Motivation behind review provision in online travel communities: do hometowner contributions matter?
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 8 February 2022
Issue publication date: 4 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Online reviews have become increasingly important and numerous studies have noted the effect of social factors on the review provision of users. The purpose of this study is to investigate how hometowner contributions, which are defined as prior reviews posted by users from the same city, affect the quality of reviews by focal users.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the theories of competitive altruism, pure altruism and reciprocity, as well as several social influence theories, a conceptual framework is constructed to explain user contribution behavior. In addition, empirical models are established based on 831,737 reviews of 919 hotels on Tripadvisor.
Findings
The quality of reviews by hometowners can significantly motivate subsequent users to contribute high-quality reviews. This positive effect is stronger than the effect of previous contributions by non-hometowners. The effect of hometowner contribution is amplified in users with limited review-posting experience and/or in those from countries with a considerable cultural distance from the target destination.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides the hospitality literature with new insights into the effect of social factors on the review provision of users in the context of online hotel review websites. The results also present numerous practical implications for online travel communities.
Originality/value
This study is an early attempt to analyze the effect of prior hometowner contributions on the subsequent contribution decisions of focal users. Thus, this study provides a satisfactory starting point for determining whether the review provision of focal users can be affected differently by prior contributions from their peers from different categories.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is partially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (72002107, 91846301, 72121001), the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of Nankai University (ZB21BZ0318), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2017YFC1601903), the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (20YJC630075) and the Fellowship of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M68087, 2021T140342).
Citation
Liang, S., Ye, Q., Zhang, X., Law, R. and Gong, C. (2022), "Motivation behind review provision in online travel communities: do hometowner contributions matter?", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 34 No. 5, pp. 1692-1716. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2021-0980
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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