A holistic assessment of eWOM management effectiveness with agent-based modeling

Abstract

Purpose Hospitality businesses have been challenged to pick fitting electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) management strategies, yet accurate return on investment assessments and contextual contingencies interpretation essential for leveraging eWOM power are largely absent. This study aims to fill these gaps and develop a tool aiming at more holistic and accurate eWOM management assessment. Design/methodology/approach An agent-based model is developed based on eWOM-related hospitality/business theories and empirical evidence on the NetLogo 6.0.2 platform, wherein a series of simulated experiments are conducted. Findings Simulation patterns suggest that conformity to the majority’s choice of eWOM usage can be beneficial for consumption satisfaction, yet conformity to a group’s eWOM posting choice can compromise satisfaction. Compared to the brief reputation-boosting benefit of exaggerated advertising, honesty in advertising is preferable given its compatibility with competing eWOM distribution and long-term reputation benefits. Practical implications A preliminary tool is developed for hospitality businesses that aids the clearer interpretation of and more accurate/cost-efficient assessment of effectiveness in managing eWOM distribution. Generic directions for improved eWOM management are also provided. Originality/value A prototype model is established that surpasses existing models in its ability to capture the complexity of eWOM management and more accurately assess management effectiveness. The authors also reveal emerging novel patterns concerning the interactive dynamics of eWOM behaviors and contextual influences. The research also adds to the scarce agent-based model applications in hospitality research/practices and recommends future potential applications.

Consumer confusion and negative eWOM in the e-hospitality marketplace: the moderated moderation model of gender and technology self-efficacy

“…These include postponing decisions (Sharma et al, 2022;Shiu, 2021), decreasing brand loyalty (Chauhan and Sagar, 2021) and dissatisfaction (Abdollahi et al, 2020). However, one area that has not received enough attention is how confusion can lead to adverse eWOM, which can harm the company's financial performance and reputation (Mukhopadhyay et al, 2023;Zhang et al, 2023). The current study investigates negative eWOM as an unfavourable behavioural response to customer confusion to fill this research gap.…”

Consumer-brand heuristics in luxury hotel reviews

“…Modern consumers have an overwhelming number of interactive platforms available to express themselves and obtain information about brands, including online customer reviews (Chen et al , 2020; Dang and Raska, 2022; Stevens et al , 2022). The digital environment provides various communication solutions where customers can post electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages and reviews, including general and specialized review aggregators, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, that focus on hospitality brands, such as luxury hotel brands (Li et al , 2020; Zhang et al , 2023). Also, consumers’ desire to engage digitally with luxury brands has increased for both informational and entertainment reasons (Veloutsou et al , 2022).…”

“…In this context, studies have called for more unstructured textual content and semantic analysis of online reviews to help discover review manipulation and increase trust in consumer comments (Martinez-Torres and Toral, 2019). Also, there is a need to focus on online reviews in the context of luxury brands, where communication is more emotional than informational, based on hedonic characteristics, and oriented toward techno-luxury (Cervellon and Galipienzo, 2015; Zhang et al , 2023). Understanding these multifaceted relationships is essential for luxury hotel brands seeking to enhance their appeal and sustain long-term customer engagement (Nobre and Simões, 2019).…”

MetaWOM – toward a sensory word-of-mouth (WOM) in the metaverse

“…With VR and AR, Metaverse will allow everyone to create avatars and engage in virtual communications (Zeng et al , 2020; Wongkitrungrueng and Suprawan, 2023), including word of mouth (WOM). Notably, the Metaverse has the potential to revolutionize service sectors, such as the travel and tourism industry (Abdullah et al , 2022; Castillo-Manzano et al , 2022; Buhalis et al , 2023; Zhang et al , 2023). For illustration, hotels create immersive virtual experiences to provide potential guests with a taste of what their stay might be like.…”