Deriving the Determinants of Hotel Service Quality According to Hotel Class in Korea by Using LDA Topic Modeling

Abstract

Purpose - This study aims to derive hotel service quality’s determinant factors according to hotel class by using OTA (online travel agency) reviews. Design/Methodology/Approach - This study used OTA (Online Travel Agency) reviews as big data and grouped online reviews according to the hotel’s star rating: low-class hotel (1-3 stars) and high-class hotel (4-5 stars). A total of 378,339 online reviews were extracted from 4,695 hotels on the OTA site (Hotels.com), and the factors of service quality based on hotel class were categorized by LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) topic modeling technique. Findings - There were remarkable differences in factors of service quality between low-class and high-class hotels. Service quality factor (topics) of low-class hotels (1-3 stars) categorized as human service, cleanliness, accessibility to hotel, accessibility to surrounding resources, room noise, breakfast availability, and cost-effectiveness. The determinants of high-class hotels (4-5 stars) were grouped in family-friendliness, amenities, cleanliness, room service, human service, excellence in room view, and room convenience. Research Implications - Theoretically, this study suggested a differentiated approach to derive hotel service quality’s determinant factors by using LDA topic modeling. Concerning practical implication, as this study showed different service quality factors according to hotel class, it is expected for hotels to develop differential strategies to attract customers.