Understanding online review behaviors of patients in online health communities: an expectation-disconfirmation perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Chen ◽  
Jiahua Jin ◽  
Xiangbin Yan
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Process Quality ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Outcome Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Perception ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Expectation Disconfirmation ◽  
Health Communities

PurposeAlthough online health communities (OHCs) and online patient reviews can help to eliminate health information asymmetry and improve patients' health management, how patients write online reviews within OHCs is poorly understood. Thus, it is very necessary to determine the factors influencing patients' online review behavior in OHCs, including the emotional response and reviewing effort.Design/methodology/approachBased on expectation-disconfirmation theory, this study proposes a theoretical model to analyze the effects of service quality perception (i.e. outcome quality and process quality perceptions) and disconfirmation (i.e. outcome quality and process quality disconfirmations) on patients' emotional response and reviewing effort. The authors test the research model by using empirical data collected from a popular Chinese OHC and applying ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and zero-truncated negative binomial (ZTNB) regression models.FindingsBoth service quality perception and disconfirmation have a positive effect on patients' positive emotional intensity in textual reviews, and disease severity enhances these relationships of process quality. Moreover, there is an asymmetric U-shaped relationship among service quality perception, disconfirmation and reviewing effort. Patients who perceive low service quality have higher reviewing effort, while service quality disconfirmation has the opposite relationship. Specifically, patients' effort in writing textual reviews is lowest when perceived outcome quality is 3.5 (on a five-point scale), perceived process quality is 4 or outcome quality and process quality disconfirmations are −1.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine patients' online review behavior and its motivations and contributes to the literature on online reviews and service quality. In addition, the findings of this study have important management implications for service providers and OHC managers.

Service quality evaluation and the mediating role of perceived value and customer satisfaction in customer loyalty

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yousef Keshavarz ◽  
Dariyoush Jamshidi
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Perceived Value ◽  
Process Quality ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Outcome Quality ◽  
Kuala Lumpur ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Tourist Satisfaction

Purpose Loyalty has become the most important strategic aim in the hotel industry. The purpose of this paper is to obtain an empirical understanding of loyalty in the Kuala Lumpur hotel sector. Design/methodology/approach The dimensions of service quality as perceived by hotel customers were identified through the literature review. Hypotheses were formulated and tested to: examine the effects of process quality and outcome quality on perceived value, tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty; and to determine if perceived value and tourist satisfaction play a mediating role in the effect of process quality and outcome quality on tourist loyalty. In this study, the sample was 417 respondents from the international tourists who stay at least one night in four- or five stars hotels in Kuala Lumpur. Collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. Findings The statistical findings supported a relationship between process quality and outcome quality with perceived value and tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty with perceived value and tourist satisfaction. The results also indicated that process quality and outcome quality did not have a direct effect on tourist loyalty. Perceived value and tourist satisfaction mediated the relationship between process quality and outcome quality with tourist loyalty. Originality/value The finding of this study proposed that the hoteliers targeting international tourists with service quality including process and outcome quality should focus more on these factors to build loyalty. For instance, the tangible, responsiveness, reliability, empathy, assurance, and convenience as the dimensions of process quality and valence, waiting time, and sociability as the dimensions of outcome quality should meet the needs of the international tourists, therefore increasing tourist loyalty through perceived value and tourist satisfaction.

scholarly journals Why are online reviews in the sharing economy skewed toward positive ratings? Linking customer perceptions of service quality to leaving a review of an Airbnb stay

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen Meijerink ◽  
Emma Schoenmakers
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Primary Survey ◽  
Customer Perceptions

Purpose This study aims to explain why online reviews in Airbnb are skewed toward positive ratings. The authors examine customer perceptions of the service quality of an Airbnb stay as a relevant antecedent of whether customers leave an online review of that Airbnb stay. To this end, the authors test the hypothesis that the relationship between service quality and leaving an online review is linear and positive. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypothesis, the authors rely on primary survey data from 177 Airbnb customers combined with secondary data coming from their personal online Airbnb accounts. The authors conducted a binary logistic regression analysis to test the hypothesis. Findings The results show that customers’ service quality perceptions are positively and linearly related to leaving an online review of an Airbnb stay. In other words, satisfied customers are more likely to leave a review after an Airbnb stay than those who are dissatisfied. Originality/value The study is original in two respects. First, it reconsiders the role of customer experiences in explaining online customer reviews. In doing so, it empirically shows that the conventional wisdom of a U-shaped relationship between customer experiences and online reviewing does not hold in the context of the sharing economy. Second, by relying on primary survey data, the authors reveal the risk of dissatisfied customers creating an underreporting bias in online reviews, which ultimately make online reviews of Airbnb skewed toward positive ratings.

scholarly journals Prosumer motivations for electronic word-of-mouth communication behaviors

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica B. Fine ◽  
John Gironda ◽  
Maria Petrescu
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Consumer Satisfaction ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Electronic Word Of Mouth ◽  
Communication Behaviors ◽  
Content Type

Purpose “Prosumers” (combining “producer” and “consumers”) describes consumers’ ability to openly share their product/service experiences and thereby drive sales and digital marketing. Understanding what motivates active prosumers to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and share or review their hotel experiences online can help organizations empathize with consumers and use their messages to co-create value. Identifying prosumers’ motivators can enable companies to properly target them as resources for review or consumer feedback studies. This paper aims to investigate the influence of motivators (intrinsic and extrinsic), service quality and age on consumers’ eWOM communication behaviors. Design/methodology/approach A panel of 204 travelers was surveyed regarding their hotel travel experiences, propensity to write online reviews, preferred review-writing platform, motivations for writing reviews and impressions of service quality. To test the hypotheses, a multivariate regression analysis was performed with eWOM as the dependent variable. Differences in eWOM as a function of preferred review platform were also tested using ANOVA, with a multiple comparison analysis that underlines the differences between prosumers who prefer different types of review platforms and their eWOM behaviors. Findings Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, as well as service reliability, had a significant influence on eWOM behavior, while service tangibility had a negative relationship. Additionally, prosumers’ engagement in eWOM about their hospitality experience differed according to their preferred review platform. Research limitations/implications The findings of the analysis underline the importance of consumer motivations and of satisfaction with service quality in the context of digital review behavior. For marketing and hospitality research, this shows the benefits of including not only individual characteristics and demographics when analyzing review behavior but also elements such as perceptions of service quality. Given the differences in how the dimensions of service quality affect consumers’ engagement in online review behavior, this represents a very important topic for research and can be included in future studies that analyze the consumer review behavior model. Practical implications Regarding the implications for practitioners, this study highlights the important role played by consumer satisfaction with service in the hospitality industry and its effect on their involvement in online reviews. Managers should be focused constantly on offering great service to their guests, while, at the same time, offering them motivations to engage in posting positive reviews about their vacation. Moreover, as the results of this study imply that various dimensions of service quality have a different impact, managers should focus especially on the aspects that consumers consider important and constantly include in their reviews, such as the tangibles dimension. The results of this study also have the potential to provide to businesses more information to improve the social aspects of vacationing, which can not only improve perceptions about service quality but can also have a positive influence on consumers’ motivations. Originality/value This paper develops a better understanding of what motivates people to engage in the eWOM communication behavior of writing online hotel reviews, by showing the effect of consumer motivations and service quality variables on prosumers’ engagement in online review behavior.

Cognitive mechanisms underlying interaction and contribution in online health communities: the perspectives of doctors and patients

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Wang ◽  
Jia Wang ◽  
Qiao Li
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Dual Processes ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Knowledge Contribution ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
The Impact

PurposeActive interaction and knowledge contribution are vital yet challenging elements of the sustainable development of online health communities (OHCs). To investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying these behaviours in doctors' and patients' use of OHCs, this study develops a theoretical model to examine the relationships among cognitive modes, patterns of interaction, perceived usefulness, and contribution behaviour and the impact of user identity on these relationships.Design/methodology/approachTo test the research hypotheses, structural equation modelling and multiple-group analysis were used to analyse survey data from 207 doctors and 213 patients.FindingsThe results indicate that dual processes and perceived usefulness are the key cognitive antecedents of interaction and knowledge contribution, respectively. However, the correlation of the rational mode and instrumental interaction is significantly stronger in the doctors' group than in the patients' group, while a stronger correlation between the experiential mode and instrumental interaction is observed in the patients' group.Practical implicationsThese findings support the development of information and system strategies to support the operation of dual processes underlying doctors' and patients' instrumental and affective interactions, facilitate evaluation and sense-making of interaction activities, and motivate knowledge contribution.Originality/valueThis study uncovers the invariance and variability in the relationships between salient cognitive activities and behavioural responses in doctors' and patients' use of OHCs and the impact of user identity on variability.

scholarly journals Which cues influence the perceived usefulness and credibility of an online review? A conjoint analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Isabel Lopes ◽  
Nathalie Dens ◽  
Patrick De Pelsmacker ◽  
Freya De Keyzer
Keyword(s):  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Argument Strength

PurposeThis study aims to assess the relative importance of the argument strength, argument sidedness, writing quality, number of arguments, rated review usefulness, summary review rating and number of reviews in determining the perceived usefulness and credibility of an online review. Additionally, the authors use insights from the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to explore the effect of consumers' product category involvement on the cues' relative importance.Design/methodology/approachA conjoint analysis (N = 287) is used to study the relative importance of the seven previously mentioned attributes. A balanced orthogonal design generated eight cards that correspond to individual reviews. Respondents scored all eight cards in a random order for perceived usefulness and credibility.FindingsOverall, argument strength is the most important cue, while summary review rating and the number of reviews are the least important for perceived review usefulness and credibility. The number of arguments is more important for people who are more highly involved with the product, while writing quality and rated review usefulness are relatively more important for the low-involvement group.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive test of how consumers perceive online reviews, as it the first to the authors’ knowledge to simultaneously investigate a large set of cues using conjoint analysis. This method allows for the implicit valuation (utility) of the individual cues, revealing the cues' relative importance, in a setting that comes close to a real-life context. Besides, insights of the ELM are used to understand how the relative importance of cues differs depending on the level of review readers' product category involvement.

FLORA: a hierarchical fuzzy system for online accommodation review analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-367
Author(s):  
Thara Angskun ◽  
Jitimon Angskun
Keyword(s):  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Probability Weighting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
Review Analysis ◽  
Accuracy Comparison ◽  
Hierarchical Fuzzy System

Purpose This paper aims to introduce a hierarchical fuzzy system for an online review analysis named FLORA. FLORA enables tourists to decide their destination without reading numerous reviews from experienced tourists. It summarizes reviews and visualizes them through a hierarchical structure. The visualization does not only present overall quality of an accommodation, but it also presents the condition of the bed, hospitality of the front desk receptionist and much more in a snap. Design/methodology/approach FLORA is a complete system which acquires online reviews, analyzes sentiments, computes feature scores and summarizes results in a hierarchical view. FLORA is designed to use an overall score, rated by real tourists as a baseline for accuracy comparison. The accuracy of FLORA has achieved by a novel sentiment analysis process (as part of a knowledge acquisition engine) based on semantic analysis and a novel rating technique, called hierarchical fuzzy calculation, in the knowledge inference engine. Findings The performance comparison of FLORA against related work has been assessed in two aspects. The first aspect focuses on review analysis with binary format representation. The results reveal that the hierarchical fuzzy method, with probability weighting of FLORA, is achieved with the highest values in precision, recall and F-measure. The second aspect looks at review analysis with a five-point rating scale rating by comparing with one of the most advanced research methods, called fuzzy domain ontology. The results reveal that the hierarchical fuzzy method, with probability weighting of FLORA, returns the closest results to the tourist-defined rating. Research limitations/implications This research advances knowledge of online review analysis by contributing a novel sentiment analysis process and a novel rating technique. The FLORA system has two limitations. First, the reviews are based on individual expression, which is an arbitrary distinction and not always grammatically correct. Consequently, some opinions may not be extracted because the context free grammar rules are insufficient. Second, natural languages evolve and diversify all the time. Many emerging words or phrases, including idioms, proverbs and slang, are often used in online reviews. Thus, those words or phrases need to be manually updated in the knowledge base. Practical implications This research contributes to the tourism business and assists travelers by introducing comprehensive and easy to understand information about each accommodation to travelers. Although the FLORA system was originally designed and tested with accommodation reviews, it can also be used with reviews of any products or services by updating data in the knowledge base. Thus, businesses, which have online reviews for their products or services, can benefit from the FLORA system. Originality/value This research proposes a FLORA system which analyzes sentiments from online reviews, computes feature scores and summarizes results in a hierarchical view. Moreover, this work is able to use the overall score, rated by real tourists, as a baseline for accuracy comparison. The main theoretical implication is a novel sentiment analysis process based on semantic analysis and a novel rating technique called hierarchical fuzzy calculation.

Impact of other customers on service quality evaluation and revisit intention in hospitality services

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditi Sarkar Sengupta ◽  
Sreejesh S. Pillai
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Quality Evaluation ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Customer Participation ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Perception ◽  
Need For Uniqueness ◽  
Revisit Intention ◽  
Service Quality Evaluation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, the authors investigate the influence of other customer perception (OCP) on focal customer’s service quality perception and service revisit intention in hotel services. Second, they examine whether negative effects of OCP can be managed through customer participation. Finally, they examine the effectiveness of CP as a strategy when individuals vary in terms of their need for uniqueness (NFU). Design/methodology/approach A 2 (OCP: favorable versus unfavorable) × 2 (customer participation: customer participation versus no customer participation) × 2 (NFU: high versus low) between-subjects experiment was conducted to collect responses. Analysis of variance and pre-planned contrast tests were carried out to test the hypotheses. Findings Customers who are exposed to unfavorable OCP reported low service quality evaluation and revisit intention. However, two-way interaction results supported that in unfavorable OCP situation, customers who are exposed to high customer participation have reported high revisit intention compared to those who are not exposed to customer participation. In addition, the three-way interaction effects indicate that customer participation may work as an intervention mechanism to reduce the negative effects of OCP to form favorable service quality perception and revisit intention only for customers with low NFU. Originality/value This is the first in its stream of studies examining the following research questions: “Can the negative effects of OCP be mitigated with the help of managerial intervention?”; and “Would a customer’s individual differences influence the effectiveness of such an intervention strategy?”

Exploring backpackers’ perceptions of the hostel service quality

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1839-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Brochado ◽  
Paulo Rita ◽  
Carlos Gameiro
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of backpackers’s evaluation of service quality provided by hostels by developing a battery of items to assess perceptions of the overall hostel experience. Design/methodology/approach – Scale development took a mixed approach that combines qualitative and quantitative research. First, the authors performed a content analysis of reviews provided by guests in hostel booking web sites, in-depth interviews with hostel managers and focus groups with guests, to develop a battery of items to assess the hostel experience from the guests’ perspective. Then, a quantitative survey (n = 222) was conducted, to explore the dimensionality of service quality in this sector. Lisbon hostels are the target of this study, as they received several awards based on the online reviews of backpackers. Findings – The results revealed that service quality is a multidimensional concept and includes six dimensions, namely, social atmosphere, location and city connection, staff, cleanliness, security and facilities. Regression results revealed that the social atmosphere appears to be a core service dimension crucial to create a sense of hostel guest’s overall quality. Originality/value – The findings suggest that service quality scales should incorporate the specific characteristics of the hotel industry. The quality of the staff and the social atmosphere are of utmost importance to enhance the hostel backpacker experience.

Reviews’ length and sentiment as correlates of online reviews’ ratings

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 544-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Ghasemaghaei ◽  
Seyed Pouyan Eslami ◽  
Ken Deal ◽  
Khaled Hassanein
Keyword(s):  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Reviews ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Consumer Review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify and validate reviews’ length and sentiment as correlates of online reviews’ ratings; and second, to understand the emotions embedded in online reviews and how they associate with specific words used in such reviews. Design/methodology/approach A panel data set of customer reviews was collected for auto, life, and home insurance from January 2012 to December 2015 using a web scraping technique. Using a sentiment analysis approach, 1,584 reviews for the auto, home, and life insurance services of 156 insurance companies were analyzed. Findings The results indicate that, since 2013, consumers have generally had more negative emotions than positive ones toward insurance services. The results also show that consumer review sentiment correlates positively and review length correlates negatively with consumer online review ratings. Furthermore, a two-way ANOVA analysis shows that, in general, short reviews with positive sentiment are associated with high review ratings. Practical implications The findings of this study provide service companies, in general, and insurance companies, in particular, with important guidelines that should be considered to increase consumers’ positive attitude toward their services. Originality/value This paper highlights the importance of sentiment analysis in identifying consumer reviews’ emotions and understanding the associations and interactions of reviews’ length and sentiment on online review rating, which can lead to improved marketing strategies.

Effect of demographic characteristics on service quality perception

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-431
Author(s):  
Samson Oluseun Ojekalu ◽  
Olatoye Ojo ◽  
Timothy Tunde Oladokun ◽  
Sumoila Aremu Olabisi
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Systematic Sampling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Perception ◽  
Five Axes

Purpose Although a substantial amount of research on the effect of demographics on service quality perception can be found in the extant literature, practitioners and researchers in the built environment, especially property managers, know little or nothing about the influence of demographic characteristics on service quality in Nigeria. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of demographic variables of the occupiers of shopping complexes on the perception of service quality of property managers. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were used for the study through questionnaire administration. Ibadan was stratified into five axes using existing major roads where shopping complexes were highly concentrated. Based on the Oyo State Ministry of Land, Housing and Survey (2017) database, there were 33, 65, 48, 64 and 66 shopping complexes on each identified major road. A systematic sampling technique was adopted to select 57 (20 per cent) out of 276 shopping complexes and 192 (10 per cent) out of 1,919 occupiers of the shopping complexes in the study area. In total, 157 occupiers responded to the questionnaire, and data were analysed using mean, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA. Findings The study found that the gender and education of the occupiers significantly influenced service quality perception, whereas the age of the respondents was insignificant. Specifically, female occupiers rated the service quality of property managers better than their male counterparts. Through η2, the effect size of gender on service quality perception was small (17 per cent) and effect size on the level education of the occupiers was also small (13 per cent). The age of occupiers did not significantly influence service quality perception. It is expected that the findings of this study will help property managers to understand the effect of various demographic variables on service quality perception for enhanced property management practice. Practical implications The findings suggested that the property managers of shopping complex should structure their services to best accommodate occupiers’ demographics. Moreover, property managers can use the findings to guide demographic-driven marketing strategy to target and attract more tenants efficiently. Originality/value The study is one of the few studies that examined the effect of the demographic characteristics of occupiers on service quality perception that could enhance given individualised attention to occupiers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document