Do you think the majority of consumer reviews on the web are negative? Or that people only go online to vent their anger? The ReviewPro data team analyzed more than 90 million guest-written hotel reviews in 10 languages across more than 65 of the most relevant review sites and online travel agencies (OTAs) and found:
?????? 60% were positive
?????? 28% were neutral
?????? 12% were negative
In the study, negative reviews were defined as having a satisfaction rating of 59% or less, neutral reviews were between 60-79%, and positive reviews included scores 80% and above.
What does this mean for hoteliers?
Online reputation management is not only about protecting against negative feedback. The need to monitor the social web for damaging content remains, but ReviewPro?s research proves most people go online to share positive experiences. An opportunity in reputation monitoring involves collecting positive feedback and using it identify areas of competitive advantage that can be emphasized in advertising and marketing communications.
Opportunities also exist for using positive feedback directly in the sales cycle. Hotels are increasingly publishing online reviews to their websites as a way to build consumer confidence, improve sales conversion rates, and ultimately generate more bookings.
Over the past few years we have witnessed travelers increasingly moving towards review sites as a way to share their experiences. Today, the diversity of feedback channels and formats presents a huge increase in the quantity of guest opinion online. The fact that most online reviews are positive indicates a need for the hotel industry to identify, cultivate and encourage these consumer advocates to tell others about their brand and their properties.