Assessing the Effects of Valence and Reviewers’ Expertise on Consumers’ Intention to Book and Recommend a Hotel

This study investigates the main and interaction effects of valence and reviewers’ expertise on behavioral intentions within the context of a hotel on Tripadvisor.com. A 2 (positive vs negative review valence) x 2 (high number vs low number of reviews) factorial design experiment was conducted to assess relations among the variables. The result of the statistical analysis showed a significant interaction effect between valence and the number of reviews on the intention to recommend a hotel. Moreover, significant main effects of valence on the intention to book and recommend were also found. Importantly, positive reviews tended to lead to greater intentions to book and recommend. Also, other conclusions for research and practice are formulated.