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The power of expert identity: How website-recognized expert reviews influence travelers' online rating behavior

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  • Zhang, Ziqiong
  • Zhang, Zili
  • Yang, Yang

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to study the effects of online user-generated “expert reviews” on travelers' behavior. After controlling for a large set of independent variables, the results show that as the number of expert reviews for a hotel increases, future traveler ratings for the hotel increase. However, the marginal effect of a greater number of expert reviews decreases. Further, as the reviewing expertise level of a traveler increases, the traveler posts more negative ratings, but the marginal effect of the level of reviewing expertise decreases. Our results also indicate that reviewing expertise can reinforce the positive effect of expert hotel reviews on travelers' rating behavior. The robustness of our results is confirmed by a Bayesian ordered logit model. Finally, the implications of the results are discussed in terms of research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Ziqiong & Zhang, Zili & Yang, Yang, 2016. "The power of expert identity: How website-recognized expert reviews influence travelers' online rating behavior," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 15-24.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:15-24
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2016.01.004
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    Cited by:

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    3. 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.
    4. Mariani, Marcello M. & Borghi, Matteo & Laker, Benjamin, 2023. "Do submission devices influence online review ratings differently across different types of platforms? A big data analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Girardin, Florent & Bezençon, Valéry & Lunardo, Renaud, 2021. "Dealing with poor online ratings in the hospitality service industry: The mitigating power of corporate social responsibility activities," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Pantano, Eleonora & Priporas, Constantinos-Vasilios & Stylos, Nikolaos, 2017. "‘You will like it!’ using open data to predict tourists' response to a tourist attraction," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 430-438.
    7. Natalia Rubio & Nieves Villaseñor & MªJesús Yagüe, 2020. "Sustainable Co-Creation Behavior in a Virtual Community: Antecedents and Moderating Effect of Participant’s Perception of Own Expertise," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, October.
    8. Essig, Richard A., 2024. "The preference for users to experts in the domain of online product ratings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    9. Raksmey Sann & Pei-Chun Lai & Hui-Chen Chang, 2020. "Does Culture of Origin Have an Impact on Online Complaining Behaviors? The Perceptions of Asians and Non-Asians," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-37, February.
    10. Carmela Iorio & Giuseppe Pandolfo & Antonio D’Ambrosio & Roberta Siciliano, 2020. "Mining big data in tourism," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 54(5), pages 1655-1669, December.

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