ONLINE CUSTOMER REVIEW AND BRAND IMAGE

Running head: ONLINE CUSTOMER REVIEW AND BRAND IMAGE
ONLINE CUSTOMER REVIEW AND BRAND IMAGE
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
2. Statement of Research Problem...................................................................................................3
a. Research Questions..................................................................................................................4
b. Literature Review....................................................................................................................4
3. Theoretical Foundation..............................................................................................................12
4. Research Epistemology with Justification.................................................................................13
a. Interpretivism.........................................................................................................................13
4. Research Method.......................................................................................................................14
a. Case Study.............................................................................................................................14
b. Data Collection Strategy........................................................................................................15
c. Data Analysis Method............................................................................................................16
5. Expected Outcomes...................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................19

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Topic: The impact of website reviews on the brand image of hotels
1. Introduction
Online review ratings play an important role in influencing the buying power of the
consumers. It has been found that most of the customers, active on different social media
platforms, take the initiative of undertaking a research on the value propositions and the utilities
that are provided by the organizations. The online reviews affect the brand image of any service
providing organization, specifically the companies in the hospitality industry. Chakraborty and
Biswal (2020) stated that the customers create a perception on the services that are being
provided by the hotel, based on the online review ratings. In this relation, the positive review
ratings influences the buying behavior of the customers, persuading the same to make a try on
the service propositions that are made by the organization.
However, the negative review ratings not only affect the buying behavior of the
customers or clients but also create a negative impact on the brand image. It has been observed
that more than 76% of the customers research out the net for validating and relying on the
proclaimed services of the organizations based on the reviews (El-Said, 2020). In most of the
past literatures it has been found that servicescape factors greatly influenced the customer
reviews. Most of the customers, satisfied with the propositions, delivered positive reviews
commenting on the nature of experience they had while receiving the services. The explanation
on the nature of experience, in the form of reviews, acts as a word- of –mouth promotion for the
organizations while encouraging and influencing the buying behavior of the other customers.
Therefore, the research will aim towards identifying the manner in which the online reviews and
ratings affect the brand image of the companies in the hospitality sector.

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2. Statement of Research Problem
The research will be analyzing the challenges related to the authenticity of the review
ratings as it creates an adverse impact on the buyer’s perception. It has been observed that the
absence of clear articulation of the reviews or biased reviews on the company websites might
affect the brand image of the businesses. Again, the biased judgment affects the organizational
operations while operating as per the common goals of the venture. The incapability of the
customers in categorizing the servicescape factors while distinguishing between two
organizations has significantly created an impact on the online reviews that are provided by the
customers (Casado-Díaz, Pérez-Naranjo & Sellers-Rubio, 2017). The biased online reviews
affect the capability of the unaware customers in deciding on the true nature of the service
propositions that are made by the organizations while making their choice of hotels. Review
ratings create a perception in the minds of the customers.
The perception specifically guides the decision making capabilities of the customers
while making a choice on the type of hotels they would prefer to stay in. Absence of authentic
reviews in the online portals of an organization might result to minimized sales and ill-brand
image of the organization. The customer’s decisions are specifically guided by perceptions. The
negative perceptions, through the reviews, might affect the sales volume of the organization
while operating in the different markets. In several cases, it has been observed that the customer
reviews are biased as their preferences are inclined towards the services that are provided by the
competing organizations. Therefore, the authenticity and reliability of the review ratings are an
important factor that would support a hospitality based organization in improving the sales
volume while influencing the perception of the customers.

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a. Research Questions
The research questions that will be considered for the study are:
 What are customer review ratings in the hospitality industry?
 How does review ratings influence the perception and buying behavior of the customers
towards a brand?
 What is the correlation between a brand’s image and the review ratings that are being
provided by the customers?
 What are the recommended activities that might be considered by the organizations for
improving their review ratings?
b. Literature Review
The hospitality industry and the organization in the sector are specifically focused
towards improving the experience of the customers. In this connection, the organizations have
taken the initiative of continuously improving their services with the purpose of retaining the
trust and loyalty of the customers. The customer satisfaction of the hotels is specifically ratified
through the assessment of the customers’ after experience of staying at the establishment. In
most of the cases, the well satisfied customers of the hotels take the initiative of providing online
reviews for making the other visitors in the site aware of the distinguished range of services that
are provided by the business.
According to Soler and Gémar (2017), the customer online review ratings supports an
organization in gaining the trust and confidence of the target audience while improving their
brand image. In addition to the promotions that are made by the hospitality sector, acclaiming the
uniqueness of the service delivery process, the customer review ratings support in improving the
capability of the organization in developing trust among the customers. Kim and Park (2017)

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opined that in around 10-14% cases the organizations take the initiative of collaborating with
different firms with the purpose of manipulating the online review ratings that are made by the
customers with the purpose of gaining over the trust and confidence of the target audience. The
manipulation of the review ratings create a situation of difference between the actual and
perceived value of the propositions that are made by the organization. For an instance, when an
organization aims at improving their scope of short term profitability, they manipulate with the
online reviews with the purpose of influencing the perception of the customers towards the
organization.
The tampering and manipulation of the reviews while posing their service preposition as
the best in the market might result to short term hikes in the sales volume but might create a
great impact on the brand image due to the difference in the perceived and actual value of the
propositions. According to Hung (2017), the manipulation of the online reviews from the side
of the organization is an unethical practices while playing with the interests and perception of the
target audience and gaining over their trust. However, the absence of the promised services
might affect the interests and loyalty of the target customers. It has been observed that the
hospitality industry is growing which has intensified the competition between the existing and
new firms with developed propositions. In this connection, the loss of brand image of an
organization in the market might affect the capability of the same in retaining the trust and
commitment of the target audience.
The online review ratings play an important role in improving he trust and commitment
of the target audience while providing them with a brief idea on the service delivery process and
the commitment of the organization towards providing the customers with experience. While
evaluating the research paper by Berezina et al., (2016) it has been observed that the factors