The determinants of managerial responses to hotel guests’ reviews: an exploratory study in the city of Milan

The spread of eWOM and travel review websites has profoundly changed the consumer decision-making process along with firms’ strategies. A key topic of discussion, both for academics and practitioners, is the opportunity to reply to online consumers’ reviews. Although some studies have recently investigated the subject, this topic need to be further explored. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the variables that influence hotels’ propensity to reply to guests’ reviews. The results of the research suggest that hotel managers show more propensity to reply to negative guests’ reviews of their native language. Possible motivations and implications are discussed.