One experience and multiple reviews: the case of upscale US hotels

Purpose – The present study aimed to understand the relationships between the various kinds of feedback received by hospitality operators. Information from guests, experts, and internal sources are often received, valued, and processed in various ways. The researchers sought to further explore the usage of such feedback and implications for theory and practice.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was sent to hotel general managers of four‐ and five‐diamond properties around the USA using the listing of the American Automobile Association (AAA). A total of 140 responses were received. The researchers utilized correlations and canonical correlation analysis to help understand the relationships among the variables.Findings – The results of the study revealed moderate to strong correlations between improvement in consumer‐generated feedback and customer satisfaction; between improvement in AAA ratings and customer satisfaction and mystery shopping scores. There were also moderate to high correlations among ...

[1]  Kathy Hammond,et al.  Measuring the impact of positive and negative word of mouth on brand purchase probability , 2008 .

[2]  Hokey Min,et al.  Benchmarking the quality of hotel services: managerial perspectives , 1997 .

[3]  B. Sparks,et al.  The impact of online reviews on hotel booking intentions and perception of trust. , 2011 .

[4]  Cynthia M. Webster,et al.  Word-Of-Mouth Communications: a Motivational Analysis , 1998 .

[5]  Andrew Lockwood,et al.  Understanding the challenges of implementing best practices in hospitality and tourism SMEs , 2006 .

[6]  Hokey Min,et al.  Dynamic benchmarking of hotel service quality , 2002 .

[7]  Lou-Hon Sun,et al.  Taiwan's Hotel Rating System , 2007 .

[8]  Anastasia A. Katou,et al.  The impact of HRM practices on organisational performance in the Indian hotel industry , 2007 .

[9]  Judy A. Siguaw,et al.  Revisiting the Best of the Best: Innovations in Hotel Practice , 2003 .

[10]  Judy A. Siguaw,et al.  Best practices in service quality. , 2000 .

[11]  Nigel Slack,et al.  Operations management , 1994 .

[12]  S. Sénécal,et al.  The influence of online product recommendations on consumers' online choices , 2004 .

[13]  B. Gu,et al.  The impact of online user reviews on hotel room sales , 2009 .

[14]  Ravi S. Behara,et al.  Benchmarking field services using a zero defects approach , 1997 .

[15]  M. Yasin,et al.  The role of benchmarking in achieving continuous service quality , 1995 .

[16]  Edwin N. Torres,et al.  From customer satisfaction to customer delight: Creating a new standard of service for the hotel industry , 2013 .

[17]  Juan José Tarí,et al.  TQM, managerial factors and performance in the Spanish hotel industry , 2008, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[18]  Yeamduan Narangajavana,et al.  The Relationship Between the Hotel Rating System, Service Quality Improvement, and Hotel Performance Changes: A Canonical Analysis of Hotels in Thailand , 2008 .

[19]  Wei Wei,et al.  Customer engagement behaviors and hotel responses , 2013 .

[20]  J. Beck,et al.  Mystery Shopping in Lodging Properties as a Measurement of Service Quality , 2003 .

[21]  Aleksandra Grobelna,et al.  Measurement of Service Quality in the Hotel Sector: The Case of Northern Poland , 2013 .

[22]  Roger Williams,et al.  The importance of user‐generated content: the case of hotels , 2010 .

[23]  I. Vermeulen,et al.  Tried and tested: The impact of online hotel reviews on consumer consideration , 2009 .

[24]  R. J. Callan.  Hotel award schemes as a measurement of service quality—an assessment by travel industry journalists as surrogate consumers , 1990 .

[25]  Timothy R. Hinkin,et al.  The Service-Quality AuditA Hotel Case Study , 1996 .

[26]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. , 1988 .

[27]  Stephen Burgess,et al.  The Role of User-Generated Content in Tourists' Travel Planning Behavior , 2009 .

[28]  Alan Wilson,et al.  Hospitality and Travel , 2012 .

[29]  Hyun Jeong Kim.  Service Orientation, Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty: Testing a Structural Model , 2011 .

[30]  P. O'Connor.  Managing a Hotel's Image on TripAdvisor , 2010 .

[31]  Fernando Jaramillo,et al.  Examining the Impact of Service Quality: A Meta-Analysis of Empirical Evidence , 2009 .

[32]  Yeasun K. Chung,et al.  The impact of social media on destination branding , 2012 .

[33]  Ahmed Abbas,et al.  An investigation of the adoption and implementation of benchmarking , 2010 .

[34]  R. McGaughey.  Benchmarking business‐to‐business electronic commerce , 2002 .

[35]  Paulo Rita,et al.  A service quality evaluation scale for the hospitality sector: dimensions, attributes and behavioural intentions , 2010 .

[36]  S. Jang,et al.  Restaurant experiences triggering positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) motivations. , 2011 .

[37]  Ton Van der Wiele,et al.  Mystery shopping: A tool to develop insight into customer service provision , 2004 .

[38]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Measuring Service Quality: A Reexamination and Extension , 1992 .

[39]  Doris Schmallegger,et al.  Blogs in tourism: Changing approaches to information exchange , 2008 .

[40]  Wen-Min Lu,et al.  Performance Benchmarking For Taiwan’s International Tourist Hotels , 2006 .

[41]  M. Mason,et al.  A Conceptualization of the Relationships Between Quality, Satisfaction, Behavioral Intention, and Awareness of a Festival , 2013 .

[42]  Andrew J. Spencer,et al.  Hospitality quality: new directions and new challenges , 2011 .

[43]  Angelika Dimoka,et al.  The Nature and Role of Feedback Text Comments in Online Marketplaces: Implications for Trust Building, Price Premiums, and Seller Differentiation , 2006, Inf. Syst. Res..

[44]  I. Wong,et al.  Examining Casino Service Quality in the Asian Las Vegas: An Alternative Approach , 2010 .

[45]  Michael L. Kasavana,et al.  Online social networking: redefining the human web , 2010 .

[46]  Bonnie J. Knutson,et al.  Service Quality as a Component of the Hospitality Experience: Proposal of a Conceptual Model and Framework for Research , 2010 .

[47]  Q. Ye,et al.  The impact of e-word-of-mouth on the online popularity of restaurants: a comparison of consumer reviews and editor reviews. , 2010 .

[48]  Beng Soo Ong,et al.  The Perceived Influence of User Reviews in the Hospitality Industry , 2012 .