Regulatory framing in online hotel reviews: The moderating roles of temporal distance and temporal orientation

Online reviews have gained momentum and continue to be the most influential source of information in consumers' hotel booking decisions in the tourism industry. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, construal level theory, and consideration of future consequences (CFC), this study contributes to the topic by claiming that consumers evaluate hotel reviews differently based upon their regulatory focus (i.e., promotion vs. prevention) and that this evaluation can vary according to contextual (i.e., temporal distance in booking time) and personal factors (i.e., temporal orientation). We found that temporal distance moderated the effect of regulatory-focused reviews on review attitudes when a booking was temporally distant; however, no moderating effect was found when a booking was about to be made. In addition, reviews' perceived relevance fully mediated regulatory-focused reviews' effect on review attitudes for the distant-future condition, but not the near-future condition. Finally, it was revealed that future-oriented consumers showed more positive attitudes when they read promotion-focused reviews (vs. prevention-focused reviews), but no significant differences were found among present-oriented consumers. This study's findings can help travel practitioners better understand consumers' hotel review evaluations and improve their marketing strategies.