Evolution of communication policies at luxury hotels and their influence on guest ratings

Strategies for responding to online reviews, particularly their evolution over time, represent an important and scarcely analysed topic in hospitality research. To address this gap, we analysed the evolution of response policies over 2010–2018 and their impact on hotels’ online ratings. We analysed 82,025 reviews and 57,164 responses on TripAdvisor for 5-star hotels in the Canary Islands (Spain). The results showed an upward trend in the volume of responses given by hotels, which seem to be increasingly concerned about communication with their guests. Second, based on their level of commitment to their online communications (low, moderate or high), the evidence showed that high and moderately involved hotels had relatively unchanged policies, whereas low-involvement hotels tended to improve their policies. Third, the findings showed some connectivity between communication policy level and affiliation to chains, the geographical span of the chain, guest traveller type and the reviewers’ experience level. However, no significant correlation was found between hotel size and communication policies. Finally, the results indicated that a positive relationship exists between hotel communication policies and the ratings given by reviewers, suggesting that effort put into communication policies is not in vain, and that even low-involvement policies are positively evaluated by guests.