The phenomenon of online reviews - Digital headache or golden opportunity for the tourism sector?

Abstract

Technology has brought many opportunities to organisations in the tourism sector, for example, with regard to the efficiencies achieved by embracing self-service technologies (SSTs), such as self-check-in online and mobile restaurant apps. Equally, the nature of the online environment, in terms of its connectivity, immediacy, access to information and facility for real-time sharing and collaboration has resulted in a more empowered consumer. One manifestation of such consumer empowerment is the growing phenomenon of consumers who are embracing the internet as a means of reviewing and communicating their tourism experiences in the form of online reviews (Ong, 2012). Online reviews essentially constitute a form of word-of-mouth presented on the internet (Mangold and Smith, 2012) and in a consumer context, represent a form of peer-to-peer information whereby consumers seek to document and share their experiences with others, on a range of online platforms. These platforms include social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter,) blogs, company websites, consumer review sites (e.g. Trip Advisor, Expedia) and search engine sites (e.g. Google). The influence of online reviews can be traced to their facility for assisting consumers to develop a balanced understanding of a given product, to identify a suite of criteria for evaluating the product, to arrive at a specific product choice, and to reduce the perceived risk of making that choice (Liu, Karahanna and Watson, 2011). Critically, it has also been noted that the opinions of fellow customers are deemed to hold stronger credibility than information and communications emanating from companies (Simonson and Rosen, 2014; Sheth, 1999). However, whilst there is widespread awareness of the surge in consumer online reviews, the literature sounds a note of caution regarding how companies are responding to this phenomenon. For example, Simonson and Rosen (2014) caution that many companies are simply ignoring the trend whilst Mangold and Smith (2012) suggest that there is a large gap in the literature regarding which product categories are most impacted upon by online reviews. Elsewhere, Ong (2012) highlights that whilst a number of studies has focused on the influence of online reviews in the context of tangible goods such as books and electronic items, there is relatively little literature addressing how consumers use reviews in service sectors. To that end, this paper presents a research agenda for tourism operators by examining the key issues that should be considered when addressing the phenomenon of online reviews. Specifically, the issues are as follows: What are tourist user motivations for posting online reviews (e.g. assisting others, self-promotion, seeking to negotiate a better deal with the operator)? What online platforms do tourism operators need to monitor for such reviews (e.g. tourism-specific sites such as Trip Advisor, search engine sites such as Google)? Are consumers more likely to post positive or negative reviews? Interestingly, there is a suggestion in the literature that positive reviews tend to prevail far more so, than negative reviews online (e.g. East, Hammond and Wright, 2007). Are service providers ‘listening’ and changing their operational processes, particularly regarding negative reviews? If positive reviews serve as credible and influential sources of information about the tourism product, how is the tourism provider including such reviews in corporate/marketing communications? For example, to what extent is a positive review being promoted on the company’s website / in advertising materials? What are the implications for the consumer decision-making process (e.g. the relative importance of tourism reviews for well-known tourist brands versus newly established offerings)? Are online reviews serving to dilute the perception of the tourism brand’s value?