Impact of Online Reviews on Hospitality Management
Summary
Online reviews have become a cornerstone of reputation and revenue management in the hospitality sector. The volume, valence and speed of consumer feedback on platforms such as TripAdvisor, Yelp and Booking.com directly influence booking intentions, pricing strategies and service improvements. Managers deploy analytical tools to mine sentiment and extract actionable insights from textual data, enabling more personalised guest experiences and targeted operational adjustments. Simultaneously, guest perception of fairness and responsiveness shapes brand loyalty and differentiation in an increasingly competitive global market. Research highlights the interplay between review metrics and managerial actions—from real-time webcare to dynamic adjustment of room rates—underscoring the need for integrated frameworks that bridge theory and practice. As digital word-of-mouth continues to mature, its capacity to drive sustainable performance and to inform evidence-based decision-making remains of paramount importance for both large hotel chains and independent operators alike.
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Impact of Online Reviews on Hospitality Management publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in impact of online reviews on hospitality management across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM): Online consumer feedback shared through digital platforms that influences perceptions and booking decisions.
valence: The positive or negative sentiment conveyed by a review, shaping consumer attitude and hotel reputation.
webcare: The strategic practice of responding to online reviews to manage customer relationships and service recovery.
value-based pricing: A pricing strategy that sets rates according to the perceived value derived by customers, often informed by online review analytics.
References
- Managerial response strategies to eWOM: A framework and research agenda for webcare. Tourism Management (2023).
- Is webcare good for business? A study of the effect of managerial response strategies to online reviews on hotel bookings. Journal of Service Management (2024).
- Innovative value-based price assessment in data-rich environments: Leveraging online review analytics through Data Envelopment Analysis to empower managers and entrepreneurs. Technological Forecasting and Social Change (2022).
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