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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how hotels respond to online reviews on a third-party Web site (such as TripAdvisor) based on the hotel’s star rating.

Content analysis was used to compare responses to online hotel reviews at five different levels of hotel based on a star-rating system ranging from one star to five stars.

Most hotel managers’ response rates were low, and they paid the most attention to positive comments. Managers at four- and five-star hotels more often responded to negative online reviews. Guest service manager was the most common job title of managers who responded to guests’ reviews.

This paper is limited to an analysis of ten hotels, two for each of the five-star ratings. More hotel cases with long-term data collection involving the use of the star-rating system may provide more insights on this discussion.

The exploratory study sought to identify strategies for managing online reviews in the lodging industry. Hotel managers should respond to negative online reviews with appreciation, apology and an explanation of what went wrong. Moreover, hotels may need a designated person to observe and respond to guest comments on their Web sites and third-party Web sites. A designated person is also needed to monitor online comments and communicate with guests to better manage the hotel’s online reputation.

As an exploratory research project, this paper expands the understanding of hotel managers’ responses to their guests’ online reviews in an attempt to identify best practices for the industry.

The purpose of this study is, first, to determine which developments have shaped official hotel classification systems over recent years (including the impact of guest-review platforms) and second to establish the future of those systems through the eyes of the people who are actually in charge of operating them.

Semi-structured interviews were chosen as the most suitable method for approaching hotel classification system administrators. This method is in line with previous research on approaching key informants in their respective fields. Sixteen people representing 12 different official national hotel classification systems from across the world as well as one commercial hotel star rating system participated in the online interviews.

The first main conclusion is that hotel classification systems – especially voluntary ones – would not have survived the enormous impact of guest-review platforms without quickly adjusting to the ever-changing hotel industry landscape. The frequent review of classification criteria and procedures has become the main survival strategy of classification systems. The second conclusion is that system operators are strongly optimistic about the future outlook of hotel classification based on their proven flexibility to swiftly adapt to new market conditions.

Research about hotel classification systems is usually based on the views of the systems' users, i.e. hotels or hotel guests, whereas the present paper reflects the perspective of the systems' operators, an angle rarely analyzed in the literature.

This paper aims to understand how guests’ trip purpose and hotel star rating influence the effects of the value for money perceived at hotels and service quality on guest satisfaction and word of mouth (WOM) recommendation.

Using TripAdvisor, 25 Singaporean hotels were randomly selected for the study, which yielded hotel reviews from 2,040 respondents. Hierarchical and logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationships proposed in the study.

Results indicate significant differences between leisure and business guests’ perception of value for money and service quality at hotels with various star ratings. While perceived value for money and service quality were found as significant predictors for both leisure and business guests’ satisfaction and WOM, the effects were moderated by the hotel star rating. Despite the significant effect of hotel star rating on guest satisfaction, the study found no significant relationships between hotel star rating and WOM for leisure and business guests.

The findings suggest that managers in the hotel industry should understand the purpose of guests’ trip and offer services based on their expectations. As the star rating of a hotel creates certain expectations for both leisure and business guests, providing an appropriate level of services and assuring value for money in accordance with the hotel rating contributes to guest satisfaction and WOM recommendation.

This study contributes to the hospitality literature by investigating how hotel star rating moderates the relationship of value for money and service quality on leisure and business guests’ satisfaction and WOM recommendation.

This paper aims to examine hotel star ratings on selected third‐party distribution websites, taking Hong Kong hotels as the sample.

Star rating information from 11 online distribution websites was retrieved and analyzed for all hotels in Hong Kong.

About 60 percent of the hotels were found on at least six of the selected distribution channels, and only 24 percent of the hotels have consistent star rating across different distribution channels. Results of data analysis indicated that consistent star rating becomes more difficult to maintain as the number of distribution channels used increases.

Findings of the study are limited to the selected hotels and electronic distribution channels. Still, the online distribution channels represent some of the most widely used electronic distribution channels.

Findings of this research will be of use to hotel managers and guests for better understanding the standard, in terms of star ratings, of hotels.

Despite the importance of hotel star ratings on consumers and the hotel industry, prior studies in the existing hospitality literature rarely examined the difference of hotel stars. This novel study should, thus, make a meaningful contribution to knowledge development.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate new methods of examining structural differences among segmented markets beyond comparing merely univariate variable mean scores, so as to help marketers and researchers gain better insights into segment differences for meaningful strategy development.

A comprehensive dataset covering various lodging market segments was constructed from Tripadvisor.com. The data then were sorted into lodging customer segments by star rating, type of operation, and level of price charged. Structural equation modeling with the −2 log‐likelihood difference test was conducted to illustrate how effectively the differences, if any, of market segments could be assessed in contrast to the traditional mean‐score comparison approach.

Guest satisfaction was influenced by the same performance variable to the same magnitude and direction across different lodging segments examined. Such stability in the amount of influence of performance on guest satisfaction was true even in the fact that the variable mean scores were significantly different across the market segments.

The traditional approach to examining segment differences via univariate mean scores could be one set of results, while the effect‐based difference assessments in this paper resulted in another. Developing marketing strategies based on the effect‐based segment differences, as illustrated in this paper, is considered more effective than the traditional mean‐based approach. One limitation of this paper could be use of a secondary dataset with limited scope of the model employed for an illustrative purpose. Another limitation is that the sample characteristics are unknown due to the nature of a secondary dataset. The examination of the market segments was also limited to those based on only three popular variables.

The paper is a fresh attempt to examine market segment differences through the effect of one variable on another. The paper advances the methods of hospitality and tourism research for examining segment differences beyond the traditional univariate mean‐based examination approach. The methodological illustration is applicable to a vast majority of different theoretical frameworks known in the hospitality and tourism field. Use of the assessment method illustrated in this paper also requires future market segmentation studies to rely more on theories than data.

Building on the three-factor theory, this study aims to unravel how the role of hotel attributes such as basic, excitement and performance factors could differ in accordance with different hotel star ratings and distinct customer segments.

This study explores the asymmetric effects of hotel attributes on customer satisfaction by extracting 412,784 consumer-generated reviews from TripAdvisor across different cities in China.

By taking into account the origins of customers and hotel star ratings, the study uncovers that guests’ expectations of hotel performance differ with respect to their origins (domestic and international guests) and the star ratings of the hotels being reviewed, thereby moderating the asymmetric impact of hotel attributes on customer satisfaction.

The study compares and contrasts the determinants of customer satisfaction for domestic and international guests in the context of Chinese hotels. Care should still be exercised when generalizing the insights gleaned from this study to other contexts.

The findings from this study translate into actionable guidelines for hotel operators to make informed decisions regarding service improvement.

The study extends previous work by offering a deeper understanding of the asymmetric impact of hotel attributes on customer satisfaction. Specifically, this study provides a deep understanding of the different hotel attributes such as basic, performance and excitement factors in explaining customer satisfaction among different hotel customer segments. Findings from this study can not only inform hotel operators on the significance of various hotel attributes in determining customer satisfaction but also guide the formulation of business strategies to retain customers by inducing delight and not frustration.

This study aims to investigate the relationships between service quality, perceived value and hotel guest satisfaction, drawing upon data from TripAdvisor – an online travel agent (OTA) platform. The study also investigates the mediating role of perceived value on the relationship between service quality and satisfaction, as well as the moderating role of hotel star ratings on all direct and indirect relationships.

Data for this study were collected via Web scraping from August–October 2018. Data were collected from 192 three- to five star-rated hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Partial least squares – structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Furthermore, importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) was performed to identify the most important items of service quality and perceived value in improving customer satisfaction.

The findings of this study provide support for all direct and indirect relationships for three-star and four- and five-star hotels. Moreover, the results indicate that perceived value mediates the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. These results support the moderating role of hotel star ratings for the relationship between service quality and perceived value. The results also show that after perceived value, three-star hotels looking to improve customer satisfaction should prioritize improving the quality of their services, sleep quality, cleanliness and rooms. Four- and five-star hotels, on the other hand, should prioritize service, cleanliness, room and sleep quality.

OTA platforms collect a wealth of data pertaining to large number of hotels; nevertheless, few studies to date have drawn on this data to examine a pre-determined conceptual framework developed based on the literature. As such, this study makes a valuable methodological contribution to the tourism and hospitality literature. In terms of theoretical contributions, this study examines the mediating role of perceived value between service quality and satisfaction using OTA data. In addition, this study assesses the moderating role of hotel star ratings for the direct and indirect effects of service quality on satisfaction. Using IPMA, this study compares the importance and performance of service quality indicators to generate satisfaction between three-star and four- and five-star hotels.

本论文检测了服务质量、价值感知、和酒店顾客满意度之间的关系, 使用TripAdvisor的数据—OTA。本论文还检测了价值感知对服务质量和满意度之间的中介作用, 以及酒店星级评价对其中直接和间接关系的调节作用。.

本论文采样通过网络爬虫技术, 截取了2018年八月至十月之间的数据。研究样本为192家马来西亚Kuala Lumpur地区的三星-五星酒店。样本分析方法为PLS-SEM。此外, 本论文采样IPMA分析法来找出提高顾客满意度中的服务质量和价值感知中最重要的因子。.

研究结果指出了三星、四星、五星酒店的直接和间接关系。此外, 研究还显示了服务质量和顾客满意度关系的价值感知中介作用。研究结果还指出了酒店星级评价对服务质量和价值感知关系的调节作用。此外, 研究还指出, 除了价值感知, 如果三星酒店想提高顾客满意度, 那么他们应该优先提高其服务质量、睡眠质量、清洁度、和房间。另一方面, 四星和五星酒店应该优先提高其服务质量、清洁度、房间、和睡眠质量。.

OTA平台搜集大量酒店数据, 但是很少作品研究这些数据, 以检测根据文献提出的理论模型。因此, 本论文在方法论上对旅游酒店文献做出宝贵贡献。理论贡献而言, 本论文使用OTA数据检测了价值感知对服务质量和满意度关系之间的中介作用。此外, 本论文检测了酒店星级评价对服务质量和满意度之间直接和间接关系的调节作用。本论文使用IPMA方法, 比较各种服务质量指标的重要性对在三星、四星、五星酒店的提高满意度的不同作用。.

From experiences recollections, this study aims to explore the place of emotions in the souvenir’s step of the family consumption process of luxury hotels stays.

To explore the emotional dimension, this exploratory research is based on a triple qualitative approach (software, manual and a psychology-based approach). In total, 1,055 e-reviews, following a family stay in four- and five-star hotels, were collected.

The findings highlight an omnipresent emotional dimension in the recollections of experiences of consumers who have travelled with their families. These emotional traces differ according to the hotel’s positioning. Overall, positive emotions are much more prominent in the most luxurious hotels, while negative emotions are more related to the four-star hotels. Moreover, the four-star hotels reviews mainly associate emotions with the tangible aspects of the offer. Those in five-star hotels are more structured through intangible aspects.

The study of family decision-making dynamic, with a focus on the role of each family member, is a first perspective. That of experiences recollections apart from the digital approach is also to be considered.

On the one hand, the objective is to extend the literature about the role of emotions in a service consumption process, and especially in a family context, trying to understand the post-purchase step of these customers. On the other hand, it is interesting for hotel managers to identify to which aspects of the offer (e.g. comfort, room, catering, decoration) the emotional traces that have remained in the customers’ memory are associated.

This study considers the family unit in a new way, that of its emotional memories’ traces of luxury hotels experiences. The post-consumer stage of the purchase process based on many spontaneous online reviews analysis is investigated.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify the price sensitivity of consumers of three- and five-star hotels and to determine the impact of bundling strategies on consumers’ price sensitivity.

To calculate price sensitivity, authors apply the van Westendorp’s price sensitivity meter (PSM). To understand the impact of bundling strategies, univariate and bivariate techniques are applied.

PSM results reveal the optimal prices and the range of acceptable prices for three- and five-star hotel. The bundling strategy results reveal that five-star customers are less sensitive to mixed-leader bundling. Regarding mixed-joint bundling, managers could improve sales through bundling strategies if they selected an attractive service (e.g. restaurants).

Findings assist hotel managers to understand the different price sensitivities, according to the hotel typology. Managers can manage prices without the risk of losing market share or revenue. The results help managers in deciding which bundling strategies they can create, as well as the services to be included to achieve highest profitability.

No research to date to the best of the authors’ knowledge has attempted to understand and compare the role of bundling strategies in three- and five-stars hotels. Moreover, no research has attempted to measure and compare customers’ price sensitivity of three- and five-stars hotels.

The paper aims to find the preferences of different tourist type. Since, COVID-19 pandemic has brought the international hospitality industry to a standstill, there are some early signs of recovery. For this industry’s long-term recovery, the tourists’ changing preferences need to be analyzed. Moreover, with different types of tourists, a more nuanced and in-depth study is required to analyze the preferences of each tourist type.

The research focuses on the changing preferences of the tourist by comparatively analyzing the pre-COVID-19 and current COVID-19 phase. The study extracted online data from TripAdvisor and identified themes by applying Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA).

The study’s findings confirmed the change in preferences of the different types of tourists during the COVID-19 pandemic by performing thematic analysis. New themes emerged in the pandemic phase, providing more insights into tourists’ changing preferences in the current COVID-19 phase. The study also found that specific dominant themes in the pre-COVID-19 phase were replaced by new themes in the current COVID-19 phase.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to compare the pre-COVID-19 and current COVID-19 phase themes to decipher the new themes that managers of the hotels should consider to win back tourists’ confidence during the pandemic. The unraveling of changing preferences of the different tourist types in the current COVID-19 pandemic is the novel contribution of the study.

在 COVID-19 大流行期间改变游客对酒店业的偏好

COVID-19 大流行使国际酒店业陷入停顿。虽然有一些复苏的早期迹象, 但对于这个行业的长期复苏, 还需要分析游客不断变化的偏好。此外, 针对不同类型的游客, 需要进行更细致和深入的研究来分析每种游客类型的偏好。

该研究通过比较分析 COVID-19 之前和当前 COVID-19 阶段, 重点关注游客不断变化的偏好。该研究从 TripAdvisor 提取在线数据, 并通过应用隐含狄利克雷分布 (LDA) 确定主题。

该研究的调查结果通过进行主题分析证实了不同类型游客在 COVID-19 大流行期间偏好的变化。大流行阶段出现了新主题, 为游客在当前 COVID-19 阶段不断变化的偏好提供了更多见解。该研究还发现, COVID-19之前阶段的特定主导主题被当前 COVID-19 阶段的新主题所取代。

该研究首次比较了 COVID-19 之前和当前 COVID-19 阶段的主题, 从而为酒店管理者在大流行期间赢回游客的信心提供了应该考虑的新主题。研究发现在当前的 COVID-19 大流行中不同游客类型的偏好的变化是该研究的新贡献。