| dc.description.abstract | The aim of this research was to investigate consumer and hospitality
organisations attitudes towards web-based review sites and identify whether
these sites have a lasting impact on consumer buying behaviour. This study looks
at the motivations behind why consumers use online reviews, what sites they
know as well as how they expect management of hospitality organisations to
acknowledge and deal with them. This research project identified how hospitality
organisations contemplate these online review sites to affect them, and whether
they believe they manage them effectively.
The gap in the research was identified after much consideration and analysis of
the literature surrounding the research topic chosen, Web-based consumer
review sites. The literature review identified why consumers choose to use online
review sites, and why they are often perceived to be more reliable. It then goes
on to talk about how the consumers collect information has changed, moving on
from word of mouth and moving to electronic word of mouth and how this has
changed consumers buying motivations and decisions.
A mixed method research method was chosen, with convenience sampling being
used to conduct the online questionnaire, where 110 participants took part. The
survey only took around 10 minutes and was made up of 17 questions,
participants were a mixture of friends, family and a travellers group on Facebook.
The 3 semi structured interviews were carried out with general managers of
hospitality organisations, each lasting around 15 minutes.
The results collected from this research project provided rich data, which allowed
for analysis around why online consumer review sites are so widely used. The
results from the questionnaire included expected answers, such as what sites the
participants had heard of, as well as the emergent of new themes, such as not
always wanting management to acknowledge and respond to these reviews but
rather they just fix the issues mentioned. The interviews provided more insight
into how the hospitality industry perceives these online review sites, not thinking
they are worth the effort, but also how they believe they should acknowledge and
manage this feedback, one even using these sites as a way to market themselves
for free. | en |
