| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1012063 | Tourism Management | 2014 | 9 Pages |
•Price and advertising expenditures affect customer reviews.•Customer reviews affect business performance.•Establishment owner's experience moderates the link between reviews and performance.
Modern travelers often rely on reviews provided by other consumers online, or electronic word of mouth (eWOM), to choose their accommodations. This study considers the effects of marketing decisions by rural lodging establishment owners (i.e., price and advertising expenditures) on eWOM (i.e., ratings and number of reviews), as well as the effects of eWOM on business performance. The results rely on marketing data and customer reviews obtained from a leading rural tourism infomediary website, related to 202 Spanish rural lodging establishments. A complementary survey also provided information about the lodging establishments' performance. The study thus reveals that price and advertising expenditures affect eWOM; in turn, eWOM affects business performance. Moreover, owners' experience with the infomediary slightly moderates the link between eWOM and performance.
