Does guests-perceived value for money affect WOM and eWOM? The impact of consumer engagement on SNS on eWOM

Purpose Hotels provide high-quality guest experiences to generate perceived value for money (PVM), positively influencing word-of-mouth (WOM) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication. This study aims to (1) verify the impacts of the perceived quality by the guests about their experiences in hotels on their PVM; (2) inspect the influence of guests' perception of hotel prices on PVM; (3) examine the impacts of guest PVM on their hotel experiences on WOM and eWOM and (4) investigate the consequences of the hotel guests' behavioural engagement on social networking sites (HGBE-SNS) on eWOM. Design/methodology/approach This quantitative and descriptive study consists of a survey with 371 guests who evaluated their experiences at three hotels in Brazil. PLS-SEM tested the hypothetical model that resorted to the stimulus-organism-response theory (S-O-R), proposed by Mehrabian and Russell (1974). Cluster Analysis compared the PVM, WOM and eWOM of groups of hotel guests with different levels of social media engagement. Findings Perceived quality by hotel guests positively impacts PVM. Perceived price negatively influences PVM. PVM had a positive and robust impact on WOM. PVM impacts and explains weakly eWOM. In contrast, HGBE-SNS affects and better explains eWOM than PVM. Originality/value This unprecedented investigation concomitantly exhibits the relationships between perceived quality, price, PVM, WOM, eWOM and HGBE-SNS. Hotels must offer high perceived quality experiences to influence PVM and WOM positively. PVM is unable to stimulate eWOM strongly. HGBE-SNS is pivotal for guests to share their hotel experiences through eWOM. This study suggests marketing strategies for hospitality companies to amplify customer engagement on SNS.