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Article
Publication date: 6 September 2018

Hsiu-Yuan Tsao, Ming-Yi Chen, Hao-Chiang Koong Lin and Yu-Chun Ma

The basic assumption is that there is a symmetric relationship between review valence and rating, but what if review valence and rating were linked asymmetrically? There are few…

1093

Abstract

Purpose

The basic assumption is that there is a symmetric relationship between review valence and rating, but what if review valence and rating were linked asymmetrically? There are few studies which have investigated the situations in which positive and negative online reviews exert different influences on ratings. This study considers brand strength as having an important moderating role because the average rating of existing reviews for a particular product is a heuristic cue for decision makers. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to argue that an asymmetric relationship between review content valence and numerical rating will depend on brand strength.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have conducted a sentiment analysis via text mining, using self-developed computer programs to retrieve a data set from the TripAdvisor website.

Findings

This study finds there is an asymmetric relationship between review valence (verbal) and numerical rating. The authors further find brand strength to have an important moderating role. For a stronger brand, negative review content will have a greater impact on numerical ratings than positive review content, while for a weaker brand, positive review content will have a greater impact on numerical ratings than negative review content.

Practical implications

Marketers could adopt sentiment analysis via text mining of online reviews as a valid measure or predictor of consumer satisfaction or numerical ratings. Strong brands should direct more attention to negative reviews, because in such reviews the negative impact transcends the positive. In contrast, weak brands should aim to exploit as many positive reviews as possible to minimize the impact of any negative reviews.

Originality/value

This study finds there is an asymmetric relationship between review valence (verbal) and numerical rating and considers brand strength to play an important moderating role. The authors have used real data from the TripAdvisor website, which allow people to express themselves in an unsolicited manner, and linked these with the results from the sentiment analysis.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 43 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 June 2020

Hsiu-Yuan Tsao, Ming-Yi Chen, Colin Campbell and Sean Sands

This paper develops a generalizable, machine-learning-based method for measuring established marketing constructs using passive analysis of consumer-generated textual data from…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper develops a generalizable, machine-learning-based method for measuring established marketing constructs using passive analysis of consumer-generated textual data from service reviews. The method is demonstrated using topic and sentiment analysis along dimensions of an existing scale: lodging quality index (LQI).

Design/methodology/approach

The method induces numerical scale ratings from text-based data such as consumer reviews. This is accomplished by automatically developing a dictionary from words within a set of existing scale items, rather a more manual process. This dictionary is used to analyze textual consumer review data, inducing topic and sentiment along various dimensions. Data produced is equivalent with Likert scores.

Findings

Paired t-tests reveal that the text analysis technique the authors develop produces data that is equivalent to Likert data from the same individual. Results from the authors’ second study apply the method to real-world consumer hotel reviews.

Practical implications

Results demonstrate a novel means of using natural language processing in a way to complement or replace traditional survey methods. The approach the authors outline unlocks the ability to rapidly and efficiently analyze text in terms of any existing scale without the need to first manually develop a dictionary.

Originality/value

The technique makes a methodological contribution by outlining a new means of generating scale-equivalent data from text alone. The method has the potential to both unlock entirely new sources of data and potentially change how service satisfaction is assessed and opens the door for analysis of text in terms of a wider range of constructs.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 April 2020

Sean Sands, Carla Ferraro, Colin Campbell and Hsiu-Yuan Tsao

Brands are increasingly considering the use of chatbots to supplement, or even replace, humans in service interactions. Like humans, chatbots can follow certain service scripts in…

4536

Abstract

Purpose

Brands are increasingly considering the use of chatbots to supplement, or even replace, humans in service interactions. Like humans, chatbots can follow certain service scripts in their encounters, which can subsequently determine the customer experience. Service scripts are verbal prescriptions that seek to standardize customer service interactions. However, while the role of service scripts is well documented, despite the increasing use of chatbots as a service mechanism, less is known about the effect, on consumers, of different service scripts presented during chatbot service encounters.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental scenario was developed to test the research hypotheses. Respondents were randomly allocated to scenarios representing a 2 (service interaction: human, chatbot) × 2 (service script: education, entertainment) design. A total of 262 US consumers constituted the final sample for the study.

Findings

The findings indicate that when employing an education script, a significant positive effect occurs for human service agents (compared to chatbots) in terms of both satisfaction and purchase intention. These effects are fully mediated by emotion and rapport, showing that the bonds developed through the close proximity to a human service agent elicit emotion and develop rapport, which in turn influence service outcomes. However, this result is present only when an educational script is used.

Originality

This paper contributes to the emerging service marketing literature on the use of digital services, in particular chatbots, in service interactions. We show that differences occur in key outcomes dependent on the type of service script employed (education or entertainment). For managers, this study indicates that chatbot interactions can be tailored (in script delivered) in order to maximize emotion and rapport and subsequently consumer purchase intention and satisfaction.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 December 2019

Hsiu-Yuan (Jody) Tsao, Colin L. Campbell, Sean Sands, Carla Ferraro, Alexis Mavrommatis and Steven (Qiang) Lu

This paper aims to develop a novel and generalizable machine-learning based method of measuring established marketing constructs through passive analysis of consumer-generated…

1013

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a novel and generalizable machine-learning based method of measuring established marketing constructs through passive analysis of consumer-generated textual data. The authors term this method scale-directed text analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The method first develops a dictionary of words related to specific dimensions of a construct that is used to assess textual data from any source for a specific meaning. The method explicitly recognizes both specific words and the strength of their underlying sentiment.

Findings

Results calculated using this new approach are statistically equivalent to responses to traditional marketing scale items. These results demonstrate the validity of the authors’ methodology and show its potential to complement traditional survey approaches to assessing marketing constructs.

Research limitations/implications

The method we outline relies on machine learning and thus requires either large volumes of text or a large number of cases. Results are reliable only at the aggregate level.

Practical implications

The method detail provides a means of less intrusive data collection such as through scraped social media postings. Alternatively, it also provides a means of analyzing data collected through more naturalistic methods such as open-response forms or even spoken language, both likely to increase response rates.

Originality/value

Scale-directed text analysis goes beyond traditional methods of conducting simple sentiment analysis and word frequency or percentage counts. It combines the richness of traditional textual and sentiment analysis with the theoretical structure and analytical rigor provided by traditional marketing scales, all in an automatic process.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 54 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2005

Hsiu‐Yuan Tsao, Leyland F. Pitt and Albert Caruana

Previous research has focused on identifying factors that influence buyers who uses price as a cue to quality. However, little work has been done to explain the theory of…

2170

Abstract

Previous research has focused on identifying factors that influence buyers who uses price as a cue to quality. However, little work has been done to explain the theory of association and the psychological processes behind the buyer’s price‐quality association. This study examines the process from a psychological perspective and examines some antecedent variables in the formation of a price‐quality inferential belief. Data is collected for two product categories among a sample of young respondents. Results show that (1) the link between perceptual and inferential belief about the price‐quality association is stronger when the perceptual belief is based on direct purchase experience rather than on advertising; (2) buyers that lack direct purchase experience of a product category tends to rely on advertising to form their inferential belief. Implications are discussed, limitations are noted and directions for future research are indicated.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

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