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Do Hotel Responses Matter?: A Comprehensive Perspective on Investigating Online Reviews

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  • Wenlong Liu

    (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China)

  • Rongrong Ji

    (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China)

Abstract

This article aims to examine how hotel responses to online reviews influence how potential consumers perceived the helpfulness of the online reviews. Response length and voice were employed to measure the hotel's response quality. 637 reviews with responses were used for empirical analysis. The study identified three different types of response voices: disputed voice, professional voice, and empathetic voice. The results show that both response length and response voice have significant effects on the helpfulness perceived by potential consumers. Moreover, they also have some interaction effects with star ratings, review length, and review image. This study suggests that hotels should strategically respond to both positive and negative online reviews so as to both create a positive interaction atmosphere and resolve consumer complaints. The findings of this study can, to some extent, help manage word of mouth reputations.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenlong Liu & Rongrong Ji, 2019. "Do Hotel Responses Matter?: A Comprehensive Perspective on Investigating Online Reviews," Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ), IGI Global, vol. 32(3), pages 70-89, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:igg:rmj000:v:32:y:2019:i:3:p:70-89
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Davide Proserpio & Georgios Zervas, 2017. "Online Reputation Management: Estimating the Impact of Management Responses on Consumer Reviews," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(5), pages 645-665, September.
    2. Yuanfeng Cai & Dan Zhu, 2016. "Fraud detections for online businesses: a perspective from blockchain technology," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. van Noort, Guda & Willemsen, Lotte M., 2012. "Online Damage Control: The Effects of Proactive Versus Reactive Webcare Interventions in Consumer-generated and Brand-generated Platforms," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 131-140.
    4. Pan, Yue & Zhang, Jason Q., 2011. "Born Unequal: A Study of the Helpfulness of User-Generated Product Reviews," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 598-612.
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    Cited by:

    1. Saram Han & Christopher K. Anderson & Kyunghwa Chung, 2023. "Do managerial communications improve customer satisfaction and eWOM? The moderating effect of response authenticity," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Wenlong Liu & Rongrong Ji & Chen (Peter) Nian & Kisang Ryu, 2020. "Identifying the Types and Impact of Service Provider’s Responses to Online Negative Reviews in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from B&Bs in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Liebrecht, Christine & Tsaousi, Christina & van Hooijdonk, Charlotte, 2021. "Linguistic elements of conversational human voice in online brand communication: Manipulations and perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 124-135.

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