The Effects on Consumer Behavior of Hotel Related Comments on the TripAdvisor Website: An Istanbul Case

Year 2020, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 1 - 29, 10.06.2020

Emrah Sitki Yılmaz

https://doi.org/10.30519/ahtr.536303

Cited By: 8

Abstract

In parallel with the major developments witnessed
in information technologies, social media, supported by its broad area of
usage, is gaining significance in every field, with the tourism sector being no
exception in this regard. The transfer of changing marketing strategies via
digital channels into social media has transformed the way customers interact
with the tourism sector, having now the ability to access the comments of other
consumers via social media, and adjusting their preferences accordingly. In
this study, the impact of the content analysis on the star rating given to
hotels is examined with a “Panel Data Analysis” of all the hotels in Istanbul
that have received a maximum of 25 reviews on the TripAdvisor website, with a
total of 12,000 comments assessed. It was found that the location of the hotel,
the access to transport facilities, the food and beverage concept, the quality
of staff/service, and the cleanliness of the facilities all affected the star
ratings given to hotels; while the architectural structure and the
recommendations of other guests had a lesser effect. It was further noted that
entertainment-animation programs had little effect on guest preferences.

Keywords

TripAdvisor, Panel Data Methodology, Consumer Comments, Social Networking Sites, Istanbul, Tourism Sector

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