Hospitality and Tourism Online Review Research: A Systematic Analysis and Heuristic-Systematic Model

• Main Authors: Sunyoung Hlee, Hanna Lee, Chulmo Koo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-04-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: hospitality and tourism online reviews; content analysis; smart tourism; systematic review; heuristic-systematic model
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/1141

With tremendous growth and potential of online consumer reviews, online reviews of hospitality and tourism are now playing a significant role in consumer attitude and buying behaviors. This study reviewed and analyzed hospitality and tourism related articles published in academic journals. The systematic approach was used to analyze 55 research articles between January 2008 and December 2017. This study presented a brief synthesis of research by investigating content-related characteristics of hospitality and tourism online reviews (HTORs) in different market segments. Two research questions were addressed. Building upon our literature analysis, we used the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) to summarize and classify the characteristics affecting consumer perception in previous HTOR studies. We believe that the framework helps researchers to identify the research topic in extended HTORs literature and to point out possible direction for future studies.