Chris K. Anderson, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration Saram Han, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration
Abstract Using monthly online reputation data from 2016 through to the first quarter of 2018, we index major hotel brands in the United States. This analysis of online reputation for branded properties yields three major conclusions: (1) the variation in reputation across brands is four times larger than the variation across chain scales; (2) online reputation is mainly a function of brand and sub brand rather than segment or hotel location; and (3) variability in reputation across hotels within a brand is greater than the variability in reputation in hotels across brands. These three points indicate the changing impact of brand upon hotel choice, considering that the variance in reputation within a brand and online reputation scores—as presented at OTAs or meta-reputation sites like TripAdvisor or Google—may outweigh the traditional quality signals provided by brands.
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