The role of language in the online evaluation of hospitality service encounters: an empirical study

Mariani, M. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7916-2576, Borghi, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4150-1595 and Kazakov, S. (2019) The role of language in the online evaluation of hospitality service encounters: an empirical study. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 78. pp. 50-58. ISSN 1873-4693 doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.11.012

Abstract/Summary

In an increasingly global travel market, hospitality services encounters involve growing interactions between providers and customers often belonging to different nationalities and cultures and speaking different languages. Extant hospitality management literature has explored the influence of language on service evaluations mostly in offline settings. This study innovatively captures the effect of the language used in online hotel reviews on online consumer ratings in two distinctively different destinations located in culturally different countries: Italy and Russia. Based on almost half a million Booking.com online reviews written by hotel guests in Moscow and Rome, we illuminate if and to what extent domestic vs. foreign language use affects online customer satisfaction. We find that the use of domestic language exerts a positive impact on online ratings in both countries. Implications for hospitality practitioners and managers, developers and managers of online review platforms, and customers of hotel services are discussed.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/81129
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Digitalisation, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Henley Business School > Leadership, Organisations, Behaviour and Reputation
Publisher	Elsevier
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