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Title
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Online reviews and how to manage them : effects of eWOM and Webcare on consumer responses and business performance
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Author
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Abstract
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| Sharing our opinion about a product, service or brand is part of our experience as consumers. Online reviews are, therefore, an essential element of businesses' day-to-day interactions with consumers and are gaining territory in influencing their decisions. Using multiple research methods (conjoint analysis, experiment, systematic literature review and a machine learning approach), this thesis focuses on understanding the influence of different online review characteristics on consumer responses and the effects of webcare strategies (responding to online reviews) on consumer responses and business performance. Looking into which cues influence the perceived usefulness and credibility of an online review, we find that argument strength is the most important and star rating the least important review characteristic influencing perceived credibility of an online review. Given the importance of review arguments, the second study focuses on finding if and when positive reviews can overcome the impact of negative ones. An experiment testing the nuances in the negativity effect shows that even when most reviews are negative, consumers still make positive brand evaluations if the positive reviews focus on different arguments (versus repeating the same argument) and are on a ratio of at least 4 positive reviews out of 12. Considering the importance of online reviews in influencing consumer decisions, this dissertation also proposes a framework for webcare to be used by practitioners and in further research by analyzing the literature published on the topic over the last 20 years. Finally, we find that engaging in webcare positively influences hotel bookings. After analyzing review and booking data and testing different machine learning classifiers to identify webcare strategies, we find that the webcare strategies that have a positive effect on bookings are directing reviewers to a private channel, being defensive, offering compensation and having managers sign the response. Webcare strategies to be avoided are apologies, merely asking for more information, inviting customers for another visit, and adding informal non-verbal cues. Expressing gratitude, personalizing, and having staff members (rather than managers) sign webcare does not impact future hotel bookings. These findings can help hotel managers to optimize their webcare strategy for better business results and develop automated webcare. |
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Language
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English
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Publication
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Antwerp
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University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Marketing
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2021
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ISBN
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978-90-5728-694-0
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Volume/pages
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206 p.
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Note
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:
Dens, Nathalie [Supervisor]
:
De Pelsmacker, Patrick [Supervisor]
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Full text (open access)
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