A proposal for measuring hotels’ managerial responses to User-Generated-Content Reviews

Authors

  • Javier Perez-Aranda University of Malaga
  • María Vallespín Arán University of Malaga
  • Sebastian Molinillo

Abstract

Despite the fact that User-Generated-Content (UGC) has emerged as a widely implemented practice in many disciplines and industries, including tourism and hospitality, academic research lacks a measurement method for hotels’ managerial responses to UGC-Reviews (UGC-R). Based on data from a survey of 335 hotels, this article validates a 32-item UGC-Review scale that, through a battery of exploratory factorial analysis tests, comprises 6 constructs: identification of the reputation landscape; assessment of changes in the company´s ratings and rankings over time; determination of the publication reach; comparison with industry competitors; review and comparison of ranking methodologies and increased reputational scores. The results show that the proposal scale demonstrates reliability and dimensionality. The proposed UGC-R scale is a strategic tool for business managers aiming to improve their marketing strategies and to gain insights into the competitive advantage of reputation management.

Author Biographies

  • Javier Perez-Aranda, University of Malaga
    Doutor e Mestre em Estudos Alemães pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Licenciado em Línguas e Literaturas Modernas e Bacharel em Turismo Professor Adjunto, ESGHT / Universidade do Algarve Editor de Tourism & Management Studies Coordenador do "Master in European Tourism Management", o qual se encontra integrado numa rede de 7 universidades europeias.
  • María Vallespín Arán, University of Malaga
    PhD

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Published

28.02.2018

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Section

Tourism/Hospitality: Research Papers

How to Cite

Perez-Aranda, J., Vallespín Arán, M., & Molinillo, S. (2018). A proposal for measuring hotels’ managerial responses to User-Generated-Content Reviews. Tourism & Management Studies, 14(1), 7-16. https://www.tmstudies.net/index.php/ectms/article/view/995

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