IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infott/v23y2021i2d10.1007_s40558-021-00201-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparing online travel review platforms as destination image information agents

Author

Listed:
  • Xinxin Guo

    (University of Eastern Finland)

  • Juho Pesonen

    (University of Eastern Finland)

  • Raija Komppula

    (University of Eastern Finland)

Abstract

Online travel reviews have been extensively used as an important data source in tourism research. Typically, data for online travel review research is collected only from one platform. However, drawing definite conclusions based on single platform analyses may thus produce biases and lead to erroneous conclusions and decisions. Therefore, this research verifies whether or not there are discrepancies and commonalities between different travel review platforms. In this study, five native Chinese travel review platforms were selected: Ctrip; Qyer; Mafengwo; Tuniu; and Qunar. Using a mixed content analysis method, the destination image of Finland was extracted from 10,197 travel reviews in Simplified Chinese as the destination image is a popular topic in online review research. Results show Finland’s destination image representation varies between Chinese travel review platforms. This discrepancy is especially prominent in the dimension of functional and mixed functional-psychological destination attributes. Significant theoretical contributions and managerial implications for the analysis of online travel reviews and destination image research are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinxin Guo & Juho Pesonen & Raija Komppula, 2021. "Comparing online travel review platforms as destination image information agents," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 159-187, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infott:v:23:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s40558-021-00201-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s40558-021-00201-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40558-021-00201-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40558-021-00201-w?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. Papathanassis, Alexis & Knolle, Friederike, 2011. "Exploring the adoption and processing of online holiday reviews: A grounded theory approach," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 215-224.
    2. Bing Pan & Conghui Zheng & Fuhua Song, 2019. "A comparison of the development of tourism information technologies between China and the United States," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-6, March.
    3. Assumpcio Huertas & Estela Marine-Roig, 2016. "User reactions to destination brand contents in social media," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 291-315, January.
    4. Estela Marine-Roig, 2017. "Measuring Destination Image through Travel Reviews in Search Engines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Zhang, Ye & Cole, Shu Tian, 2016. "Dimensions of lodging guest satisfaction among guests with mobility challenges: A mixed-method analysis of web-based texts," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 13-27.
    6. Llodrà-Riera, Isabel & Martínez-Ruiz, María Pilar & Jiménez-Zarco, Ana Isabel & Izquierdo-Yusta, Alicia, 2015. "A multidimensional analysis of the information sources construct and its relevance for destination image formation," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 319-328.
    7. Zhuang, Mengzhou & Cui, Geng & Peng, Ling, 2018. "Manufactured opinions: The effect of manipulating online product reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 24-35.
    8. Makoto Nakayama & Yun Wan, 2019. "Same sushi, different impressions: a cross-cultural analysis of Yelp reviews," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 181-207, June.
    9. Egbert Van der Zee & Dario Bertocchi, 2018. "Finding patterns in urban tourist behaviour: a social network analysis approach based on TripAdvisor reviews," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 153-180, December.
    10. Filieri, Raffaele & Alguezaui, Salma & McLeay, Fraser, 2015. "Why do travelers trust TripAdvisor? Antecedents of trust towards consumer-generated media and its influence on recommendation adoption and word of mouth," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 174-185.
    11. Estela Marine-Roig & Salvador Anton Clavé, 2016. "A detailed method for destination image analysis using user-generated content," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 341-364, January.
    12. 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.
    13. Shanshan Qi & Cora Un In Wong & Ning Chen & Jia Rong & Jiahua Du, 2018. "Profiling Macau cultural tourists by using user-generated content from online social media," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 217-236, December.
    14. Xiang, Zheng & Du, Qianzhou & Ma, Yufeng & Fan, Weiguo, 2017. "A comparative analysis of major online review platforms: Implications for social media analytics in hospitality and tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 51-65.
    15. Michela Fazzolari & Marinella Petrocchi, 2018. "A study on online travel reviews through intelligent data analysis," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 37-58, December.
    16. Judith A. Chevalier & Yaniv Dover & Dina MayzlinDina Mayzlin, 2018. "Channels of Impact: User Reviews When Quality Is Dynamic and Managers Respond," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(5), pages 688-709, September.
    17. Tseng, Chi & Wu, Bihu & Morrison, Alastair M. & Zhang, Jingru & Chen, Ying-chen, 2015. "Travel blogs on China as a destination image formation agent: A qualitative analysis using Leximancer," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 347-358.
    18. Lalicic, Lidija & Marine-Roig, Estela & Ferrer-Rosell, Berta & Martin-Fuentes, Eva, 2021. "Destination image analytics for tourism design: An approach through Airbnb reviews," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    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. Işkın Merve & Prentice Catherine & Eker Nuray & Şengel Ümit, 2024. "Understanding the Effects of Reservation Systems and Online Transaction Capacity on the Competitiveness of Travel Agencies," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 55-70.

    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. Ao Shen & Peng Wang & Yongyuan Ma, 2022. "When crowding‐in and when crowding‐out? The boundary conditions on the relationship between negative online reviews and online sales," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2016-2032, September.
    2. Zajadacz Alina & Minkwitz Aleksandra, 2020. "Using Social Media Data to Plan for Tourism," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 39(3), pages 125-138, September.
    3. Desa Karamehmedovic, 2019. "Cultural Tourists And The Sources Of Information," Economic Thought and Practice, Department of Economics and Business, University of Dubrovnik, vol. 28(2), pages 533-552, december.
    4. Estela Marine-Roig, 2019. "Destination Image Analytics Through Traveller-Generated Content," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-23, June.
    5. Román, Sergio & Riquelme, Isabel P. & Iacobucci, Dawn, 2023. "Fake or credible? Antecedents and consequences of perceived credibility in exaggerated online reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Wei Chen & Karen Xie & Jianwei Liu & Yong Liu, 2019. "How Incumbents Beat Disruptors? Evidence from Hotels’ Responses to Home-sharing Rivals," Working Papers 19-11, NET Institute.
    7. Hülya Karaman, 2021. "Online Review Solicitations Reduce Extremity Bias in Online Review Distributions and Increase Their Representativeness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4420-4445, July.
    8. Estela Marine-Roig & Eva Martin-Fuentes & Natalia Daries-Ramon, 2017. "User-Generated Social Media Events in Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-23, December.
    9. Josef Zelenka & Tracy Azubuike & Martina Pásková, 2021. "Trust Model for Online Reviews of Tourism Services and Evaluation of Destinations," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, March.
    10. 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.
    11. Uttara Ananthakrishnan & Davide Proserpio & Siddhartha Sharma, 2023. "I Hear You: Does Quality Improve with Customer Voice?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(6), pages 1143-1161, November.
    12. Carlson, Keith & Kopalle, Praveen K. & Riddell, Allen & Rockmore, Daniel & Vana, Prasad, 2023. "Complementing human effort in online reviews: A deep learning approach to automatic content generation and review synthesis," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 54-74.
    13. Erfan Rezvani & Christian Rojas, 2022. "Firm responsiveness to consumers' reviews: The effect on online reputation," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 898-922, November.
    14. Koc, Erdogan & Hatipoglu, Sercan & Kivrak, Oguzhan & Celik, Cemal & Koc, Kaan, 2023. "Houston, we have a problem!: The use of ChatGPT in responding to customer complaints," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Carolina Aldao & Tanja A. Mihalic, 2020. "New Frontiers in Travel Motivation and Social Media: The Case of Longyearbyen, the High Arctic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.
    16. Min-Pei Lin & Estela Marine-Roig & Nayra Llonch-Molina, 2022. "Gastronomy Tourism and Well-Being: Evidence from Taiwan and Catalonia Michelin-Starred Restaurants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-24, February.
    17. Sheng, Jie, 2019. "Being Active in Online Communications: Firm Responsiveness and Customer Engagement Behaviour," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 40-51.
    18. Radostina Prodanova, 2022. "Comparative Analysis of the Online Reputation of Class A and Class B Accommodation in Burgas," Izvestia Journal of the Union of Scientists - Varna. Economic Sciences Series, Union of Scientists - Varna, Economic Sciences Section, vol. 11(1), pages 120-129, April.
    19. Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp & João Romão, 2019. "Cultural Heritage Appraisal by Visitors to Global Cities: The Use of Social Media and Urban Analytics in Urban Buzz Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-21, June.
    20. Archana Yadav & Biswajit Patra & Tanmay Basu, 2024. "Modeling International Tourist Arrivals: An NLP Perspective," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 1-19, December.

    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:spr:infott:v:23:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s40558-021-00201-w. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.