Question.2038 - Most of you have very well indicated why and how consumers are using user-generated content from a site like Yelp, Google Review, or TripAdvisor. I was really impressed by your posts. In summary, the main reasons are: (1) to easily find relevant information (i.e., you can find the information ONLY about the specific restaurant or restaurants in a specific area); (2) to get neutral evaluations (i.e., consumers may believe the company-generated contents tend to be exaggerated); (3) to stay connected (i.e., you can indirectly interact with other consumers of the restaurant through their reviews and ratings); and (4) to get information without any time limits (i.e., you can find and get information when you need, such as at night or during your trip). As a marketer in today’s hospitality and tourism industry, we MUST work with mega review sites as well as keep our eyes on user-generated contents. As we’ve learned, we cannot succeed in this industry without this digital marketing tool that influences consumers’ decision-making process. After reading all your posts, I have a new question: “Why are consumers influenced by online reviews when making a purchase decision? Is this because they trust the mega review sites? OR is this because they trust online content reviews generated by other consumers (i.e., 3rd party)?” Some students address that they use the websites because they like the websites. However, other students indicate that they use the websites because they believe other consumers’ reviews and ratings. We need to be a little more specific here. If consumers trust the mega review sites, we need to work with a very reputational mega review site. OR if consumers trust the user-generated content, we need to work with specialists in managing online reviews. As you know, we have limited resources for digital marketing strategies, so we need to allocate marketing budgets to each one efficiently and effectively. For example, there is an article on the role of online reviews on trust formation among travelers. The study argues that consumers should perceive online reviews as authentic (some of your classmates indicate the importance of fake reviews or artificial information on the mega review sites). Then, consumers trust the mega review site (based on the perceived authentic reviews) and its recommendation, which in turn lead them to purchase hospitality and tourism products. Please take a look at the posted article when you have time to answer the above question ("Optional Article for Extra Credit in Module 2"). It may be challenging for you to understand everything regarding the methods and empirical results. But the introduction, literature review, and discussion parts must help you to understand this paper. After reading the article, please feel free to post your opinion about the above question. Please feel free to participate in this optional discussion to get up to 3 extra points (more than 200 words and including at least one credible reference to support your opinion; your initial post will be graded, and a response to a peer's post is optional) as well as to expand your knowledge about this topic with your classmates (by
Answer Below:
The consumers trust the online content reviews posted by other authentic travellers on the mega review sites as they are not able to visit the destination personally and neither is there any physical evidence present to review the travel destinations they wish to travel. There are a lot of uncertainty attached with unknown places that the consumers have never visited earlier or lack any reference from other travellers. They perceive the content of these mega review sites authentic as they are posted by other authentic travellers who have personally visited these places and share their opinion and experiences on these mega review sites (Koiso-Kanttila, 2005). The review sites present the consumers with real reference from other traveller who have explored these unknown places. Thus, the real experiences of the virtual users on the review sites makes the consumers to develop trust for these sites and their content. The vulnerability of the consumers is reduced drastically by going through the experiences and review of other travellers and they can also see the pictures and videos posted by these travellers on the site and form their own opinion or decisions about the places. The reviews help the consumers to take the proper purchase decision by reducing any anxiety they have about the destination they wish to visit (Antón, Camarero, and Garrido, 2018). References Antón, C., C. Camarero, and M. J. Garrido. 2018. “What to Do after Visiting a Museum? From Post-consumption Evaluation to Intensification and Online Content Generation.” Journal of Travel Research 58 (6): 1052–63. Koiso-Kanttila, N. 2005. “Time, Attention, Authenticity and Consumer Benefits of the Web.” Business Horizon 48 (1): 63–70.More Articles From Marketing
.ico)
.ico)
.ico)
.ico)
