011; Sparksand Browning, 2011; Qu and Lee, 2011; Yacouel and Fleischer,2011; Dickinger, 2011; Hills and Cairncross, 2010; Xiang and
A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Journal of Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51 45
Table 2Impacts of eWOM.
Author(s), publicationyear
Title Description Methodology Main results
Litvin et al. (2008) Electronicword-of-mouth inhospitality and tourismmanagement
This paper describes onlineinterpersonal influence, or eWOM,as a potentially cost-effectivemeans for marketing hospitalityand tourism, and discusses some ofthe nascent technological andethical issues facing marketers asthey seek to harness emergingeWOM technologies.
Literature review. This paperfirst reviews related studies oninterpersonal influence andword-of-mouth (WOM).
A conceptual model of eWOM,discussing its management strategies,and touching upon ethical concernsregarding potential abuse.
Black and Kelley (2009) A StorytellingPerspective on OnlineCustomer ReviewsReporting ServiceFailure and Recovery
This research tests and supportsthe proposition that whenconsumers read online customerreviews that include elements of agood story, they will deem thosereviews to be more helpful whenthey decide whether to patronizehotels.
This research followsKassarjian’s recommendationas it focuses on analyzing theoriginal content andexpression of customers’reviews. A total of 429 reviewsmet the established criteria.
Results indicate that consumersperceive online reviews documenting aservice failure to be less helpful thanreviews that do not document a failure.However, consumers give higherhelpfulness scores to reviews thatdocument an effective recovery.
Vermeulen and Seegers(2009)
Tried and tested: Theimpact of online hotelreviews on consumerconsideration
This research applies considerationset theory to model the impact ofonline hotel reviews on consumerchoice.
Online survey. Participantsfrom different parts of theNetherlands were recruited bye-mail to participate in anonline study; 168 respondentscompleted the entireexperiment.
The exposure to an online hotel reviewimproves the average probability forconsumers to consider booking a roomin the reviewed hotel. The familiaritywith a hotel makes consumers resilientto the effects of online hotel reviews.Online reviews improved hotelawareness more for lesser-knownhotels than for well-known hotels.Also, the persuasive effect of onlinereviews was stronger in lesser-knownhotels.
Wen (2009) Factors affecting theonline travel buyingdecision: a review
The purpose of this paper is toreview the literature on theoriesaffecting consumers’ onlinepurchase intention of travelproducts
Theoretical foundations andliterature review. Theconceptual framework offactors affecting customeronline buying decisions isdeveloped by examining thetheoretical foundation for eachonline purchase intention oftravel product.
A conceptual framework of factorsaffecting online consumer travelpurchasing. The paper identifiesantecedents of consumers’ onlinepurchase intention and applies them tothe travel and tourism field.
Ye et al. (2009) The impact of onlineuser reviews on hotelroom sales
This study is a empiricallyinvestigate about the impact ofonline consumer-generatedreviews on hotel room sales
Data collected from the largesttravel website in China, itdevelops a fixed effectlog-linear regression model toassess the influence of onlinereviews on the number of hotelroom bookings.
Results indicate a significantrelationship between online consumerreviews and business performance ofhotels.
Hills and Cairncross(2010)
Small accommodationproviders and UGC websites: perceptions andpractices
This paper aims to understand theperceptions and practices of smallaccommodation providersregarding the growing area ofuser-generated content (UGC) websites.
A total of eight smallhospitality enterprise cases offour classifications wereselected using a purposivestratified sampling procedure.On-site semi-structuredinterviews are the main sourceof information.
Empirical findings indicate that there isa divergence among smallaccommodation providers with regardto UGC web sites. It finds that smallaccommodation provider views arevaried as to the influence of UGC websites on traveller decisions.
Xiang and Gretzel(2010)
Role of social media inonline travelinformation search
The goal of this study is toinvestigate the extent to whichsocial media appear in searchengine results in the context oftravel-related searches.
Data mining. The studyemployed a research designthat simulates a traveler’s useof a search engine for travelplanning by using a set ofpre-defined keywords incombination with nine U.S.tourist destination names.
The analysis of the search resultsshowed that social media constitute asubstantial part of the search results,indicating that search engines likelydirect travelers to social media sites.
Arsal et al. (2010) Residents as traveldestinationinformation providers:an online communityperspective
This study has two main purposes.The first is to examine theinfluence residents may have ontravel decisions. The second is tocompare the influence residentshave on travel decisions with otheronline community members (i.e.,experienced travelers).
Treemapper (a method fordisplaying hierarchical data)was used to identify thecountry forums, and thematicnetworks are used for theanalysis of influence of eWOM.Qualitative data collection andanalysis of online postingswere used in this research.
The results reveal that nearly one-thirdof the communication threads(including 1,699 postings from 713contributing members) have beeninfluential for members. Residents aremore influential in accommodationsand food and beveragerecommendations, whereasexperienced travelers are moreinfluential in the destinationinformation category.
46 A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Journal of Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51
Table 2 (Continued)
Author(s), publicationyear
Title Description Methodology Main results
Verma (2010) Customer ChoiceModeling in HospitalityServices: A Review ofPast Research andDiscussion of SomeNew Applications
The purpose of this article was tosummarize the use of customerchoice modeling within thecontext of the hospitality industryconsidering recent technologicaladvances. The author argues thathotel customers can easilycompare competitive offeringsusing online reservationchannels. . .they can also readcomments and recommendationsfrom past customers on socialmedia sites such as Tripadvisor, inaddition to ratings provided byprofessional organizations.
Literature review based oncustomer choice modeling
New Applications of Customer ChoiceModeling in the Hospitality Industry.One of the highlighted points of thisstudy was: “The relative impact ofsocial media and professional ratingson hotel and restaurants choices”,where the author identifies the needfor a closer examination of the aspectsrelative to impact on customers’choices of ratings and rankingsdeveloped by professionalorganizations (notably, Forbes TravelGuide and AAA) and social media sites(e.g. Tripadvisor).
Jun et al. (2010) Online informationsearch strategies: afocus on flights andaccommodations
The research aims to understandinformation search strategies thatindividuals utilized in online travelproduct purchases. Two products,flights and accommodations wereselected.
Secondary data analysis of datacollected in 2001 by theCanadian Tourism Commission(CTC). A total of 21,600invitations were e-mailed toNorth American Internet usersand 2470 surveys (11% ofsample) were completedonline.
The findings of this study support thetheory of constructive consumerchoice processes (Bettman et al., 1998).The results indicate that onlineaccommodation purchasers utilizevarious types of sources; and theyfocus not only on transactional, butalso informational and brandingattributes.
Lee et al. (2011) Helpful Reviewers inTripAdvisor, an OnlineTravel Community
This study examines an onlinereputation system inTripAdvisor.com and profiled thereviewers who post helpfulreviews in the online travelcommunity.
Literature review and Datacollection of Tripadvisor2010hotel reviews.
The key findings include that helpfulreviewers are those who travel more,actively post reviews, belong to anyage and gender groups, and give lowerhotel ratings.
Kim et al. (2011) Effects of gender andexpertise onconsumers’ motivationto read online hotelreviews
This study analyzes motivatingfactors for consumers to seekeWOM
Online questionnaire. Aconvenience sample wasobtained from a large LasVegas resort hotel. A sample of781 travelers was analyzed.
The analysis found distinct differencesbetween the sexes regarding theirmotivating factors, and levels ofexpertise also influenced consumers’motivations to read online reviews.
Papathanassis andKnolle (2011)
Exploring the adoptionand processing ofonline holiday reviews:A grounded theoryapproach
This explorative-qualitative studysuggests that online reviews play asecondary, complementary role toholiday selection and that they aresubjected to a set of heuristicsbefore being adopted and utilized.
Grounded Theory (abbr.GT)qualitative-explorativeresearch methodologyapproach (Glaser, 1978, 1998;Glaser and Strauss, 1967;Strauss and Corbin, 1990).
A Theoretical modeling of onlinereview utilization. Consumers areindeed utilizing and combining variouscontent sources. Moreover, consumersseem to have an extended set ofheuristics to filter content.
Qu and Lee (2011) Travelers’ socialidentification andmembership behaviorsin online travelcommunity
This study investigates travelmembers’ social identificationthrough their online communityexperience and its positivebehavioral outcomes.
Literature review and onlinesurvey. Data are derived from352 respondents belonging toMSN groups and are analyzedusing structural equationmodeling.
Results of this study show thatmembers’ active participation fortifiestheir sense of belonging to the onlinetravel community, which makesmembers support the community byshowing several positive memberbehaviors such as knowledge sharing,community promotion, and behavioralchanges.
Yacouel and Fleischer(2011)
The role ofcybermediaries inreputation buildingand price premiums inthe online hotel market
This article presents a case study inwhich the Internet plays animportant role in improvingefficiency in the hotel market.
Analysis of informationsupplied by past gueststhrough the OTAs
The author claims that online travelagents (OTAs) such as booking.complay an important role in building hotelreputation and encourage hoteliers toput effort into service quality.Empirical evidence that informationsupplied by past guests through theOTA generates a price premium forhotels with good reputations.
Dickinger (2011) The trustworthiness ofonline channels forexperience- andgoal-directed searchtasks
This article compares thetrustworthiness of three differentonline channels (personal,marketing, and editorial).
Data collection. Interviewswith 453 participants.
The results of the experiment indicatethat user-generated content appears tobe highly trustworthy, showing highlevels of integrity; however, it is notalways regarded as the mostinformative. Editorial contentproviders, such as tourist boards, areconsidered to be the most ableinformation provider. The resultsconfirm that depending on the type ofonline channel, different dimensions oftrustworthiness become effective asdrivers of overall trust.
A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Journal of Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51 47
Table 2 (Continued)
Author(s), publicationyear
Title Description Methodology Main results
Loureiro andKastenholz (2011)
Corporate reputation,satisfaction, delight,and loyalty towardsrural lodging units inPortugal
This paper enriches the model ofdelight and satisfaction that Oliver,1997 propose and Finn (2005)modifies, with a suggested causalrelationship betweendisconfirmation and arousal andthe introduction of two newvariables: the lodging unit’scorporate reputation andperceived quality.
Data collection in 55 rurallodging units, a total of 161usable questionnaires. Themodified model is applied torural tourism accommodationsin Portugal.
The results suggest that the lodgingunit’s reputation is a more significantdeterminant of loyalty thansatisfaction or even delight. This studyfurther supports the conceptualizationof customer delight and customersatisfaction as distinct constructs.
Sparks and Browning(2011)
The impact of onlinereviews on hotelbooking intentions andperception of trust
This study explores the role of fourkey factors that influenceperceptions of trust and consumerchoice: the target of the review;overall valence of a set of reviews;framing of reviews; and whetheror not a consumer generatednumerical rating is providedtogether with the written text.
Experimental design study.Asample was sought andobtained from a market listcompany with a large nationallifestyle survey that includedconsumers who had completedthe survey online. The sampledrawn from an Australiandatabase comprised 554community members.
Consumers seem to be moreinfluenced by early negativeinformation, especially when theoverall set of reviews is negative.However, positively framedinformation together with numericalrating details increases both bookingintentions and consumer trust. Theresults suggest that consumers tend torely on easy-to-process information,when evaluating a hotel based uponreviews. Higher levels of trust are alsoevident when a positively framed set ofreviews focused on interpersonalservice.
Xie et al. (2011) Consumers’ responsesto ambivalent onlinehotel reviews: The roleof perceived sourcecredibility andpre-decisionaldisposition
This study investigated how thepresence of online reviewers’Personal Identifying Information(PII) may affect consumers’processing of ambivalent onlinehotel reviews and hotel bookingintentions.
An experimental study with asample of 274 undergraduatestudents.
The results indicate that the presenceof PII positively affects the perceivedcredibility of the online reviews. Whencoupled with ambivalent onlinereviews, the presence of PIIsignificantly lowers consumers’ hotelbooking intentions.
Toh et al. (2011) Travel planning:searching for andbooking hotels on theinternet
This article is focused onresearching and booking hotels onthe internet, and it considers manyfactors to measure behaviors andattitudes, such as: service quality,low room rate, convenience oflocation and past experiences withthe hotel, among others.
A survey of 249 leisuretravelers at four hotels inSeattle, Washington
Eight of ten respondents used the webfor a hotel room search. Also, the studyfound that women have surpassedmen in information search activitiesand that women conduct much moreresearch regarding potential hotels andrates than do men. Some of thesupported results of the study were:Most travelers will research and book
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retzel, 2010; Arsal et al., 2010; Black and Kelley, 2009; Vermeulennd Seegers, 2009; Litvin et al., 2008).
To a greater or lesser extent, it has been observed that all thetudies consider the influence of reviews (WOM or eWOM) in theecision making process. Xie et al. (2011) argue that electronicord-of-mouth (eWOM) is prevalent in today’s lodging market andas potential to influence consumers’ decision making. Litvin et al.2008), in the same line, point out that interpersonal influence andord-of-mouth (WOM) are ranked as the most important informa-
ion source when a consumer is making a purchase decision. Thesenfluences are especially important in the hospitality and tourismndustry, whose intangible products are difficult to evaluate prioro their consumption.
Research demonstrates that valence of eWOM has a strongmpact on product valuation and purchase decisions. Vermeulennd Seegers (2009) argue that positive as well as negative reviewsncrease consumer awareness of hotels, whereas positive reviews,n addition, improve attitudes toward hotels. They maintain thathese effects are stronger for lesser-known hotels. Their study evenuggests that positive reviews have a positive impact on consumer
ehavior, whereas negative reviews have little impact, althoughhis does not mean that negative reviews are harmless. On the otherand, Sparks and Browning (2011) explain that consumers seem toe more influenced by early negative information, especially when
room on the internet and the internetdominates search and bookingstrategies.
the overall set of reviews is negative. However, positively framedinformation, together with numerical rating details, increases bothbooking intentions and consumer trust. The study highlights thatthe occurrence of recent positive reviews can override or moder-ate the effect of a set of negative reviews with respect to bookingintentions.
In addition, variables such as perceived trustworthiness, cred-ibility of eWOM, useful reviews and level of expertise (Lee et al.,2011; Xie et al., 2011; Yacouel and Fleischer, 2011; Arsal et al., 2010;Black and Kelley, 2009; Vermeulen and Seegers, 2009; Litvin et al.,2008) are frequently included when referring to the impact andinfluence of the reviews on consumer perspective. These aspects,among others, contribute to risk reduction (Kim et al., 2011; Sparksand Browning, 2011; Dickinger, 2011; Arsal et al., 2010) during thedecision making process. Papathanassis and Knolle (2011) arguethat users engage in information-seeking activities to minimize therisk associated with the purchase of an intangible and inseparableservice bundle.
Some authors investigated the influence of gender and age onpurchase behavior. Kim et al. (2011) analyzed gender behavior and
concluded: “women, for instance, are more likely to read reviewsfor the purpose of convenience and quality and for risk reduction.Men’s use of the online reviews depended on their level of exper-tise.” In the same line, Toh et al. (2011) found that women have
48 A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Journal o
E-wom
Decision making process
Perceived trustworthi
ness / Credibility
Risk reduction
Product acceptance
Loyalty
Hotel/ Brand Awareness
Hotel comparison
Book intention
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Fig. 3. Main impacts of eWOM from the consumer perspective.
urpassed men in information search activities. Also, those whourchased hotel rooms online trended toward being younger, hav-
ng higher incomes, and purchasing more room-nights than thoseho used traditional distribution channels. Furthermore, women
onduct much more research regarding potential hotels and rateshan do men.
Another important identified aspect is related to easy access androcessing of the reviews (Papathanassis and Knolle, 2011; Sparksnd Browning, 2011; Xiang and Gretzel, 2010; Dickinger, 2011).his factor is significant given the quantity of available informa-ion. For this reason, consumers have a complicated task of filteringnd analyzing this information. Sparks and Browning (2011) arguehat there is a range of potential influencing factors, but some thatre of practical and theoretical importance include the content orarget of reviews, the overall tone or valence of the reviews (as aollection), the framing of the review set (what is read first) andasy-to-process peripheral information such as consumer gener-ted numerical ratings. Additionally, reliance on easy to evaluatenformation, such as general category ratings (e.g. star ratings forotels or customer ratings of products) may have a greater influ-nce on product purchase decisions compared with more detailednformation.
As a result of the studies analyzed, the image below identifieshe main impacts of eWOM from the consumer perspective (Fig. 3)ith three types of influence; positive, negative or neutral.
Positive reviews have a positive impact on consumers, mainlyn the selected aspects, thus increasing the likelihood of pur-hase. Otherwise, negative reviews can contribute negatively in allspects.
.4.2. Impacts of eWOM from the company perspectiveMost of the articles in this line of research emphasize reviews’
mpact from the consumer perspective; however, some of themnalyze in depth the impact from the company’s perspective
Yacouel and Fleischer, 2011; Dickinger, 2011; Hills and Cairncross,010), considering company-generated online content, qualityontrol in the online environment, possibility of interaction withlients (not only to solve eventual problems but also to focus
f Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51
marketing actions on specific segments) and the possibility of gen-erating a price premium, among others.
Ye et al. (2009) in their study showed that positive onlinereviews can significantly increase the number of bookings in ahotel, and the variance or polarity of WOM for the reviews of a hotelhad a negative impact on the amount of online sales. The resultsfurther suggested that a 10% improvement in reviewers’ rating canincrease sales by 4.4% and a 10% increase in review variance candecrease sales by 2.8%.
Loureiro and Kastenholz (2011) argue that corporate reputationplays a significant role in the customer’s perception of service per-formance capability, therefore leading to a reliable representationof the service in the customer’s mind. Jun et al. (2010) add that theheterogeneity of accommodation services increases uncertainty indecision making; therefore, individuals need to evaluate variousattributes of information and use diverse information sources (e.g.,direct accommodation websites, destination official websites, cus-tomer review websites).
Consumer behavior and new technologies lead to an increasedmarket transparency (Toh et al., 2011; Jun et al., 2010; Verma,2010; Wen, 2009) that could create opportunities and risks for thecompanies. Verma (2010) argues that potential market offeringsin the hospitality industry have grown increasingly complex duein large measure to advances in information technology. This sit-uation allows customers to compare and strategically assess therelative costs and benefits of different alternatives. In this regard,Wen (2009) cites O’Connor and Frew (2004), pointing out that “closerelationships between customers and suppliers’ web sites can reducethe danger of substitution and help to insure long-term profitability”.He emphasizes that the essence of creating a strong relationshipbond with the customers is to consider how customers make onlinepurchases and what factors influence their online purchase inten-tions.
Another factor highlighted by studies refers to loyalty. In cus-tomer research, the term “customer loyalty” is often measured byindicators like the intention to continue buying the same product,intention to buy more of the same product, and repeat purchase(behavioral measures) or willingness to recommend the product toothers (attitudinal indicator, reflecting product advocacy) (Loureiroand Kastenholz, 2011). The studies indicate that eWOM can influ-ence loyalty. However, the degree of impact that eWOM can haveon clients who are already loyal is not evidenced, nor are the differ-ences that can exist between impacts on loyal clients and impactson first-time users of the product/service.
Fig. 4 summarizes the main impacts of eWOM from the companyperspective.
From the company perspective, the impacts of eWOM couldbe classified as opportunities, because if the companies analyzeand manage these impacts properly, they can obtain competitiveadvantages in their business (Dickinger, 2011; Hills and Cairncross,2010; Ye et al., 2009). Otherwise, the companies would be affectedby the negative impact on consumers.
Analysis of this information can allow improvements in thequality of the products/services, the identification of needs and theimplementation of new policies (Loureiro and Kastenholz, 2011;Jun et al., 2010). The interaction that can be generated with con-sumers facilitates the solution of potential problems, as well asfamiliarization with client profiles and needs.
Positive comments can enhance the market reputation of thecompany as well as the possibility of obtaining price premiums(Yacouel and Fleischer, 2011), thereby improving results andpositioning. On the other hand, negative comments can reduce con-
sumer interest in the products/services offered by the company,which can affect its price competitiveness and profits.
The eWOM is a significant source of information for companiesand increasingly influences their marketing strategies (Jun et al.,
A. Serra Cantallops, F. Salvi / International Journal o
E-wom
Quality control and
new procedures
Revenue Management
– Price Premium
Customer interactions Response
and recovery
Specific Marketing Strategies
Focus on target
communica tion
Online reputation
comparison
Generating loyalty
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this study, it is estimated that only 1% of users actively producesnew content.
Fig. 4. Main impacts of eWOM from the company perspective.
010; Yacouel and Fleischer, 2011). Companies who adequatelyanage eWOM can have a competitive advantage, directing their
ctions to specific targets according to the type of the product, asell as influencing clients who could be potentially loyal to their
rand, while at the same time maintaining current clients (Loureirond Kastenholz, 2011).
. Final considerations
.1. In general
Within the lines of research established in the present study,eview-Generating Factors and Impacts of eWOM, considered fromonsumer and company perspective, studies were identified ana-yzing the effect of gender and age (32%) and the valence of reviews
positive, negative or neutral (64%), as well as issues related torustworthiness and loyalty (68%). The decision making process isnother recurring theme in the studies (64%).
Research evaluating eWOM seeks to understand behaviors andotivations in order to respond properly to them. Normally, studies
nalyze factors such as: who generates reviews, why they are gen-rated, what motivates consumers to write reviews, what impactseviews have on consumers and companies and how reviews affectesults and purchase intention.
Although technology can increase the accuracy of results, sometudies lack precision considering the various variables involved,.e. they do not identify all the factors that motivate a hotel reser-ation or the weight of each factor. However, in a general way, thesetudies can identify some effects on behavior according to gen-er, age, loyalty and trust and/or distrust of the recommendations,mong others.
In this study, it was possible to identify some relevant issueshat are highlighted because of their recurrence and importance inhe research analyzed. It should be noted that some factors may
ave been studied more in depth than others, and also that several
mportant issues may have been found in the same article.
f Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51 49
4.2. Specific issues
Analysis of the articles has identified specific recurrent issues.Principal topics and their recurrence are as follows:
– Decision making process (18 studies): Recurring issue in theimpacts of eWOM from consumer perspective.
– Valence (18 studies): This issue was examined not only in the lineof review-generating factors but also in the impacts of eWOM,considering that the valence of comments (positive or negative)influences consumers and generates impacts on companies.
– Purchase intention (17 studies): This issue is highlighted in stud-ies regarding the impacts of eWOM, related to decision makingprocesses.
– Perceived trustworthiness (15 studies). Of the 28 analyzedresearch papers, 15 addressed the issue of trustworthiness,mainly along the line related to the impacts of eWOM.
– Competitive advantage–marketing strategies (11 studies). Thesestudies propose actions based on the results of their research;however, most of them include suggestions highlighting theimportance of considering this new form of communication andnot specific actions.
– Useful reviews (10 studies): This issue was discussed in depth inresearch papers concerning the impacts of eWOM, consideringthe analysis related to the usefulness of online reviews and theircredibility.
– Age and gender (9 studies). Studies related to influence of eWOMon age and gender factors are fairly recent, most having beenpublished in 2011.
– Perceived expertise (7 studies): This issue is related to usefulreviews.
– Loyalty (7 studies): Identified mainly in relation to impacts ofeWOM both from consumer and company perspective.
– Risk reduction (5 studies): This issue suggests risk reduction as avariable to be considered in the consumer decision making pro-cess, i.e. according to the intangible characteristics of the product,eWOM is a way to minimize risks at the time of purchase.
– Development of reputation – ratings and rankings (2 studies). Fewstudies regarding this specific issue; however, it is becomingincreasingly important in the buying process.
5. Research gaps and future research
Considering the analysis performed on eWOM related to thehospitality industry, we observe that, in general, there are ampleopportunities for future research to extend the level of knowledgeregarding this new phenomenon. This refers both to factors thatcontribute to the generation of comments as well as to the impactsof reviews on consumer behavior and purchasing decision.
Below we highlight some of the issues that could be furtherinvestigated in future along the lines of research defined in thisstudy:
5.1. Generating factors
According to researchers and the analysis of published articles,this line of research seeks to understand the factors leading to thegeneration of comments. Thus, some issues that could be expanded,which would be valuable for the tourism industry and researchersalike, would be: How to stimulate the generation of comments?What variables contribute to this action? As mentioned earlier in
Research could also include behavioral comparisons: bynationality (Do cultural differences influence the generation of
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omments? What aspects contribute to the generation of com-ents in different nationalities?); by income level (Are there
ifferences in the generation of comments related to consumerncome level?), by travel types (Are there different influences on theeneration of comments in leisure travel versus business travel?)y category of hotels (Are there differences in the number of com-ents generated considering the categories of hotels?) among
thers.
.2. Impacts of eWOM
Measuring eWOM impacts is a recent and highly changeablessue, due to new variables related to new consumer behavior andnline communication that constantly introduces new interactionorms. These new forms of communication are in a changing envi-onment through new networks, new groups, new review websitesnd new social networking tools, among others.
These new tools and media allow the consumer to evaluate moreuickly and receive a high volume of information, which, in a way,an reduce the risk in the buying process for certain products andervices. Due to the development of these channels and consideringhe needs of this new behavior, new ways to measure satisfac-ion are introduced; including rankings, new scoring methods orualitative assessments of consumers.
How to handle the mass of information generated and its weightn the consumer decision process is an important factor that shoulde analyzed in greater depth in future research, i.e. considering themount of information and the kinds of presentation (rankings, rat-ngs and reviews with different systems of assessment), what arehe criteria used by consumers to make conclusions regarding theeputation of a product, service or brand? And what is the weightf these factors in their decision to purchase? On the other hand,hat would be the most effective way to filter this information and
btain a reliable reflection of consumer perspective?Regarding eWOM impacts, it would also be interesting to ana-
yze what differences exist between different nationalities andultures, i.e. differences in impacts that can be caused by onlinevaluations among consumers in different European countries orven between Americans and Europeans, among other possibleomparisons. It is also worth considering, for example, that inountries with less access to information technology, the impact ofhe use of these tools is probably not as significant as in countriesith greater access.
Purchase intention could also be more closely evaluated accord-ng to topics related to differences between nationalities orultures, types of travel or income levels, among others. Factorsssociated with consumer sensitivity to price is another questionhat is gaining importance. For example, what weight do commentsave when two distinct products are compared, such as hotels ofifferent categories? Or, to what level do comments influence pur-hase decision when consumers take advantage of a special offerr discount?
Aspects regarding hotel or hotel chain loyalty is a topic that canlso be further researched, considering that one of the indicatorsf loyalty is the intention to repurchase a product or service. Forxample, how are loyal clients are influenced by online commentshen they decide to purchase? For clients who are loyal to a par-
icular hotel chain, can negative comments affect their decision toook at one of the chain’s hotels, or does consumer confidence inhe brand prevail?
Another subject that could be investigated are differences and
eight of reviews according to product type, both by hotel cate-
ory, whether they are urban or leisure, i.e. Do online reviews affectower quality products more? Are vacation hotels more sensitiveo ratings than urban hotels? One could also study the relationship
f Hospitality Management 36 (2014) 41–51
between online reputation and consumer sensitivity to productprice according to nationality.
In addition, another issue that has not been extensivelyresearched and is fundamental to the credibility and reliability ofusers, is the question of ethics and fraud in the publications systemsof review websites, social media and other related websites. Withregard to this issue, further research may investigate how the verac-ity and credibility of published reviews can be identified. Someassessments have already begun to include rankings that catego-rize consumers who submit more reviews. Also, some companiesare implementing their own systems to check who the real clientsare. What systems are already being used or could be implementedto prevent fraud?
Studies have not yet been identified that analyze the manage-ment of these impacts from the company perspective, i.e. whatwould be the best way to manage review impact and measure theresults? Are the efforts of the company to manage these impactseffective? How do companies evaluate their actions and measuretheir performance in terms of results? How can client reviewsaffect the brand image of an individual hotel an entire hotel chain?Another point to consider would be a comparison of hotel compa-nies in different destinations and the behavior of their clients bynationality. Does eWOM generate different impacts on hotels indifferent destinations? Do clients of the same nationality behavedifferently depending on the destination they choose?
These are some of the issues where additional research possi-bilities related to eWOM and hotels were observed. Further studiescould be useful not only for a greater understanding of consumerbehavior but also for companies to establish and develop appropri-ate marketing strategies.
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