Aggregate consumer ratings and booking intention: the role of brand image

Ana B. Casado-Díaz (), Leonor M. Pérez-Naranjo () and Ricardo Sellers-Rubio ()
Additional contact information
Ana B. Casado-Díaz: University of Alicante
Leonor M. Pérez-Naranjo: University of Cordoba
Ricardo Sellers-Rubio: University of Alicante

Service Business, 2017, vol. 11, issue 3, No 5, 543-562

Abstract: Abstract The very nature of tourist services implies that consumers consider all available cues when making hotel bookings. Information obtained via the Internet is an especially important cue, and the findings of numerous studies highlight the importance of peer-generated information—electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)—in consumers’ decision-making processes. Along with eWOM, however, traditional marketing signals such as brand image and price still affect consumer behaviour. Thus, this study analyses the effect of eWOM (i.e. global hotel ratings) on purchase intention, considering the role of brand image. Two online scenario-based experiments designed using real information from TripAdvisor were conducted. The final sample comprised 260 participants. Variation in hotel ratings modified consumers’ purchase intentions, with brand image playing a significant role in this relationship. The effect of eWOM on consumer purchase intentions was higher (lower) for hotels with a poorer (better) brand image. The results of the analysis imply that price can potentially help to prevent the negative effect of poor ratings.

Keywords: Online consumer reviews; eWOM; Hotel brand; Booking intentions; Hospitality management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11628-016-0319-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:svcbiz:v:11:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11628-016-0319-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/business/journal/11628

DOI: 10.1007/s11628-016-0319-0

Access Statistics for this article

Service Business is currently edited by S.M. Lee and J. Millet Roig

More articles in Service Business from Springer, Pan-Pacific Business Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().