Abstract
This study aimed to examine the context-specific effect of online review recency on the processing of a review by tourists. It compared how tourists process the rating of a recently posted review, which is in conflict with the average rating of a group of online reviews, for evaluating a restaurant in two different contexts: when searching for a restaurant to visit in the near future (local search) and in the far future (pre-trip search). Based on the construal level theory, this study hypothesized that a recent rating affects tourists’ perceptions of reviewed restaurants in the local search context more than it does in the pre-trip search context. Two experiments were conducted, and the results supported the hypotheses. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 602-625 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 18 Nov 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2024 |
Keywords
- construal level theory
- information recency
- local search
- Online reviews
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Management Information Systems
- Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
- Marketing