Online complaining behavior: Does cultural background and hotel class matter?

Abstract

This study investigates online complaining behavior targeting six different hotel attributes to determine whether there are distinct patterns of behavior exhibited by i) guests of different cultural backgrounds and ii) guests visiting different classes of hotels. The hotel attributes given focus include: (a) Service, (b) Cleanliness, (c) Room, (d) Sleep Quality, (e) Location, and (f) Value. In total, 353 hotels with 2,020 usable individual complaining reviews representing five different continents and 63 nationalities were collected for the analysis, which was conducted using a manual coding approach. Results indicate that online complaining behavior is influenced by cultural background. Asian and non-Asian travelers appear to place a similar emphasis on Value for money. However, Asian guests are more likely to complain about Service, while non-Asian guests are more likely to complaint about Cleanliness, Room, Sleep Quality, and Location. Additionally, online complaining behavior varies between different classes of hotel. Guests of high-class hotels are more likely to complain about Service and Value, while guests of low-class hotels are more likely to complain about Cleanliness, Room, Sleep Quality, and Location. This study contributes to the realm of hotel management by providing a better understanding of how customers from different cultural backgrounds are likely to perceive different hotel attributes.