Negative online reviews and webcare strategies in social media: effects on hotel attitude and booking intentions

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of different webcare strategies (defensive, accommodative, no action) across two different types of social media (TripAdvisor and Twitter) on hotel attitude and booking intentions. The results of an experimental design show that negative electronic word-of-mouth (NWOM) has a negative effect on attitudes and booking intention. Moreover, the benefits derived from the type of response vary depending on the social media type in which NWOM appears. The findings also suggest that no response is worse than either defensive or accommodative responses.