Article Review: Responding to Online Reviews in Hospitality Management

This report reviews the article 'Responding to Online Reviews: Problem Solving and Engagement in Hotels' by Park and Allen, focusing on how hotels handle online reviews. The research uses four case studies to compare different approaches to responding to customer feedback, highlighting the importance of strategic responses for brand reputation and customer engagement. The study examines both luxurious and upscale hotels, analyzing their internal communication styles and decision-making processes regarding online reviews. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative data to analyze the response rates to online reviews in the hotels over a year. The report concludes that effective training and learning are crucial for developing strategic approaches to online review responses, as only one of the four case studies demonstrated a strategic approach.

Running head: HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Hospitality Management
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Introduction
The article ‘Responding to Online Reviews: Problem Solving and Engagement in Hotels’
will focus on the response to online reviews in the hospitality industry. Four case studies were
selected to highlight the issues in the specific industry. The interaction with the customers
through social media will also be highlighted through this article review.
a. The article, ‘Responding to Online Reviews: Problem Solving and Engagement in
Hotels’ by Sun-Young Park and Jonathan P. Allen, was chosen to work on his
assignment. This specific article was chosen because it had focused on two opposite
approaches for responding to the online reviews. It will be effective for this research
because of the consideration of the four case studies of hotels. The article provided an
appropriate way of critical review by contrasting between the hotels, which responded
positively, and the others, which responded negatively. The criteria to compare between
the management styles of the hotels were fulfilled by selecting this article.
b. A comparative study was used to work on this exploratory research. It was effective in
generating theories and relevant concepts instead of examining them. The important
aspect is that the task of theory building in a research is a strategy to generate theories
upon case studies, which are informative descriptions on a wide range of data. Research
questions play a significant role in generating theory in the research within case studies
and the upcoming data. The questions designed for this particular research focused on the
was hotel executives handle online reviews; whether they respond to all the reviews
irrespective of positive or negative; difference or similarity of hotel brands in their

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approaches to managing online reviews; the reason behind choosing a specific approach
by the hotel executives to manage online reviews.
The significant part in this article is that there are other researches, which have used only
one case, whereas multiple case studies were analyzed in this. It was helpful in providing a
strong platform for theory building. The high- end luxurious hotels were chosen for using as
a case study in this research. The online review responses pattern was analyzed in these
chosen hotels. It has paved the way for improving brand reputation and simultaneously
facing the hurdles in engaging with the customers in the industry based on personal
interactions.
The study was based on the four hotels among which two were luxurious and the other
two were upscale. Theoretical sampling was done to work on the survey and generate theory.
It has shed light on the fact that they have the power to highlight the significant demarcations
and the unnatural instances to focus on the constructive relationship. The probability at which
the selected cases could vary depended on the rate of response by the hotels to online
reviews. Therefore, the hotels were selected in such a way where two responded frequently to
online reviews and the others were reluctant in responding, thus the samples were polar
opposite to each other.
c. The evidence and instances presented by the authors were appropriate in countering
supporting the arguments raised in the article. To describe and analyze the interview in a
better way the grounded theory approach was used by the author. This particular theory
was used because it has a consistent form in generating theory among the comparison of
case studies. The research questions were mostly open- ended to provide scope to the

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respondents in expressing their opinions freely. The concepts were supported with
effective and careful reading of the transcripts by using those codes, which portrayed the
original words of the respondents as closely as possible. The codes, which represented
the behavioral conditions, interactions among the respondents, tactics and strategies used
and the outcome based on actions were paid special attention.
It was stated in the article that the major interest was centered on coding which had sought
data in a systematic so that the data could be associated to the main category. A quantitative
analysis of the problem was supported with the inclusion of the response rates to online reviews
in the hotels in a one- year span (please refer to appendix). The use of both qualitative and
quantitative data helped in adding value to the research.
The arrangement of the four case- study hotels in the proper context was supported by paying
attention to the entire pattern of review responses in the hotel industry. For instance, the study
was carried out among 34- premium hotels were listed under TripAdvisor. A number of 5639
reviews, which were posted in the mentioned website, were accountable for addressing the
hotels. Among those, there were 4148 positive reviews and 473 negative reviews. The use of
these exact numerical values made the research more authentic and valid. It was realized that
the research was carried out properly by maintaining the ethical values. However, there was a
gap in the research, as the pattern in which the 34 hotels responded to online reviews was not
found out. Among 34 hotels, seven hotels did not respond to the reviews at all and one hotel
responded totally.
The hotel managers portrayed an empowerment style for effective decision making in
keeping up with the trust of the superiors. The internal communication style among the upscale

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hotel respondents was not mutual and organized. There were no regular meetings held at the
organization regarding the issue of online review response. On the other hand, the internal
communication style among the luxurious hotels was top- down where the superiors handle the
online review response. Meetings are held regarding this matter and responses from the entire
organization is taken into consideration. This difference in strategies used by the two categories
of hotels opened a new way in this particular research.
Conclusion
After reviewing this article, it can be concluded that out of the four case studies selected,
only one was considered to have used the strategic approach to online review response.
Therefore, the importance training and learning regarding response to online review was stressed
upon in this research.

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Bibliography
Park, S. Y., & Allen, J. P. (2013). Responding to online reviews: Problem solving and
engagement in hotels. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(1), 64-73.

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Appendix