IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/anture/v80y2020ics0160738319302063.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bragging and humblebragging in online reviews

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Feier
  • Liu, Stephanie Q.
  • Mattila, Anna S.

Abstract

Tourists often brag about their exclusive vacations, preferential treatments, and extraordinary adventures on social media. However, the existing digital marketing literature offers little guidance on whether bragging is an effective communication strategy. The current research investigates the joint effect of bragging type (bragging vs. humblebragging) and reviewer expertise (low vs. high) on brand evaluation in the online review setting. The results show that when reviewer expertise is high, humblebragging leads to more favorable brand evaluation compared to bragging. However, the opposite is true when the review is posted by a non-expert. We further reveal that the impact of bragging type on brand evaluation is serially mediated through reviewer likability and benign envy. Implications for managing travel platforms are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Feier & Liu, Stephanie Q. & Mattila, Anna S., 2020. "Bragging and humblebragging in online reviews," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:80:y:2020:i:c:s0160738319302063
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2019.102849
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738319302063
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.annals.2019.102849?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Filieri, Raffaele, 2016. "What makes an online consumer review trustworthy?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 46-64.
    2. Paolacci, Gabriele & Chandler, Jesse & Ipeirotis, Panagiotis G., 2010. "Running experiments on Amazon Mechanical Turk," Judgment and Decision Making, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(5), pages 411-419, August.
    3. Aradhna Krishna & Rohini Ahluwalia, 2008. "Language Choice in Advertising to Bilinguals: Asymmetric Effects for Multinationals versus Local Firms," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(4), pages 692-705, August.
    4. Fang, Bin & Ye, Qiang & Kucukusta, Deniz & Law, Rob, 2016. "Analysis of the perceived value of online tourism reviews: Influence of readability and reviewer characteristics," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 498-506.
    5. Cheng, Yi-Hsiu & Ho, Hui-Yi, 2015. "Social influence's impact on reader perceptions of online reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 883-887.
    6. Grant, Stephanie M. & Hodge, Frank D. & Sinha, Roshan K., 2018. "How disclosure medium affects investor reactions to CEO bragging, modesty, and humblebragging," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 68, pages 118-134.
    7. Niels Van de Ven & Marcel Zeelenberg & Rik Pieters, 2011. "The Envy Premium in Product Evaluation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(6), pages 984-998.
    8. Lee, Seonjeong Ally & Oh, Haemoon, 2017. "Sharing travel stories and behavioral outcomes: A case of travel," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 147-158.
    9. Dellarocas, Chrysanthos, 2003. "The Digitization of Word-of-mouth: Promise and Challenges of Online Feedback Mechanisms," Working papers 4296-03, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    10. Chrysanthos Dellarocas, 2003. "The Digitization of Word of Mouth: Promise and Challenges of Online Feedback Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(10), pages 1407-1424, October.
    11. Singh, Jyoti Prakash & Irani, Seda & Rana, Nripendra P. & Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Saumya, Sunil & Kumar Roy, Pradeep, 2017. "Predicting the “helpfulness” of online consumer reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 346-355.
    12. Sparks, Beverley A. & Browning, Victoria, 2011. "The impact of online reviews on hotel booking intentions and perception of trust," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1310-1323.
    13. Nikolay Archak & Anindya Ghose & Panagiotis G. Ipeirotis, 2011. "Deriving the Pricing Power of Product Features by Mining Consumer Reviews," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1485-1509, August.
    14. Krasnova, Hanna & Wenninger, Helena & Widjaja, Thomas & Buxmann, Peter, 2013. "Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 61232, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    15. Shuqair, Saleh & Pinto, Diego Costa & Mattila, Anna S., 2019. "Benefits of authenticity: Post-failure loyalty in the sharing economy," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-1.
    16. Zaichkowsky, Judith Lynne, 1985. "Measuring the Involvement Construct," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 12(3), pages 341-352, December.
    17. Khare, Adwait & Labrecque, Lauren I. & Asare, Anthony K., 2011. "The Assimilative and Contrastive Effects of Word-of-Mouth Volume: An Experimental Examination of Online Consumer Ratings," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 111-126.
    18. Pera, Rebecca & Viglia, Giampaolo & Grazzini, Laura & Dalli, Daniele, 2019. "When empathy prevents negative reviewing behavior," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 265-278.
    19. Ann Kronrod & Shai Danziger, 2013. ""Wii Will Rock You!" The Use and Effect of Figurative Language in Consumer Reviews of Hedonic and Utilitarian Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(4), pages 726-739.
    20. repec:cup:judgdm:v:5:y:2010:i:5:p:411-419 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Wu, Laurie & Shen, Han & Fan, Alei & Mattila, Anna S., 2017. "The impact of language style on consumers′ reactions to online reviews," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 590-596.
    22. Hajli, Nick & Wang, Yichuan & Tajvidi, Mina, 2018. "Travel envy on social networking sites," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 184-189.
    23. Sarah G. Moore, 2015. "Attitude Predictability and Helpfulness in Online Reviews: The Role of Explained Actions and Reactions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 42(1), pages 30-44.
    24. Uma R. Karmarkar & Zakary L. Tormala, 2010. "Believe Me, I Have No Idea What I'm Talking About: The Effects of Source Certainty on Consumer Involvement and Persuasion," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(6), pages 1033-1049, April.
    25. Sparks, Beverley A. & Perkins, Helen E. & Buckley, Ralf, 2013. "Online travel reviews as persuasive communication: The effects of content type, source, and certification logos on consumer behavior," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-9.
    26. Martin Hochmeister & Ulrike Gretzel & Hannes Werthner, 2013. "Destination Expertise in Online Travel Communities," Springer Books, in: Lorenzo Cantoni & Zheng (Phil) Xiang (ed.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2013, edition 127, pages 218-229, Springer.
    27. Lo, Iris Sheungting & McKercher, Bob, 2015. "Ideal image in process: Online tourist photography and impression management," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 104-116.
    28. Kock, Florian & Josiassen, Alexander & Assaf, A. George, 2019. "The xenophobic tourist," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 155-166.
    29. Xiang, Zheng & Gretzel, Ulrike, 2010. "Role of social media in online travel information search," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 179-188.
    30. Park, Sangwon & Nicolau, Juan L., 2015. "Asymmetric effects of online consumer reviews," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 67-83.
    31. Phillips, Paul & Zigan, Krystin & Santos Silva, Maria Manuela & Schegg, Roland, 2015. "The interactive effects of online reviews on the determinants of Swiss hotel performance: A neural network analysis," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 130-141.
    32. Rajagopal, 2015. "Social Psychology of Consumers," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Butterfly Effect in Competitive Markets, chapter 9, pages 223-247, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Su, Lujun & Tang, Binli & Nawijn, Jeroen, 2021. "How tourism activity shapes travel experience sharing: Tourist well-being and social context," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Raoofpanah, Iman & Zamudio, César & Groening, Christopher, 2023. "Review reader segmentation based on the heterogeneous impacts of review and reviewer attributes on review helpfulness: A study involving ZIP code data," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Feng, Wenting & Yang, Morgan X. & Yu, Irina Y., 2023. "From devil to angel: How being envied for luxury brand social media word of mouth discourages counterfeit purchases," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Babajide Abubakr Muritala & Maria-Victoria Sánchez-Rebull & Ana-Beatriz Hernández-Lara, 2020. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Online Reviews Research in Tourism and Hospitality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Sunyoung Hlee & Hanna Lee & Chulmo Koo, 2018. "Hospitality and Tourism Online Review Research: A Systematic Analysis and Heuristic-Systematic Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-27, April.
    3. Yani Wang & Jun Wang & Tang Yao, 2019. "What makes a helpful online review? A meta-analysis of review characteristics," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 257-284, June.
    4. Wu, Laurie & Shen, Han & Fan, Alei & Mattila, Anna S., 2017. "The impact of language style on consumers′ reactions to online reviews," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 590-596.
    5. Gökçe Esenduran & James A. Hill & In Joon Noh, 2020. "Understanding the Choice of Online Resale Channel for Used Electronics," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(5), pages 1188-1211, May.
    6. Floyd, Kristopher & Freling, Ryan & Alhoqail, Saad & Cho, Hyun Young & Freling, Traci, 2014. "How Online Product Reviews Affect Retail Sales: A Meta-analysis," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 217-232.
    7. Zajadacz Alina & Minkwitz Aleksandra, 2020. "Using Social Media Data to Plan for Tourism," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 39(3), pages 125-138, September.
    8. Zhu, Yongmin & Liu, Miaomiao & Zeng, Xiaohua & Huang, Pei, 2020. "The effects of prior reviews on perceived review helpfulness: A configuration perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 484-494.
    9. Raffaele Filieri & Elisabetta Raguseo & Claudio Vitari, 2018. "When are extreme ratings more helpful? Empirical evidence on the moderating effects of review characteristics and product type," Post-Print halshs-01923243, HAL.
    10. Filieri, Raffaele & Lin, Zhibin & Pino, Giovanni & Alguezaui, Salma & Inversini, Alessandro, 2021. "The role of visual cues in eWOM on consumers’ behavioral intention and decisions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 663-675.
    11. Ana B. Casado-Díaz & Leonor M. Pérez-Naranjo & Ricardo Sellers-Rubio, 2017. "Aggregate consumer ratings and booking intention: the role of brand image," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 11(3), pages 543-562, September.
    12. Verma, Sanjeev & Yadav, Neha, 2021. "Past, Present, and Future of Electronic Word of Mouth (EWOM)," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 111-128.
    13. Tao Lu & May Yuan & Chong (Alex) Wang & Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang, 2022. "Histogram Distortion Bias in Consumer Choices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8963-8978, December.
    14. Raffaele Filieri & Elisabetta Raguseo & Claudio Vitari, 2018. "When are extreme ratings more helpful? Empirical evidence on the moderating effects of review characteristics and product type," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) halshs-01923243, HAL.
    15. Baka, Vasiliki, 2016. "The becoming of user-generated reviews: Looking at the past to understand the future of managing reputation in the travel sector," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 148-162.
    16. Dominik Gutt & Jürgen Neumann & Steffen Zimmermann & Dennis Kundisch & Jianqing Chen, 2018. "Design of Review Systems - A Strategic Instrument to shape Online Review Behavior and Economic Outcomes," Working Papers Dissertations 42, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    17. Guha Majumder, Madhumita & Dutta Gupta, Sangita & Paul, Justin, 2022. "Perceived usefulness of online customer reviews: A review mining approach using machine learning & exploratory data analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 147-164.
    18. Agnieszka Zablocki & Bodo Schlegelmilch & Michael J. Houston, 2019. "How valence, volume and variance of online reviews influence brand attitudes," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 61-77, June.
    19. Ahani, Ali & Nilashi, Mehrbakhsh & Yadegaridehkordi, Elaheh & Sanzogni, Louis & Tarik, A. Rashid & Knox, Kathy & Samad, Sarminah & Ibrahim, Othman, 2019. "Revealing customers’ satisfaction and preferences through online review analysis: The case of Canary Islands hotels," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 331-343.
    20. Meek, Stephanie & Wilk, Violetta & Lambert, Claire, 2021. "A big data exploration of the informational and normative influences on the helpfulness of online restaurant reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 354-367.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:80:y:2020:i:c:s0160738319302063. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-tourism-research/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.