Traveling alone, reviewing differently: identifying distinctive hotel evaluation behaviors of solo travelers

Despite the rise in solo travelers, differences in online review behaviors between solo and companioned travelers remain underexplored. The current research, using the Elaboration Likelihood Model, self-presentation theory, and group polarization theory, finds that solo travelers give higher review scores based on hotel star ratings and value-for-money, but they weigh hotel service quality less than group travelers even after accounting for hotel heterogeneity through multilevel modeling. Additionally, solo travelers’ review scores are less polarized than companioned travelers. These findings offer valuable recommendations for hotel management and targeted marketing strategies aimed at solo travelers.