An analysis of user‐generated content for hotel experiences

Purpose – The broad goal of the study is to determine how travelers communicate in the cyberspace in relation to their positive and negative experiences they had when staying in a particular hotel. Further goals of this study include identifying the main themes that motivate consumers to evaluate hotel experiences in online environments and categorize the most frequently mentioned areas in the online hotel reviews. Design/methodology/approach – Content analysis techniques were applied by using the software tool NVivo 8 in order to analyze comments extracted using an automated web spider. The spider extracted qualitative data in the form of reviews and comments and quantitative data in the form of demographic information and ratings. The reviews were considered as a primary data for analysis, these reviews portrayed both positive and negative experiences. During this process, the spider collected data on 3,124 hotels and 17,357 traveler reviews from the TripAdvisor site. Findings – By reviewing and understanding traveler comments of their hotel experiences, managers could gain knowledge concerning which element influence to form a positive brand image. Cleanliness of the hotel generally is a common concern in traveler's expectations. Words about deficiency of cleanliness (dirty) appeared more regularly when travelers write negative reviews about the hotel. Travelers showed to be more likely to write positive reviews of hotels with convenient location to good areas such as attractions, shopping, airports, and restaurants. The data in this research shows that travelers can be positively influenced by quality of service received a friendly and well trained staff. When travelers are pleased with the quality of human contact offerings of a well‐trained employee, they tend to feel more satisfied and to form a positive brand image that it is translated into a positive review. Research limitations/implications – Limitations could be listed using a relatively small sample size, and a relatively limited geographical capacity. Future studies are advised to include bigger sample sizes and also advised to explore a diverse pool of geographical. Originality/value – The study identifies the possible areas that hoteliers need to pay close attention to improve service. Further, it is one of the first studies in hospitality that highlights strategies to create and reinforce brand image by using online reviews.