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Article
Publication date: 31 March 2020

Eva Martin-Fuentes, Juan Pedro Mellinas and Eduardo Parra-Lopez

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether different scales and ways to collect reviews and ratings found on online travel agencies (OTAs) can affect hotels, and whether…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether different scales and ways to collect reviews and ratings found on online travel agencies (OTAs) can affect hotels, and whether hotels obtain the same or different evaluations.

Design/methodology/approach

Hotel ratings from five OTAs in four European markets were collected and compared in pairs. An initial comparison was made with the hotel scores of each OTA to show what a typical user would see. Then, a rescaled score (0-10) was used to compare all the OTA scales appropriately and to distinguish between what customers observe and what the reality is.

Findings

The results reveal that Booking.com that uses a scale (2.5-10) and Agoda with a scale (2-10) seem to give higher rating scores than Atrapalo (1-10), Travel Republic (0-10) and hotel reservation service (1-10). However, when the scores are rescaled (0-10), the worst ratings are found on Booking.com followed by Agoda.

Practical implications

OTAs should include, next to the scores, the scale used to rate hotels so as to provide users with better and clearer information. Moreover, rating questionnaires should match the verbal denominations with their numerical values to avoid biased ratings.

Social implications

OTAs and hotel managers are losing information provided by customers because customers are not aware of the scale when rating hotels. Moreover, hotel ratings are used by potential customers to obtain a clearer image of an establishment. However, if some hotels are being overrated by some scales, customers might have higher expectations, which may not be met.

Originality/value

The unique rating scales of Booking.com and Agoda provide additional insights into their hotel evaluations, which seem to be apparently higher when in fact they are not.

在线旅行评论评分量表及其对酒店得分和竞争力的影响

摘要

目的

这项研究旨在研究在线旅行社(OTA)上评论和评级的不同量表和方式是否会影响酒店获得的评估。

设计/方法/方法

本研究收集并比较了来自四个欧洲市场中五个OTA的酒店等级数据。研究首先对每个OTA的酒店得分进行了比较, 以显示一般用户会看到的内容。然后研究使用重新缩放的得分(0-10)来恰当地比较所有OTA的酒店等级, 并区分顾客观察到的内容和现实。

结果

结果显示, Booking.com使用的量表(2.5-10)和Agoda的量表(2-10), 似乎高于Atrapalo(1-10), Travel Republic(0-10)和 hotel reservation service (1-10)的评分。但是, 当分数重新调整为(0-10)时, 最差的评分是在Booking.com上, 其次是Agoda。

实际含义

OTA应在评分旁边注明用于对酒店进行评分的量表, 以便为用户提供更好, 更清晰的信息。此外, 评级问卷应使评价描述与其数值相匹配, 以避免评级出现偏差。

社会影响

OTA和酒店经理正在丢失客户所提供的信息, 因为客户在对酒店进行评级时并不了解其使用的量表。此外, 潜在客户使用酒店评级来获得更清晰的企业形象。但是, 如果某些酒店被某些网站的评级量表高估, 那么客户可能会有偏高的期望, 而这些期望可能无法被满足。

创意/价值

Booking.com和Agoda的独特评分等级标准为酒店提供了更多见解, 而实际上酒店的情况可能并非如此。

Las escalas de calificación de las opiniones de los viajes online y sus efectos en la valoración y competitividad de los hoteles.

Propósito

El objetivo de esta investigación es determinar si las diferentes escalas y formas de recopilar opiniones y valoraciones de las Agencias de Viajes Online (OTAs), pueden afectar a si los hoteles tienen las mismas o distintas calificaciones.

Diseño/metodología/enfoque

Las calificaciones de hoteles de cinco OTAs en cuatro mercados europeos, se recopilaron y compararon por pares. Se realizó una comparación inicial con las puntuaciones de los hoteles de cada OTA, para mostrar lo que vería un usuario típico. Luego, se utilizó una puntuación de reescalado (0-10), para comparar todas las escalas de las OTAs de manera apropiada y así poder diferenciar entre lo que los clientes observan y lo que es en realidad.

Resultados

Los resultados revelan que Booking.com, que utiliza una escala (2.5-10) y Agoda con una escala (2-10), parecen puntuar con calificaciones más altas que Atrapalo (1-10), Travel Republic (0-10) y hotel reservation service (1-10). Sin embargo, cuando se vuelven a escalar las puntuaciones (0-10), las peores calificaciones se encuentran en Booking.com, seguida de Agoda.

Implicaciones prácticas

Las OTAs deben incluir, junto a las puntuaciones, la escala utilizada para calificar los hoteles a fin de proporcionar a los usuarios una información mayor y más clara. Además, los cuestionarios de calificación deben hacer coincidir las denominaciones verbales con sus valores numéricos para evitar calificaciones sesgadas.

Implicaciones sociales

Por un lado las OTAs y los gerentes de hoteles, están perdiendo información proporcionada por los clientes, porque los clientes no son conscientes del tipo de escala utilizada cuando califican los hoteles. Por otro lado, los clientes potenciales utilizan las calificaciones de los hoteles para obtener una imagen más clara de un establecimiento. Por lo que en muchos casos, los clientes pueden tener expectativas más altas, que pueden no cumplirse, si los hoteles están siendo sobrevalorados por algunas escalas.

Originalidad/valor

Las escalas de calificación únicas de Booking.com y Agoda, brindan información adicional sobre las evaluaciones de sus hoteles que parecen ser aparentemente más altas cuando en realidad no lo son.

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2018

Eva Martin-Fuentes and Juan Pedro Mellinas

The purpose of this paper is to know which hotels mostly rely on Booking.com, investigating the level of presence on Booking.com around the world by country, hotel size, hotel…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to know which hotels mostly rely on Booking.com, investigating the level of presence on Booking.com around the world by country, hotel size, hotel category and managerial form. Neither the company nor the hotels provide this information, so the authors use the number of reviews as an indicator of estimated sales.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 33,996 hotels worldwide are downloaded from Booking.com using a Web browser automatically controlled, developed in Python, that simulated a user navigation (clicks and selections). The comparison between independent hotels and hotels belonging to a chain is performed by a Student’s t distribution test and the comparison of hotel categories and hotel size is analyzed by a one-way ANOVA test.

Findings

The results show that three factors clearly influence the usage level of Booking.com: independent vs chain hotels, small vs large hotels and low vs high category hotels worldwide. The authors also observe that hotels from Europe are the ones that rely more on Booking.com.

Originality/value

The originality of this research is to identify the factors that make hotels to have a greater (lesser) dependence on Booking.com within each destination and geographical area. Moreover, the use of big data from hotels worldwide allows the authors to know the level of use of Booking.com in dozens of countries, especially those with the highest tourist activity. This work expands the capabilities of big data in the hospitality industry research, and with a simple ratio, this study counteracts the lack of public data on hotel sales through Booking.com. This new approach could be extended to the analysis of other online travel agencies (OTAs), which use similar review systems.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 73 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2019

Juan Pedro Mellinas and Sofia Reino

Evidence suggests that electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) plays a highly influential role in decision-making when booking hotel rooms. The number of online sources where consumers…

Abstract

Purpose

Evidence suggests that electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) plays a highly influential role in decision-making when booking hotel rooms. The number of online sources where consumers can obtain information on hotel ratings provided has grown exponentially. Hence, a number of companies have developed average scores to summarize this information and to make it more easily available to consumers. Furthermore, official star rating schemes are starting to provide these commercially developed average scores to complement the information their schemes offer. The purpose of this paper is to examine the robustness of these systems.

Design/methodology/approach

Average scores from different systems, and the scores provided by one rating site were collected for 200 hotels and compared.

Findings

Findings suggested important differences in the ratings and assigned descriptive word across websites.

Research limitations/implications

The results imply that the application of average scores by official organizations is not legitimate and identifies a research gap in the area of consumer and star rating standardization.

Originality/value

The paper is of value to the industry and academia related to the examination of rating scales adopted by major online review tourism providers. Evidence of malpractice has been identified and the adoption of this type of scales by official star rating schemes is questioned.

研究目的

事实证明线上口碑效应(eWOM)在酒店房间预定决策中占有重要位置。消费者能够获取的酒店评定的在线资源已经显著增长。因此, 一些公司已经研发出一套均值评定技术来整合这些信息, 为消费者提供更容易掌握的信息资源。此外, 官方星级评级策略已经开始通过这些商家开发的均值整合技术来完善其星级评定结果。这也就导向了对这些评定系统的科学性提出疑问, 本论文旨在解决这方面的研究。

研究设计/方法/途径

研究样本包括200家酒店的不同系统均值信息和同一评定网站的评定信息。本论文对其两种来源的评定信息进行了对比。

研究结果

研究发现不同网站的评级和给与的描述语言差别很大。

研究理论限制/意义

研究结果表明采用官方机构指定的均值整合系统并不是合理的, 并指出了消费者和星级评定标准方面的研究有着很大的理论缺口。

研究原创性/价值

本论文对于行业和学术界在大型在线旅游评价网站提供的评定信息方面有很重要的价值。研究事实表明行业错误规范真正存在, 对于采用官方星级评定系统的这种评价存在质疑。

关键词

关键词 eWOM、酒店、均值评定、星级评定系统、在线评论

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9880

Keywords

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