Consumer engagement: the role of social currency in online reviews

Abstract

We explore the interplay between social currency (SC) and consumer engagement on social networks. We use text analyses based on both human coding and machine learning asisted sentiment analysis on reviews collected from Facebook pages, and we show that SC has a positive effect on ratings and visitor loyalty. First, we find that attractions have varying makeup of SC as represented in the six dimensions of SC. Second, repeat visits increase SC. Third, SC positively impacts revisit intentions even in the absence of prior experience. We also find that prior experience does not appear to yield better ratings, however, it predicts revisit intentions. This study represents the first use of SC in the tourism domain. Theoretical and practical implications alongside limitations and future research are discussed.