A “Triple A” Typology of Responding to Negative Consumer-Generated Online Reviews [Summary]

With the development of technology, consumers are now active in posting online reviews of hotels, restaurants and other travel and lodging providers. While some managers respond to such reviews, little is understood about how to respond effectively. This study has built a typology of management responses to negative online hotel accommodation comments, drawing on service recovery justice and electronic word-of-mouth literature. The study is conducted on the sample of conversations taken from the website of TripAdvisor and has recommended “Triple A” typology that has three higher-level categories of acknowledgements, accounts, and actions. The first broad category of the Triple A framework of this study is “acknowledgment”. It has been used to refer to statements of recognition, acceptance, and confirmation. The second category is “account,” a term roughly equivalent to explanation. The third category is “action,” and as it implies, action is meant by the initiatives taken to address the source of customers’ complaints. The research has found that most consumers complain about the features of rooms and the staffs. Problems associated to ambiance, cleanness and other room amenities were more likely to arise in hotel reviews in TripAdvisor's bottom ranks than in those of top-ranking hotels.