The Manager’s Dilemma: A conceptualization of online review manipulation strategies.
(2018) In Current Issues in Tourism- Abstract
- Online evaluations are one of the most important innovations in tourism in recent years, often combining a review/rating (business-specific evaluation) and a ranking (inter-business comparison). As online reputation determines economic success, tourism managers may be tempted to manipulate online content. This paper presents the results from a qualitative study involving 20 hotel managers in southern Sweden, and their perspectives on manipulation. Results confirm that there exists a wide range of review manipulation strategies, many of which are difficult to control. Even though only few managers appear to systematically manipulate, online evaluations represent a significant challenge for businesses, as they introduce direct competition... (More)
- Online evaluations are one of the most important innovations in tourism in recent years, often combining a review/rating (business-specific evaluation) and a ranking (inter-business comparison). As online reputation determines economic success, tourism managers may be tempted to manipulate online content. This paper presents the results from a qualitative study involving 20 hotel managers in southern Sweden, and their perspectives on manipulation. Results confirm that there exists a wide range of review manipulation strategies, many of which are difficult to control. Even though only few managers appear to systematically manipulate, online evaluations represent a significant challenge for businesses, as they introduce direct competition and foster consumer judgement cultures. It is postulated that managers will increasingly find themselves in a Prisoner's dilemma, representing a situation where engaging in manipulation is the most rational choice in an increasingly competitive market situation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/8834315
- author
- Gössling, Stefan LU ; Hall, C.M and Andersson, A.-C
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- collaboration, consumption, management, accommodation sector, online reputation, online reviews
- in
- Current Issues in Tourism
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84954200049
- ISSN
- 1368-3500
- DOI
- 10.1080/13683500.2015.1127337
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- First Published online: 12 Jan 2016
- id
- a854c080-91a0-470a-af31-8d6d9d4dbd84 (old id 8834315)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:04:40
- date last changed
- 2025-12-03 08:09:58
@article{a854c080-91a0-470a-af31-8d6d9d4dbd84,
abstract = {{Online evaluations are one of the most important innovations in tourism in recent years, often combining a review/rating (business-specific evaluation) and a ranking (inter-business comparison). As online reputation determines economic success, tourism managers may be tempted to manipulate online content. This paper presents the results from a qualitative study involving 20 hotel managers in southern Sweden, and their perspectives on manipulation. Results confirm that there exists a wide range of review manipulation strategies, many of which are difficult to control. Even though only few managers appear to systematically manipulate, online evaluations represent a significant challenge for businesses, as they introduce direct competition and foster consumer judgement cultures. It is postulated that managers will increasingly find themselves in a Prisoner's dilemma, representing a situation where engaging in manipulation is the most rational choice in an increasingly competitive market situation.}},
author = {{Gössling, Stefan and Hall, C.M and Andersson, A.-C}},
issn = {{1368-3500}},
keywords = {{collaboration; consumption; management; accommodation sector; online reputation; online reviews}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Current Issues in Tourism}},
title = {{The Manager’s Dilemma: A conceptualization of online review manipulation strategies.}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2015.1127337}},
doi = {{10.1080/13683500.2015.1127337}},
year = {{2018}},
}