The Influence of Online Reviews on Consumer Hotel Booking Behavior

This essay examines the significant influence of online reviews on consumer behavior, particularly within the hospitality sector. It highlights how online reviews, both positive and negative, shape customer perceptions and ultimately impact hotel booking decisions. The essay explores the increasing reliance on online reviews as a trusted source of information, analyzing how factors such as valence, reviewer characteristics, and brand reputation affect consumer trust and buying behavior. It also discusses the potential risks associated with fake reviews and the importance of maintaining transparency and delivering excellent customer experiences. The essay references several studies to support its claims, emphasizing the need for hotels to effectively manage their online presence to attract and retain customers in a competitive market.

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

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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

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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).

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The perception of customers is also getting highly influenced by the way the brand reaches to
its customers. The hotels focus on highlighting the features that differentiate their services
from other competitors and create the perception of excellence in the minds of the customers.
The changes in the opinions of friends and relatives and destructive word-of-mouth
promotion majorly affect the sales of the brand and reduce the potential customers.
Therefore, it is stated that online reviews and ratings show a main role in influencing the
perceptions of the customers and changing their purchase decisions (Ismail, 2017).
Dependence upon the online reviews has increased and the customers are getting techno-
savvy to make their purchase decisions and expect excellent services. It is analyzed that 91%
of the population reads the online reviews and 86% of them trust the online reviews as a
personal reference. The customers trust online reviews because it highlights the transparency
from the local businesses. It provides a deep insight into the services offered before getting
the experiences and showcases the reality to the consumers. It highly affects the percept and
the purchasing behaviour of consumers (Phillips et al, 2017).
The consumers have the perception to rely on the opinion of strangers. They focus on trusting
the opinions of the stranger for making the most important buying decisions. It allows the
consumer to have tangible sensation of touching the experience through the eyes of others. It
is analyzed that the consumers are able to gain more trust in the brand that has online reviews
and thus helps in influencing their buying behaviour and gain customer loyalty (Salehan and
Kim, 2016).
High dependence upon online reviews creates the risk of wrong perceptions because the
brands focus on unscrupulous business game and add fake reviews from its employees and
strangers. It uses the software such as search manipulators that not only suppress the negative
reviews but put it off from Google (Weber, Bradley and Sparks, 2017). The reviews and

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recommendations are from the population who have difference in opinions and have different
cultures, beliefs, and attitudes. However, too much dependence on online reviews may lead to
variations in the expectations in hotel industry (Fang, Ye, Kucukusta and Law, 2016).
It is analyzed that online reviews leave a great influence on consumers and majorly
influences the sales of the company. In response to above, the business focuses on
maintaining the semblance of trust with the users and creates the open market for the fake
reviews (Sparks, So and Bradley, 2016).
From the above discussion, it is critical to note that online reviews majorly affect the
performance of the industry. It allows attracting potential customers and increases the sales of
the hotel industries. It is analyzed from the above that online reviews creates positive and
negative influences on the buying behaviour of consumers and changes the perceptions of the
consumers. It is analysed that high dependence on online reviews may increase the risk of
fake reviews and also effects the reputation of the hotel.

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References
De Mooij, M., (2019) Consumer behaviour and culture: Consequences for global marketing
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Fang, B., Ye, Q., Kucukusta, D. and Law, R., (2016) Analysis of the perceived value of
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Gavilan, D., Avello, M. and Martinez-Navarro, G. (2018) The influence of online ratings and
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Murphy, M.C. and Dweck, C.S., (2016) Mindsets shape consumer behavior. Journal of
Consumer Psychology, 26(1), pp.127-136.

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