Impact of Online Reviews on Customer's Hotel Booking Decisions

Consumer Behaviour 0
Consumer Behaviour
Student’s Name
9/14/2019

Consumer Behaviour
1
Due to an increase in the growth of the tourism industry, the dependence on online reviews
has increased because it is considered as the most trustable source and directly affects the
performance measures of the hospitality industry (Solomon et al, 2014). It is analyzed that
77.9% customers consider the reviews for influencing the purchasing behaviour. It helps the
organizations to entice new customers and maintain the trustworthiness of existing customers.
The additional paragraphs of the essay will reflect upon the impact of online reviews on
customer’s hotel booking decisions. It will also cover the effect of online reviews on the
buying conduct of consumers and will reflect the degree of trust in online reviews (De Mooij,
2019).
Online reviews have developed as a powerful basis that affects the consumer’s pre-purchase
decisions. The consumers use internet to compare the pricing and the reviews of the
customers for choosing the holiday destinations (Murphy and Dweck, 2016). It is analyzed
that the youngsters consider the service attributes, average consumer ratings, positive and
negative reviews of the consumers. The B2C business has seen 17.5% growth. The valence
and the capacity of reviews majorly affect the decision of the consumers and affect the
growth of the business (Godey et al, 2016).
It is analyzed that online reviews create positive influence on the hotel industry because they
are able to attract consumers and converts passive travellers into lifelong buyer. Positive
customer reviews help in increasing the trust of the customers and developing positive
reputation of the brand. It allows the customers to fall for the brand and in turn increases the
sales of hospitality industry (Gavilan, Avello and Martinez-Navarro, 2018). It is analyzed that
68% of the hotels say that positive reviews allow them to increase their sales. The positive
consumer ratings and reviews help the consumers in selecting the best destination and
influencing their decisions for buying behaviour. It is recorded that the customers are more

Consumer Behaviour
2
likely to employ 31% more on the facilities with excellent reviews and in turn increases the
revenue of the business (Zhang, Zhang and Yang, 2016).
Apart from the positive influences, it is also analyzed that the negative reviews majorly
affects the decision-making of the adults and shifts the demands to the other hotels. The
destructive reviews drive away 40% of the prospective consumers. A particular negative
review increases the budget of the business to 30 consumers. It majorly affects the prestige of
the organization decreases its profitability (Stephen, 2016).
Perception is considered as a psychological variable that is involved in the purchase decision
procedure and is well documented for influencing consumer behaviour. It is analyzed that the
perception of individuals gets highly influence from the internal and external conditions. The
internal conditions include the differences in personalities, lifestyles, attitudes, beliefs and
demographics. The cultural differences and difference in opinions of customers majorly
affect the buying behaviour. The past experiences and differences in social class affect the
decision of buying behaviour (Tsao, Hsieh, Shih and Lin, 2015).
The customer perceptions are based upon the exposure of the services provided by the hotels.
It is analyzed that the customers compare the services and reviews of different hotels and
choose the services that have excellent ratings. The differences in perception may lead to
positive or negative impact on the reputation of the brand. It becomes imperative for hotels to
deliver best experience and avoid negative online reviews. It is analyzed that the different
hotels focus on more exposures and bring the best to stand out the competitors and influence
the buying behaviour of consumers. To maintain customer loyalty the brands focus on
providing after-sales services and delivering best experiences. It will allow retaining the
competitive advantage in the growing industry and convincing the customer to choose a
particular hotel and services (Lin and Xu, 2017).