Managing virtual rapport on TripAdvisor : discourse in hotel responses to negative online reviews
Digital technology has immensely transformed communication, and social media facilitates online feedback mechanisms, empowering consumers’ voices via online reviews. This has led to the pervasively growing influence of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on customers’ purchase intentions, as negativ...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2022
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20687/1/54532-194040-1-PB.pdf http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20687/ https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1543 |
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| Institution: | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Digital technology has immensely transformed communication, and social media facilitates online feedback
mechanisms, empowering consumers’ voices via online reviews. This has led to the pervasively growing influence of
electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on customers’ purchase intentions, as negative online reviews can be detrimental
to business performance. Therefore, digital business engagement on online platforms is essential to ensure customer
satisfaction and manage online reputation. Building on Spencer-Oatey’s (2008) Rapport Management Model (RMM),
this qualitative study explores the rapport management strategies used by eighteen Malaysian five-, four- and three-star hotels to respond to negative online reviews, from the perspective of the RMM discourse domain. The hotel
responses were collected from TripAdvisor, using purposeful sampling and analysed with Computer-Mediated
Discourse Analysis. The findings show that the five- and four-star hotels employed higher frequencies of moves in
their responses to complaints in negative reviews. Some four- and three-star hotels took a more confrontational
approach by using the sub-move ‘denying problems’. In terms of RMM rapport orientation, this sub-move can be
rapport-challenging in customer relationships. This study highlights that managing negative reviews more efficiently
for service recovery on online platforms is essential to maintain customer relationships and establish a positive online
corporate reputation. More generally, the findings provide insights on cultural rapport management strategies used
in one Southeast Asian country—Malaysia. |
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