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Author: | Vermeulen, I.E. Seegers, D. |
Title: | Tried and tested: The impact of online hotel reviews on consumer consideration |
Journal: | Tourism Management
2009 : FEB, VOL. 30:1, p. 123-127 |
Index terms: | tourist industry tourism hotel and catering industry consumer behaviour consumer choice Internet service theories models Netherlands |
Language: | eng |
Abstract: | Online (henceforth as: o-l.) reviews are consulted by many consumers before making o-l. travel arrangements. This study applies consideration set theory to model the impact of o-l. hotel reviews on consumer choice. An experimental study (N=168) including review valence (positive (as: pos.) vs. negative (as: neg.) reviews), hotel familiarity (well-known vs. lesser-known hotels), and reviewer expertise (expert vs. non-expert reviewers) as independent factors shows that on average, exposure to o-l. reviews enhances hotel consideration. This is because pos. and also neg. reviews increase consumer awareness of hotels, whereas pos. reviews, in addition, improve attitudes toward hotels. These effects are stronger for lesser-known hotels. Reviewer expertise seems to have only a minor pos. influence on review impact. |
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