Usefulness of Online Reviews of Sensory Experiences: Pre- vs. Post-Pandemic

As a result of globalization and other factors, periodic shocks to economic activity have become more frequent in recent years. How these periods of economic uncertainty affect different business sectors and industries has become an important emerging area of research activity. Sensory experiences are increasingly recognized as an important aspect of the customer experience. Likewise, online reviews and the usefulness rating given by review consumers are important factors in the consumers’ purchasing decision-making process. How these factors are affected by periods of crisis is an underexplored area of research that this study addresses through the exploration and comparison of the perceived helpfulness of sensory experience online reviews, specifically in the hotel industry, before and since the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary data were harvested from the Booking.com website before and during the pandemic; 143,739 online reviews were analyzed using a keyword search based on six dimensions of hotel services to identify those reviews with sensory experience content. The analysis applied Herzberg’s two-factor theory, where each service attribute was examined as both positive (satisfier) and negative (dissatisfier). Empirical analytical methods were applied to produce compelling findings. The findings indicate that the reviews of multisensory experiences affect the perceived value of a post both negatively and positively, respectively, and that the pandemic did not affect the relationship between reviews and the perceived helpfulness of the reviews. This study has both theoretical and practical implications for researchers and practitioners by applying and building on Herzberg’s two-factor theory of online reviews in the hospitality sector during a period of crisis, as well as addressing a gap in the existing literature on how the pandemic affected the relationships between the online reviews of sensory experiences and their perceived usefulness. Practitioners may find the results useful in how they allocate their resources and focus during such periods to optimize their competitiveness.