Reacting to negative online customer reviews

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rico Piehler ◽  
Michael Schade ◽  
Ines Hanisch ◽  
Christoph Burmann
Keyword(s):  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Reviews ◽  
Online Customer Reviews ◽  
Reduction Methods ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
Potential Customers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of explanation and compensation, as specific accommodative management responses to negative online customer reviews, on potential customers. Design/methodology/approach The scenario-based online experiment with 306 participants investigates the effects of explanation and compensation on potential customers’ purchase intentions in the hotel segment of the hospitality industry. Findings The results reveal that combining an explanation with compensation is the most effective management response; providing neither an explanation nor compensation is the least effective. The effects of management responses that entail providing only an explanation or compensation do not differ significantly. Research limitations/implications Continued research should investigate the effects of specific accommodative management responses in other service industries and other cultural settings and consider different kinds of explanations and compensation. Practical implications Hotel managers in the hospitality industry should reply to negative online customer reviews by combining an explanation with compensation. Service providers that currently lack structures and procedures to identify service failures and their causes or that cannot take corrective actions should provide compensation. Service providers that currently have limited financial resources should provide explanations. Originality/value This study analyses the effects of explanation and compensation on potential customers’ purchase intentions. In addressing the effects on potential customers, instead of on complainants, the conceptual framework represents a novel combination of management responses from service recovery research with signalling theory, the search-experience-credence framework and risk reduction methods.

Fraud abroad

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-275
Author(s):  
Jake David Hoskins ◽  
Ryan Leick
Keyword(s):  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Reviews ◽  
Online Customer Reviews ◽  
Level Of Economic Development ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Developed Nations

Purpose This study aims to investigate a sharing economy context, where vacation rental units that are owned and operated by individuals throughout the world are rented out through a common website: vrbo.com. It is posited that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, a common indicator of the level of economic development of a nation, will impact the likelihood that prospective travelers will choose to book accommodations in the sharing economy channel (vs traditional hotels). The role of online customer reviews in this process is investigated as well, building upon a significant body of extant research which shows their level of customer decision influence. Design/methodology/approach An empirical analysis is conducted using data from the website Vacation Rentals By Owner on 1,940 rental listings across 97 countries. Findings GDP per capita serves as risk deterrent to prospective travelers, making the sharing economy an acceptable alternative to traditional hotels for the average traveler. It is also found that the total number of online customer reviews (OCR volume) is a signal of popularity to prospective travelers, while the average star rating of those online customer reviews (OCR valence) is instead a signal of accommodation quality. Originality/value This study adds to a growing agenda of research investigating the effect of online customer reviews on consumer decisions, with a particularly focus on the burgeoning sharing economy. The findings help to explain when the sharing economy may serve as a stronger disruptive threat to incumbent offerings. It also provides the following key insights for managers: sharing economy rental units in developed nations are more successful in driving booking activity, managers should look to promote volume of online customer reviews and positive online customer reviews are particularly influential for sharing economy rental booking rates in less developed nations.

Case study of sustainable service design in the hospitality industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-An Chen ◽  
Chun Liang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Holistic Understanding

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how creative-cultural hotels can achieve sustainable service design through the development of a holistic conceptual framework. Design/methodology/approach The authors created this framework using a qualitative exploratory multi-case study of four creative-cultural hotels in Taiwan. The framework comprises strategic, organizational and interface levels to describe the design process and implementation of service offerings that co-create value within a multifaceted network of actors. Findings The findings of this study show that incorporating local arts and culture into sustainable service design can generate unique value and experiences for customers. From the perspective of sustainable development, these hotels seek to add value by using local creative and cultural resources to ensure that they have a sound commercial base from which to showcase their cultural features. As such, this study recommends that the hotel industry shift its focus to a paradigm that provides a strategic and sustainability-framed vision to create value for society while protecting local natural and cultural resources. Originality/value This multilevel model reframes the development of customer value constellations through a holistic understanding of user experience, eco-design practice, service encounters aligned with user touchpoints and front-line employee capabilities. To integrate the perspectives of both service providers and their customers, the proposed model embeds these stakeholders within a single model through the vehicle of local value co-creation. This holistic framework can assist in designing sustainable service within the hospitality industry to deliver better services and customer experiences. The findings provide an illustration of how the proposed multilevel sustainable-development-oriented service design framework can serve as a useful tool in guiding hotels toward corporate sustainability.

scholarly journals Towards a circumplex typology of customer service experience management practices: a dyadic perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasin Sahhar ◽  
Raymond Loohuis ◽  
Jörg Henseler
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Customer Journey ◽  
Service Experience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Five Phases

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify the practices used by service providers to manage the customer service experience (CSE) across multiple phases of the customer journey in a business-to-business (B2B) setting.Design/methodology/approachThis study comprises an ethnography that investigates in real time, from a dyadic perspective, and the CSE management practices at two service providers operating in knowledge-intensive service industries over a period of eight months. Analytically, the study concentrates on critical events that occurred in phases of the customer journey that in some way alter CSE, thus making it necessary for service providers to act to keep their customers satisfied.FindingsThe study uncovers four types of service provider practices that vary based on the mode of organization (ad hoc or regular) and the mode of engagement (reactive or proactive) and based on whether they restore or bolster CSE, including the recurrence of these practices in the customer journey. These practices are conveniently presented in a circumplex typology of CSE management across five phases in the customer journey.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper advances the research in CSE management throughout the customer journey in the B2B context by showing that CSE management is dynamic, recurrent and multifaceted in the sense that it requires different modes of organization and engagement, notably during interaction with customers, in different phases of the customer journey.Practical implicationsThe circumplex typology acts as a tool for service providers, helping them to redesign their CSE management practices in ongoing service and dialogical processes to keep their customers more engaged and satisfied.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to infuse a dyadic stance into the ongoing discussion of CSE management practices in B2B, in which studies to date have deployed only provider or customer perspectives. In proposing a microlevel view, the study identifies service providers' CSE management practices in multiple customer journey phases, especially when the situation becomes critical.

Tit for tat: understanding the responding behavior of property hosts on peer-to-peer rental platforms

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 1105-1126
Author(s):  
Sai Liang ◽  
Xiaoxia Zhang ◽  
Chunxiao Li ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Xiaoyu Yu
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Tit For Tat ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Due to their very different contexts, the responses made by property hosts to online reviews can differ from those posted by hotel managers. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of the responding behavior of hosts on peer-to-peer property rental platforms. Design/methodology/approach This study applied a comprehensive framework based on the theory of planned behavior. Empirical models are constructed based on 89,967 guest reviews with their associated responses to reveal the responding pattern of property hosts. Findings Unlike hotel managers, property hosts are more likely to reply to positive than to negative reviews; moreover, when they do choose to respond to negative reviews, they are likely to do so negatively, in a “tit-for-tat” way. This study also finds that one reason for the difference of responding patterns between property hosts and hotel managers is the hosts’ lack of experience of consumer relationship management and service recovery. Research limitations/implications This study provides a good start point for future theoretical development regarding effective responding strategy on peer-to-peer property rental platforms, as well as some useful implications for practitioners. Originality/value This study is an early attempt to analyze the impact of the particularity of emerging platforms on the responding behavior of service providers based on a comprehensive conceptual framework and empirical model thus provides a good starting point for the further investigation of effective response strategies on these emerging platforms.

Is consumer forgiveness possible?

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1567-1587 ◽  
Author(s):  
JungYun (Christine) Hur ◽  
SooCheong (Shawn) Jang
Keyword(s):  
Service Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Recovery Strategies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Hotel Managers

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how consumer forgiveness is formed by examining rumination and distraction by consumers in hotel service failures.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in the USA. A total of 371 usable responses were obtained. Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step approach was used to assess the measurement and structural models.FindingsThis study suggests that rumination and distraction play significant roles in processing consumer forgiveness. Self-focused rumination and distraction increase consumer forgiveness, whereas provocation-focused rumination exacerbates the negative effects of service failure severity on consumer forgiveness. This study also shows that gender differences exist. Men were more likely than women to link self-focused rumination and distraction to their intentions to forgive a service provider.Practical implicationsThis study is helpful for hotel managers to understand the mechanisms of consumer forgiveness in service failures and develop effective recovery strategies. Managers should aim to lessen consumers’ provocation-focused rumination while encouraging self-focused rumination and distraction. In addition, because of the differences in the process of consumer forgiveness between men and women, it is critical to differentiate the two groups in designing targeted recovery strategies for service failures.Originality/valueThis study investigates consumer forgiveness as a behavioral outcome following service failures that may help consumers achieve psychological balance and allow service providers a chance to restore the broken relationship. This study adds new information for understanding consumer responses and provides a basis for effective service management strategies.

scholarly journals Online travel review rating scales and effects on hotel scoring and competitiveness

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Martin-Fuentes ◽  
Juan Pedro Mellinas ◽  
Eduardo Parra-Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scales ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Initial Comparison ◽  
Biased Ratings ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
Online Travel ◽  
European Markets ◽  
Potential Customers ◽  
Typical User ◽  
Online Travel Agencies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine whether different scales and ways to collect reviews and ratings found on online travel agencies (OTAs) can affect hotels, and whether hotels obtain the same or different evaluations. Design/methodology/approach Hotel ratings from five OTAs in four European markets were collected and compared in pairs. An initial comparison was made with the hotel scores of each OTA to show what a typical user would see. Then, a rescaled score (0-10) was used to compare all the OTA scales appropriately and to distinguish between what customers observe and what the reality is. Findings The results reveal that Booking.com that uses a scale (2.5-10) and Agoda with a scale (2-10) seem to give higher rating scores than Atrapalo (1-10), Travel Republic (0-10) and hotel reservation service (1-10). However, when the scores are rescaled (0-10), the worst ratings are found on Booking.com followed by Agoda. Practical implications OTAs should include, next to the scores, the scale used to rate hotels so as to provide users with better and clearer information. Moreover, rating questionnaires should match the verbal denominations with their numerical values to avoid biased ratings. Social implications OTAs and hotel managers are losing information provided by customers because customers are not aware of the scale when rating hotels. Moreover, hotel ratings are used by potential customers to obtain a clearer image of an establishment. However, if some hotels are being overrated by some scales, customers might have higher expectations, which may not be met. Originality/value The unique rating scales of Booking.com and Agoda provide additional insights into their hotel evaluations, which seem to be apparently higher when in fact they are not.

Employees’ justice perceptions as a factor influencing successful outsourcing in the hospitality industry

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1619-1637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Zoghbi-Manrique-de-Lara ◽  
Jyh-Ming Ting-Ding
Keyword(s):  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Organizational Justice ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Interactional Justice ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Justice Perceptions ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
The Way

Purpose This study aims to hypothesize that the more in-house staff perceive themselves as beneficiaries of the procedural justice (PJ) followed in the outsourcing, or perceive their outsourced peers as recipients of distributive (DJ) and interactional justice (IJ), the more they will show acceptance and positive evaluations of the outsourcing initiatives. Although prior research in the hospitality industry has extensively studied individual-level reactions to organizational justice, no study has been undertaken to examine how hotel staff support and value outsourcing initiatives based on the way they perceive management’s treatment of them and their peers. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data from 215 in-house employees working side-by-side with outsourced employees at 14 hotels in Gran Canaria (Spain) were analyzed by using structural equation modeling. Findings The results found that in-house employees who perceived themselves or their outsourced peers as recipients of organizational justice to a greater extent reported greater support for outsourcing by expressing higher levels of acceptance and better evaluations. The results also supported procedural justice (PJ) as playing a dominant role over distributive (DJ) and interactional justice (IJ). Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that by encouraging justice perceptions among in-house employees, mainly those related to properly discussing the outsourcing procedures with affected employees, hotel managers can promote successful outsourcing. Given that in-house employees reacted not only to the way they were treated by hotel management but also to the way their outsourced peers were treated, the findings also indicate that all (un)fair treatment in outsourcing, regardless of the recipient, should receive explicit attention by hotel managers. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to primarily focus on the individual level of analysis in examining and supporting organizational justice in hotel firms as a factor influencing outsourcing success.

The influence of firm characteristics on profitability

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 2845-2868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Menicucci
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Return On Equity ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Market Variables ◽  
Hotel Managers

Purpose The purpose of this study is to inspect factors influencing profitability in the Italian hospitality industry during the period 2008-2016. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the profitability and its determinants using a sample of 2,366 Italian hotels. The author applies a multidimensional measure of profitability comprising return on equity, return on assets, occupancy rate and gross operating profit per available room. The author investigates variables influencing performance and includes them into five groups: market variables, business model, ownership structure, management education and control variables. Findings The results show that financial crisis, business model and ownership structure affect hotel firms’ profitability. Particularly, findings suggest that size, internationalization, location, accommodation as first activity and chain affiliation influence profitability positively. Research limitations/implications Results confirm the importance of firm-specific factors for evaluating the profitability of a hotel firm. Findings also provide new evidence for academics to assess factors that would guarantee profitability of hotels in developed countries such as Italy. Practical implications This investigation offers valued information and strategic suggestions for hotel investors, hotel owners, hotel managers, tourism playmakers and government. Originality/value This paper offers an in-depth examination of the practices and characteristics of profitable hotels in Italy. Few empirical studies examined the determinants of performance in the European and Italian hospitality field so far. Hence, this study attempts to bridge the gap in prior literature on profitability of the Italian hospitality industry.

Prospects of the fourth industrial revolution for the hospitality industry: a literature review

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 479-494
Author(s):  
Benjamin Appiah Osei ◽  
Neethiahnanthan Ari Ragavan ◽  
Henry Kofi Mensah
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Hospitality And Tourism ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The economy of today has moved toward the fourth industrial revolution (FIR), which is characterized by the adoption of technologies such as cyber-physical systems, internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence and robotics. Globally, there is a lot of awareness created on the influence of the FIR on all industries, including hospitality and tourism. A plethora of studies on FIR have been conducted in the setting of manufacturing industries. Nonetheless, there seems to be in-exhaustive and non-consensual agreement among researchers as to the development and prospects of the FIR for service industries. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to comprehensively review the prospects of the FIR for the hospitality and tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach As a result of the novelty and gaps associated with the FIR in the hospitality literature, the authors explored the concept of FIR using a comprehensive literature review approach. Specifically, this paper reviews existing literature from diverse academic backgrounds, and annotates issues with regard to the evolution and prospects of the FIR for the hospitality industry. Findings Emphatically, the development and principles of FIR were expatiated. Additionally, an exegesis was carried out on the prospects (positives and challenges) of FIR for the hospitality industry. Finally, practical and social implications were also discussed. Originality/value It still remains a discourse among scholars and industry stakeholders as to the prospects of the FIR. This paper clarifies the confusion among researchers and bridges the literature gaps. Moreover, this review serves as a theoretical foundation for future research on the impact of FIR on the hospitality industry.

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