How Travelers Use Online and Social Media Channels to …€¦ · Cornell Hospitality Report Vol. 10, No. 18, December 2010 How Travelers Use Online and Social Media Channels to Make

www.chr.cornell.edu

Cornell Hospitality ReportVol. 10, No. 18, December 2010

How Travelers Use Online and Social Media Channels to Make Hotel-choice Decisions

by Laura McCarthy, Debra Stock, and Rohit Verma, Ph.D.

Advisory Board

The Robert A. and Jan M. Beck Center at Cornell University

Cornell Hospitality Reports,

Vol. 10, No. 18 (December 2010)

© 2010 Cornell University

Cornell Hospitality Report is produced for

the benefit of the hospitality industry by

The Center for Hospitality Research at

Cornell University

Rohit Verma, Executive Director

Jennifer Macera, Associate Director

Glenn Withiam, Director of Publications

Center for Hospitality Research

Cornell University

School of Hotel Administration

489 Statler Hall

Ithaca, NY 14853

Phone: 607-255-9780

Fax: 607-254-2922

www.chr.cornell.edu

Back cover photo by permission of The Cornellian and Jeff Wang.

Ra’anan Ben-Zur, Chief Executive Officer, French Quarter Holdings, Inc.

Scott Berman, Principal, Industry Leader, Hospitality & Leisure Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Raymond Bickson, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts, and Palaces

Stephen C. Brandman, Co-Owner, Thompson Hotels, Inc.

Raj Chandnani, Vice President, Director of Strategy, WATG

Rod Clough, Managing Director, HVS

Benjamin J. “Patrick” Denihan, Chief Executive Officer, Denihan Hospitality Group

Kurt Ekert, Chief Commercial Officer, Travelport GDS

Brian Ferguson, Vice President, Supply Strategy and Analysis, Expedia North America

Chuck Floyd, Chief Operating Officer–North America, Hyatt

Anthony Gentile, Vice President–Systems & Control, Schneider Electric/Square D Company

Gregg Gilman, Partner, Co-Chair, Employment Practices, Davis & Gilbert LLP

Susan Helstab, EVP Corporate Marketing, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Jeffrey A. Horwitz, Chair, Lodging + Gaming, and Co-Head, Mergers + Acquisitions, Proskauer

Kevin J. Jacobs, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Treasurer, Hilton Worldwide

Kenneth Kahn, President/Owner, LRP Publications

Kirk Kinsell, President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, InterContinental Hotels Group

Radhika Kulkarni, Ph.D., VP of Advanced Analytics R&D, SAS Institute

Gerald Lawless, Executive Chairman, Jumeirah Group

Mark V. Lomanno, President, Smith Travel Research

David Meltzer, Vice President of Global Business Development, Sabre Hospitality Solutions

William F. Minnock III, Senior Vice President, Global Operations Deployment and Program Management, Marriott International, Inc.

Shane O’Flaherty, President and CEO, Forbes Travel Guide

Thomas Parham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Philips Hospitality Americas

Chris Proulx, CEO, eCornell & Executive Education

Carolyn D. Richmond, Partner, Hospitality Practice, Fox Rothschild LLP

Steve Russell, Chief People Officer, Senior VP, Human Resources, McDonald’s USA

Michele Sarkisian, Senior Vice President, Maritz

Janice L. Schnabel, Managing Director and Gaming Practice Leader, Marsh’s Hospitality and Gaming Practice

Trip Schneck, President and Co-Founder, TIG Global LLC

Adam Weissenberg, Vice Chairman, and U.S. Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure Leader, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP

Friends

Thank you to our generous Corporate Members

PartnersDavis & Gilbert LLP Deloitte & Touche USA LLPDenihan Hospitality GroupeCornell & Executive EducationExpedia, Inc. Forbes Travel GuideFour Seasons Hotels and Resorts Fox Rothschild LLP French Quarter Holdings, Inc. HVS Hyatt InterContinental Hotels Group Jumeirah GroupLRP PublicationsMarriott International, Inc.Marsh’s Hospitality Practice MaritzPricewaterhouseCoopersProskauer Sabre Hospitality Solutions Schneider Electric Southern Wine and Spirits of AmericaThayer Lodging Group Thompson HotelsTravelportWATG

Senior Partners

Hilton WorldwideMcDonald’s USAPhilips HospitalitySASSTRTaj Hotels Resorts and PalacesTIG Global

4

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Laura McCarthy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration,

and a minor in Spanish from the College of Arts and Sciences. She currently works on a web marketing team at TIG

Global, a hotel internet marketing company based near Washington, D.C. She has work experience with Octagon,

a sports and entertainment marketing firm, and she worked in London, England, on the sales and marketing team

at the Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel. At Cornell, Laura was heavily involved with serving the local Ithaca

community for three years as she participated in a mentorship program for children in partnership with

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Debra Stock is a market manager for Expedia, Inc., in Washington, D.C. and a recent graduate from the Cornell

University School of Hotel Administration. She has experience in front office operations at the Fairmont Copley

Plaza Hotel in Boston, and in sales and marketing as a manager for Hotel le Bleu and Hotel le Jolie in New York

City. During her time at Cornell, Debra was actively involved on campus as a guest speaker on distribution systems

for HSMAI and in her role as a Hotel School Ambassador, hosting speakers and visiting companies, giving tours

of the Hotel School to prospective students and alumni, and mentoring freshmen. She is still actively involved as

an alumna and is currently chair of the events committee for the Cornell Hotel Society Washington DC/Baltimore

chapter.

Rohit Verma, Ph.D., is professor of service operations management and executive director of the

Center for Hospitality Research at the Cornell University School of Hotel

Administration ([email protected]). His research interests include

product-and-service design and innovation, customer choice modeling, and quality/ process

improvement strategies. His work has appeared in such publications as MIT Sloan Management

Review, California Management Review, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly and several prominent academic

journals. He is a co-author of a textbook titled Operations and Supply Chain Management for the 21st

Century and co-editor of a forthcoming book titled The Cornell School of Hotel Administration on

Hospitality: Cutting Edge Thinking and Practice.

How Travelers Use Online

and Social Media Channels to

Make Hotel-choice Decisions

by Laura McCarthy, Debra Stock, Rohit Verma

5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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6

CORNELL HOSPITALITY REPORT

by Laura McCarthy, Debra Stock, Rohit Verma

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EXHIBIT 1

Comparison of visitors to Facebook and Google

Cornell Hospitality Research Summit

5

5 See: !"#$%%+!3-'!,>*0-+!,,0'+,3?*00'*@A'

EXHIBIT 2

Word cloud from #CHRS tweets

Note: Developed by Michael J. Dixon from Twitter feeds for the 2010 Cornell Hospitality Research Summit.

Intelligent listening.

Legal issues.

Next Gen. Forbes Hotel Guide,

Social media constitute a focus group of millions of people

who provide information without being prompted.

—Stuart Greif, J.D. Power and Associates

Forbes Travel Guide

Engagement.

ship Oasis of the Seas

EXHIBIT 3

Research timeline

CHR Report

Data Analysis

Data collection from randomly selected business and

leisure hotel customers in the United States

Survey Development

(Qualitative Research, Pilot Survey, Final Survey)

Background ResearchJanuary 2010

December 2010

:

6

“

Cornell Hospitality Report

the Secrets of Customer Choices Cornell Hospitality Report

Cornell Hospitality

Report

travel

history

searching

booking pre-arrival

during the

stay

post-

departure

mobile

features

technology

perceptions

demographics

EXHIBIT 4

Research question flow

sites (e.g

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Hotel recommended by my organization

Google, Yahoo, Bing or other search engine.

Travel-related websites

Friends and family recommendation

Colleagues and business associates recommendation

Hotel reviews provided AAA, Forbes Travel Guide, etc.

Hotel reviews posted on TripAdvisor, Facebook, Myspace,

Twitter, Blogs, etc.

Meta-search websites (e.g. Expedia, Priceline, Kayak)

Female

Male

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Hotel recommended by my organization

Google, Yahoo, Bing or other search engine.

Travel-related websites

Friends and family recommendation

Colleagues and business associates recommendation

Hotel reviews provided AAA, Forbes Travel Guide, etc.

Hotel reviews posted on TripAdvisor, Facebook, Myspace,

Twitter, Blogs, etc.

Meta-search websites (e.g. Expedia, Priceline, Kayak)

Female

Male

EXHIBIT 5

Hotel information sources for business travelers

Percentage of respondentsNote: Respondents could select more than one information source.

EXHIBIT 6

Hotel information sources for leisure travelers

Women

Men

Percentage of respondentsNote: Respondents could select more than one information source.

Women

Men

Results

Information-search di"erences.

i.e.,

Women’s due diligence.

e.g

e.g.

Forbes Travel Guide

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Facebook

Myspace

Twitter

Tripadvisor

AAA

Forbes Travel Guide

Blogs

Flickr

Youtube

Hotel Chatter

Female

Male

EXHIBIT 7

Most frequently consulted social media and customer review sites

Percentage of respondents

Note: Respondents could select more than one information source.

Women

Men

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800

Read a travel book

Online Search Engines

Online Meta-Search site

Online Travel Agency

Brand Website

Facebook

Tripadvisor

EXHIBIT 8

Information sources consulted in the early phase of a hotel purchase decision

Number of respondents

EXHIBIT 9

Information sources consulted in the beginning and middle phases of a hotel purchase decision

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800

Read a travel book




Brand Website

Facebook

Tripadvisor


Read a travel book

Search site


Brand Website Middle StageMiddle stage

Early stage

Read a travel book


Search site

Online Travel AgencyEarly Stage

Information-search continuum.

<

e.g.,

7 op.cit.

Narrowing the search.

Decision time.

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800

Read a travel book




Brand Website

Facebook

Tripadvisor

EXHIBIT 10

Information sources consulted in the all three phases of a hotel purchase decision

Read a travel book


Search site


Brand Website Later Stage

Middle Stage

Early Stage


Late stage

Middle stage

Early stage

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Luxury or 5-Star Hotel

Upscale or 4-Star Hotel

Mid-range or 3-Star Hotel

Economy or 2-Star Hotel

Budget or 1-Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Female

Male

Women

Men

Unlikely Likely

EXHIBIT 11

Likelihood of booking a hotel that has negative reviews

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00






Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Female

Male

Women

Men

Unlikely Likely

EXHIBIT 12

Likelihood of booking a hotel that has positive reviews

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00






Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Female

Male

Women

Men

Unlikely Likely

EXHIBIT 13

Likelihood of posting a hotel review after a negative experience

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00






Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Star Hotel

Female

Male

Women

Men

Unlikely Likely

EXHIBIT 14

Likelihood of posting a hotel review after a positive experience

preferences for information search sources for hotels are

!

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