TY - JOUR
T1 - The signaling effect of management response in engaging customers : a study of the hotel industry
AU - LI, Chunyu
AU - CUI, Geng
AU - PENG, Ling
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Hotels today actively respond to online reviews given their tremendous influence on travelers' decisions. Yet, the questions of how to respond to online reviews continue to baffle hotel managers. By focusing on prospective travelers, we propose the effective management response signals hotels' care for customers and quality of service. Particularly, we postulate the frequency, speed and length of response influence the effectiveness of signaling in reducing information asymmetry. Based on the large-scale field data from TripAdvisor, this study demonstrates that the frequency and speed of response significantly enhance travelers’ engagement as indicated by more reviews, higher average valence, more votes for helpfulness, and higher popularity ranking. Furthermore, the frequent and speedy response is more effective for budget (vs. premium) hotels. Thus, management response to online reviews serves as a critical channel of communication to engage customers.
AB - Hotels today actively respond to online reviews given their tremendous influence on travelers' decisions. Yet, the questions of how to respond to online reviews continue to baffle hotel managers. By focusing on prospective travelers, we propose the effective management response signals hotels' care for customers and quality of service. Particularly, we postulate the frequency, speed and length of response influence the effectiveness of signaling in reducing information asymmetry. Based on the large-scale field data from TripAdvisor, this study demonstrates that the frequency and speed of response significantly enhance travelers’ engagement as indicated by more reviews, higher average valence, more votes for helpfulness, and higher popularity ranking. Furthermore, the frequent and speedy response is more effective for budget (vs. premium) hotels. Thus, management response to online reviews serves as a critical channel of communication to engage customers.
KW - Customer engagement
KW - Hotel management
KW - Management response
KW - Online reviews
KW - Signaling
UR - http://commons.ln.edu.hk/sw_master/6200
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85016511164&doi=10.1016%2fj.tourman.2017.03.009&partnerID=40&md5=1a60168b445c2d9cafc2fa53dacdef0f
U2 - 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.03.009
DO - 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.03.009
M3 - Journal Article (refereed)
SN - 0261-5177
VL - 62
SP - 42
EP - 53
JO - Tourism Management
JF - Tourism Management
ER -