Betsy Bender Stringam

An Analysis of Word-of-Mouse Ratings and Guest Comments of Online Hotel Distribution Sites

This study evaluates 60,648 consumer ratings and comments from an online distribution site to explore what factors drive consumer ratings of hotels. Ratings assigned by travelers were combined with words used in their comments to bring to light the most frequent commendations and concerns mentioned when rating hotels. Specifically, the study yields information as to the most frequently used words, as well as the pattern of word usage with either high or low guest ratings. It also explores word choices of guests scoring hotels at lower ratings versus higher ratings. Implications of the differences in word choice are discussed. The results of this study will help hotel management in allocating resources to improve ratings and guest comments.

An integrative approach to assess qualitative and quantitative consumer feedback

The increasing availability of consumer feedback on the web provides a wealth of information that organizations can use for product and service improvement. Many consumer feedback sites allow users to enter both a quantitative rating and a qualitative critique. Previous research has used this information disjunctively. This work proposes an innovative approach that integrates the two types of information to identify words that are related to positive or negative consumer ratings. A case study shows that this approach does raise some issues not identified using existing analytical approaches.

A comparison of vacation ownership amenities with hotel and resort hotel amenities

This study evaluated resort amenities of the timeshare and vacation ownership resorts in North and South Carolina and compared the amenities with the amenities of hotels throughout the United States (US), resort hotels in the US and resort hotels in the South Atlantic region of the US The results of this study assist timeshare and vacation ownership resort management to compare their amenity offerings to hotels, provide resort operators and developers a closer look at amenities of existing vacation ownership resorts and hotels, and assist suppliers in providing amenities to and servicing existing amenities for resorts.

Are pictures worth a thousand room nights? Success factors for hotel web site design

Purpose – Consumers as well as hotel web sites are evolving, changing the requirements and expectations for online hotel room reservations. Building on previous research, the purpose of this paper is to explore hotel web site designs influence on site appeal and likelihood to purchase.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology incorporates both qualitative and quantitative methods. College‐age participants visited hotel web sites detailing their impressions. Using a grounded theory‐based approach and regression analysis, web design factors are identified and assessed.Findings – The paper finds a preference for enhanced graphical web site design. This finding contradicts prior studies. The paper also finds continued importance in: ease of use, brand loyalty site content, and site aesthetics.Research limitations/implications – This paper uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. The coding of qualitative data can be affected by researcher bias. This paper also suffers from an age and geog...

Addressing researchers' quest for hospitality data: mechanism for collecting data from Web resources.

Data collection is always a challenge. Researchers in the hospitality and tourism industry can benefit from the extensive amount of industry related data that are publicly available on the Internet. The issue holding most researchers back is how to efficiently collect such data. This article provides a solution: automated data collection using Web spiders. The coding logic needed to implement a custom Web spider is outlined. Also addressed are the ethical and operational issues associated with Web spiders.

Management Contracts and Home Owners Association Controlled Timeshare Resorts: Is There a Difference in Performance Metrics?

This study reviewed performance metrics for HOA controlled timeshare resorts. The study found no difference in occupancy rates between the three models. Self-managed resorts had improved performance metrics over resorts managed by management contracts in areas of maintenance fees costs, collection of maintenance fees, and reserve funds. However, self-managed resorts offered less assistance to owners in rental, resale and exchange programs, and had the lowest resale pricing. Some differences between management company types was found for metrics of foreclosure, special assessments maintenance fee increases, maintenance fee delinquencies, reserve fund expenditures, refurbishment and replacement processes, and rental programs.

The impact of online traveler ratings with the willingness of the traveler to recommend hotels for five selected cities in China.

The purpose of this research is to provide hotel operators an opportunity to better understand the relationship between online traveler ratings for hotels and the traveler’s willingness to recommend the hotel for 16,597 online hotel user generated ratings collected for China’s major cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen and Tianjin. The results of the study show a stronger relationship between customer satisfaction rating and the willingness to recommend for hotel in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai than the other three cities. When hotels received the lowest customer satisfaction score, only 1.09% of people recommended the hotel to a friend. For hotels receiving a customer satisfaction score of 2 to 5, the recommended proportion was significantly associated with rating overall for hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin.