Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Volume 66, Issue -, Pages 54-65Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2017.06.007
Keywords
Review valence; Booking intention; Homophily theory; Demographic and preference similarity
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Funding
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- University of Macau [MYRG2015-00166-FBA]
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Due to the experiential nature of travel-related products, online reviews have become an increasingly popular information source in travel planning and have a profound effect on consumers' buying decisions, particularly in hotel booking. On the basis of homophily and similarity-attraction theory, we posit that review valence is positively related to consumers' hotel booking intentions, and expect this relationship to be moderated by surface- (demographic) and deep-level (preference) similarities. The findings from two experiments conducted in Germany and Macau indicate that review valence significantly affects hotel booking intention, and that reader-reviewer demographic similarity moderates this effect. This three-way interaction reveals a substituting moderation effect between demographic similarity and preference similarity. One practical implication is that travel websites should find methods of exposing users to reviews written by those with either similar demographic characteristics or preferences, which facilitate travelers' decision-making processes. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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