eWOM Marketing in Hospitality Industry

Abstract

Due to its intangible nature, hospitality business finds it difficult to market its services. Past customer experiences are one of the best strategies that allow some quantification of the quality of the product. Word of mouth has been a key part of every effective marketing strategy for hospitality businesses. It is widely recognized that word of mouth, both positive and negative, has the potential to influence customer purchase decisions. With the technological advancement, the internet has been widely applied in various areas in the hospitality industry. Social media and the growth of web 2.0 have enabled word of mouth to be shared amongst millions of potential customers, one therefore can argue that electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has been the successor of the traditional word of mouth. Therefore, traditional Word-of-Mouth, which spread from person to person vocally has been replaced gradually by electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM). A growing trust on eWOM for making choices about hospitality products prompted the author to work on the present chapter.