Detecting the nexus of online review manipulation and purchasing decisions: Evidence from hotel and travel agency customers

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Hotel Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Fayoum University, Egypt

2 Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Fayoum University, Egypt

Abstract

Online product/service reviews have a significant impact on how customers make decisions in a variety of situations. This is to provide useful descriptions of actual experiences, assessments of important characteristics, recommendations, and other product-related data. However, complicated processes for authenticating reviews and reviewers are increasingly becoming standard practice on review websites. According to several studies, customers’ impressions of products/services being reviewed are shaped by online reviews that stand out in terms of argument fluency, spelling, argument structure, and word choice. As such, this paper determines how online review manipulation affects purchasing behaviors among Egyptian hotel, restaurant, and travel agency customers. Further, this paper seeks to examine the pivotal role of emotional trust in online manipulation and purchasing decisions. Using a structured questionnaire, 728 responses were obtained from targeted customers. The WarpPLS findings revealed that detecting online manipulation traits was significant to making customer purchasing decisions throughout the mediator effect of emotional trust formation. Accordingly, it is critical to avoid review manipulation in Egyptian hospitality and tourism contexts. Hence, several theoretical and practical concepts have been discussed in hospitality and tourism settings.

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