Assessing the relationship among hotel star class, online reviews' valence, length, and communication style.

Despite the prevalence of online reviews, little research has examined the possible linkage between reviewers' communication styles and Hotel Star Class (HSC). Indeed, it is unclear whether review length and communication style change based on the type of hotel being reviewed (proxied by HSC classification). Applying two multivariate analyses of variance to a sample of TripAdvisor® reviews regarding nineteen hotels, this study revealed that less favourable reviews are significantly lengthier than favourable ones, but only for higher-ranked hotels. Furthermore, favourable (vs. less favourable) reviews predominantly reflect affective (vs. cognitive) processes, especially for higher-ranked hotels. The findings underline the importance of considering HSC classification when studying customer contentment in the hospitality industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]