Hotel responses for online reviews in Singapore

楊雅怡 李娟

◆Abstract：Electronic Word of Mouth （eWOM） information is becoming increasingly popular online.Customers seem to be more influenced by negative reviews than positive ones，so hotels should be mindful of how they respond to feedback by eWOM.This study analyzed 80 hotel replies from the perspective of discourse analysis，and found the English organization sequences in genre of hotel reply.

◆Key words：Electronic Word of Mouth;hotel reply;English organization sequences

1 Introduction

Electronic Word of Mouth （eWOM） information is becoming increasingly popular online （Sparks and Browning，2011）.Customers seem to be more influenced by negative reviews than positive ones so hotels should be mindful of how they respond to feedback by eWOM，to maintain their corporate image，customer relations and customer loyalty （Vermeulen and Seegers，2009）.

Prior discourse studies on hotel responses have been carried out from the perspective of discourse （Zhang and Vásquez，2014） but not on Singaporean English which is the subject of this paper.This study mainly analyzed 80 hotel replies，and found online replies from hotels in China tend to be highly formulaic.

2 Literature review

eWOM refers to consumers sharing their experiences and evaluations of products or services with other interested parties on the internet，which generates discussion and the accumulation of information （Thurau et al，2004）.It has the potential to enhance or detract from a brand and consequently influence reputation，corporate image，and customer loyalty.

TripAdvisor is the worlds largest and most popular online tourist community （Zhang and Vásquez，2012）.It has become an immense online “database”，providing users with timely and credible global travel information，objective hotel reviews，and a hotel index etc.

Hotel responses，as a genre，include both rhetorical and social functions.The social function of online feedback serves to maintain a relationship with customers （Van Noort and Willemsen，2012）.Rhetorical moves can be used to analyze genres.This study seeks to uncover the ten most frequent moves in Singapore hotel responses to negative reviews and they are organized.

3 Methods

This study follows the procedures of Zhang and Vásquez （2014）.Closely emulating the study，responses to ‘poor and ‘terrible reviews on TripAdvisor were collected from the top traveler rated 4 and 5 star hotels in Singapore.All the responses were studied in detail and each sentence or clausal unit was labeled.Finally，these labeled sentences and clausal units were categorized into different moves.For reasons of space，only the most frequent ten moves are discussed in this study.

4 Results and discussion

4.1 Moves in hotel responses

The following table shows the ten most frequent moves from the 80 responses，listed from most to least frequent （table 1）.

4.1.1 Opening pleasantries

This is the most frequent move.It represents a kind of very generic expression and marks the beginning of the conversation.The function of this move is to reply to the corresponding customer.74 out of 79 start with “Dear” plus the customers registered name on TripAdvisor.

4.1.2 Express gratitude

Expressing gratitude to the reviewer is indicative of the hotels attitude; it helps reduce the emotional distance.74 out of 80 reviews include expressions of gratitude.All expressions of gratitude are general，failing to mention specific details.54 express gratitude regarding the customers feedback or review.

4.1.3 Apologies for sources of troubles

Apology is the third most common move in the data，probably because “terrible” and “poor” reviews were chosen.53 out of 71 apologies occurred at the beginning，following the move express gratitude; 24 of the 71 apologies took place before Move 7，which responds to the customers unpleasant experience.

4.1.4 Closing pleasantries

71 closing pleasantries are found in the dataset.Most closing pleasantries feature a formal ending （ending greeting + personal signature + title）.Most signatures are those of hotel managers.The fact that the hotel attaches great importance to the guests reply might explain this.

4.1.5 Invitation for a second visit

Loyal customers are an important competitive force for an enterprise and a source of corporate profits （Mengi，2009）.By apologizing，acknowledging problems and assuring customers，hotels desire to retain customer loyalty.Thus，invitation in our dataset appears mostly at the end of the text，to emphasise the hotels sincere desire to welcome the guests back in the future.

4.1.6 Refer to customer reviews

This move occurs in only 37 responses.22 moves exhibit specific reference to customers reviews.More than half of the responses offered a detailed explanation，possibly because the hotels in question took the negative reviews seriously and actively tried to resolve the problems，thereby restoring the hotels reputation.

4.1.7 Self-reference criterion

This is not a move identified by Zhang and Vásquez （2014），but is very prominent in this studys data and it has an important pragmatic role.TripAdvisors massive online traffic means that responses are not only read by one person but are potentially accessible by the entire online community.Thus，when a hotel explains about its own values and standards，it acts as an advertising platform for the hotel.

4.1.8 Avoidance of reoccurring problems

33 responses include avoidance of reoccurring problems.This move serves to regain trust from customers by showing acceptance of the feedback and promising that the incident will not reoccur.In only 11 out of 33 responses it appears before invitation and in 7 out of 33 after referring to customer reviews.

4.1.9 Acknowledge complaints/feedback

This move tends to be expressed in very polite terms and demonstrates that hotel management takes customers feedback seriously and humbly accepts their comments.The typical format is： we appreciate +[...].It typically occurs after expressing gratitude or apologies for sources of trouble.

4.1.10 Proof of action

Surprisingly only 31 responses include proof of action，which refers to the actions that the hotel has taken to resolve the problems alluded to by guests.This may be because referring to the customer reviews or avoidance of reoccurring problems was used as a substitute.

4.2 Response sequence

Not all ten moves appear in every hotel response; however，a basic sequence of moves does emerge from the data （table 2）.

As table 2 illustrates，opening pleasantries，greetings，express gratitude and apology usually occur in the initial part of the response.Following apology，come referring to customer reviews，self-referential criteria，proof of action or acknowledge complaints/feedback.Invitation，together with avoidance of recurring problems or solicit response，occur in the second part of the main text.Closing pleasantries predictably occur at the end.This sequence is almost identical to that uncovered by Zhang and Vásquez （2014）.

5 Conclusion

This study analyzed 80 hotel responses and uncovered the ten most frequent moves.The data demonstrates that most hotels recognize this power and adopt a proactive attitude towards it.Using Zhang and Vásquez （2014） prior study for comparison，similar characteristics of the genre was revealed.Among the ten most frequent moves，nine appeared in both studies.To a considerable extent，responses from both datasets exhibit the same sequences.

References

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作者簡介

楊雅怡（1988—），女，漢族，四川省遂寧市人，四川工商職業技術學院助教，英國斯旺西大學碩士研究生，研究方向：英語詞匯習得。

李娟（1980—），女，漢族，四川省廣漢市人，云南大學旅游管理碩士，四川工商職業技術學院副教授，研究方向：旅游市場營銷、酒店管理。