Exploring the Power of Electronic Word-of-Mouth in the Services Industry by Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro;Hans Ruediger Kaufmann;

Author:Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro;Hans Ruediger Kaufmann; [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: IGI Global

Based on what emerged from the quantitative analysis, we propose a series of practical implications that could be useful for the management of hotels.

The online reputation management is a series of actions aimed at safeguarding the image of the hotel starting from booking sites monitoring.

The first managerial implication is to monitor and to keep under review comments, especially if these are based on unsatisfactory experiences. Kim et al. (2015) indicate that managerial response to negative comments is one of the most salient predictors of hotel performance, that’s why all the negative feedback requires justification or explanation and it is absolutely necessary to maintain a certain level of professionalism in giving the answer. Hotels that would like to thrive not just survive in the social media world should proactively respond to consumer reviews in an effort to stimulate and manage EWOM activity (Xie et al., 2016). Because EWOM is now spontaneously generated on social media platforms and its impact is far-reaching, hotel managers need to actively operate managerial response to intervene in the online conversations with consumers in a timely fashion.

However, it would be very expensive for a hotelier whose hotel is registered with numerous portals to manually check all the reviews, as it would require a lot of time and attention. Beyond that, it would be good to speak in real time not only to repair complaints, but also to anticipate them. For this reason, hoteliers could use specific and dedicated software for online reputation management and online reviews, these are “intelligent” monitoring tools that captures comments and mentions on the hotel and allows immediate response (ReviewPRo) or tools to manage and monitor reviews as well as social profiles such as Hootsuite. The user who wants to book needs to feel reassured, to reduce the uncertainty related to the final decision and finally to feel satisfied with his reservation. If, for example, the rate of a room is very low compared to the average of the same category of hotel, his instinct will lead him to inquire as to why that structure can get a lower price, trying to figure out if there are negative aspects to it connected. For this reason, regardless of the channel they choose for booking, in the search for information, travellers tend to include OTAs because they can check alternative offers and determine which is the most convenient and, above all, read the reviews.

A second managerial implication is linked to taking into account of the importance of the relationship with the customer as the development of the EWOM is influenced by the quality of the relationship (Chung & Shin, 2010; Sarmiento et al. 2018). In fact, the dimensions of satisfaction and trust in travel websites are the most determinant, mainly because users are looking for an interpersonal communication process that satisfies their need and that the source is reliable. Liao et al. (2019) argued that purchase intention and word-of-mouth are indirectly affected by interactivity and engagement respectively in the hospitality industry, via the mediation of trust.

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