The following study aims to give a first look into the process of when tourists searches for information before a trip and to understand how they reflect over the reliability in different kinds of information. Internet has an important meaning for information research, especially within the tourism business and experience economy. The value of reviews has grown increasingly bigger for customers when they are about to look for information, decide which product that suits them the most and to make their decision. While positive reviews have become yet more important for a product/experience to get chosen by the customer, false reviews have started to take their places at the websites of reviews. The reasons behind may be to raise a certain product’s ratings or simply to give another product or company a bad reputation.The following essay put light on the problem with the phenomena of false reviews and how these can harm the tourism industry in several ways. The study will highlight how different segments of tourists searches information, what value reviews have to them and what makes a review seem trustworthy or faked. The segments that were asked to participate in the survey were chosen based on their age and life situation. Through this we created the following three groups: students, parents from a family with children, and people who are retired.The result of the study shows that many of the respondents within the segment Students use online reviews to gather information and to boost their motives for consumption. The respondents within the other two groups mainly use the tourism companies’ own websites when they are about to consume. An important result of the study is that, although many respondents gave the answer that they mainly search information on websites, they still put greater trust in rumors and comments from friends, especially the respondents within the segment parents from a family with children. It has also been proved that the use of internet increases the risk of getting a negative experience.

Ingeniero Civil Industrial / El presente trabajo de título tiene por objetivo analizar el efecto del atractivo físico y la identificabilidad de la fuente de comentarios en el sitio web TripAdvisor sobre la elección de un restaurant, la actitud y la percepción de los usuarios de dicho sitio. La importancia del mismo radica en profundizar el conocimiento científico del efecto del atractivo físico sobre el proceso de decisión de las personas, y también examinar su efecto sobre la percepción y actitud de las mismas hacia el ítem en cuestión dentro del contexto web que, a pesar de haber ganado mucho interés y relevancia en los últimos años, no ha sido estudiado en profundidad. De manera adicional, se plantea que también podría existir un efecto asociado a una fuente no atractiva, el cual no ha sido estudiado por el marketing tradicional. Para esto, se realizó un estudio donde los participantes tuvieron que realizar dos tareas: en primer lugar, se les pidió elegir el restaurant que más les gustara dentro de tres alternativas del sitio TripAdvisor y, en segundo lugar, responder una encuesta sobre su actitud y percepción asociada a las tres opciones de restaurant presentadas en la primera parte. Las fotos de perfil de los usuarios que comentaron en cada una de estas alternativas tenía un nivel distinto de atractivo: control (no identificable), no atractivo y atractivo (identificables), siendo este el único factor que variaba significativamente entre cada alternativa. En la primera parte del estudio se analiza el efecto del nivel de atractivo físico de la fuente de comentarios sobre el proceso de elección. Para entender de mejor forma este proceso, se midió la atención y la activación emocional (reacción involuntaria como respuesta a un estímulo) de los participantes al momento de elegir, pues podrían ayudar a explicar o predecir el comportamiento. Para medir la atención se utilizó un equipo de eye-tracker, y para medir la activación emocional se usaron sensores de ritmo cardíaco y conductividad de la piel, los cuales están directamente correlacionados a la intensidad de las emociones. En la segunda parte del estudio se analiza el efecto del atractivo físico y la identificabilidad de la fuente sobre la actitud que tiene el usuario del restaurant y se ve si este efecto tiene impacto sobre la percepción de determinados atributos del restaurant. De manera complementaria, se ve si la actitud tiene un efecto sobre la decisión de los usuarios. Las principales conclusiones del estudio son que (1) existe un efecto directo positivo del atractivo físico en el proceso de toma de decisiones, (2) el efecto de la identificabilidad de la fuente sobre la elección no es concluyente, (3) la atención explica el proceso de toma de decisiones en el contexto planteado, no así la activación emocional y (4) en diferentes casos, la actitud y percepción de distintos atributos del restaurant explican la relación entre la identificabilidad y atractivo físico de la fuente y la elección de dicho restaurant. Para futuros trabajos se propone testear los resultados en otro sitio web y testear si se repiten los resultados con fotos de perfil masculinas y/o mixtas.

The Internet has grown to become one of the most influential tools affecting the tourism industry. This study seeks to explore a smaller piece of a widely recognized phenomenon, breaking off to study the impacts of online reviews on TripAdvisor and electronic word-of-mouth in the hotel sector. The study further attempts to identify problems and advantages with the increased use of consumer generated media-sites. One of the main motivations for this study is also the lack of profound studies examining hotel responses to online reviews and destination impacts. The scope of this study is limited to examine three hotels and their respective reviews, on the Aland Islands. Thus this study does not necessarily seek to generalize results in other instances. The identified problem in this thesis is that hotel operators experience difficulties in managing what is being written about them as the perception of time and space changes, owing to the Internet. In making progress to this problem, the study was conducted through semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis, to understand the specifics of the context. Furthermore, this methodology was used to understand the perspectives of the informants. The results indicate that online reviews on TripAdvisor follow specific themes and are considered an important source of information for hotel operators. However, there seems to be some limitations in management, due to lack of opportunities and strategic plans of actions in the hotel sector. There is, however, a collective understanding and willingness amongst hotels to further immerse themselves in the work of managing reviews.

Yes / User-generated reviews of visitor attractions, on publicly available websites, such as Tripadvisor, are frequently used in tourism research but feature less often in published cultural heritage research. In this paper, we describe a qualitative analysis of the text from user-generated reviews of three peatland heritage landscapes in the United Kingdom – Ilkley Moor, Thorne and Hatfield Moors, and Shapwick Heath – to better understand the role tangible and intangible cultural heritage play in visitor perceptions and narratives of these sites. Our analysis indicates that visitors tend to emphasise natural over cultural heritage of peatland landscapes and hold plural, highly contextual and sometimes dissonant perceptions; there is no single story of peatlands. This presents both challenges and opportunities for building public appreciation of peatland cultural heritage. User-generated reviews offer, as-yet under-explored, potential data for use by heritage researchers and managers who seek to explore how visitors understand and use sites, and may also contribute to the emerging intangible heritage of heritage landscapes. / Research Development Fund Publication Prize Award winner, June 2021.

Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att ta reda på likheter och skillnader mellan stora och små hotellkedjor i sättet hur dessa marknadsför sig via sociala medier. Till detta syfte har vi arbetat mot tre frågor: Hur använder sig hotellkedjor av sociala medier i sin marknadsföring? Hur ser interaktionerna ut mellan hotell och deras följare via sociala medier? Har storleken på hotellkedjor någon betydelse i sin marknadsföring via sociala medier? Metod: För att komma mer på djupet inom ämnet har vi valt att använda en kvalitativ forskningsmetod samt en observation. Det empiriska material vi samlat för arbetet är från fyra respondenter från fyra hotellkedjor som är insatta och har betydande roller i det vi valt att studera. Alla har vi intervjuat ansikte mot ansikte och observationen är genomförd i form av sammansatt matris. Slutsats: Vi har genom utförda intervjuer och analys identifierat hur små och stora hotell förhåller sig till sociala medier. Utifrån detta har vi även funnit likheter och skillnader mellan stora och små hotellkedjor i sättet hur dessa använder sig av dem sociala medierna som marknadsföringskanaler. Grunden till detta arbete låg i att dessa plattformar blivit mer värdefulla under de senaste åren och vi fann intressant att undersöka hur hotellbranschen förhåller sig till detta faktum.

This paper aims to show how User Generated Content can create value for Smart Tourism Destinations. Applying the analysis on 5 different cases in the region of Stockholm to derive patterns and opportunities of value creation generated by UGC in tourism. Findings of this paper is also discussed in terms of improving decision making, possibilities of new business models and importance of technological improvements on STD’s. Finally, thoughts on models are presented for researchers and practitioners that might be interested in exploitation of UGC in the context of information-intensive industries and mainly in Tourism.

Submitted by Camila dos Anjos Ferraz (cacaferraz@gmail.com) on 2015-12-25T19:05:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Co-Creation in Hospitality Industry - a Case Study on the Drivers for Traveler-Generated Content.pdf: 2832811 bytes, checksum: de014292f47037eecdbc94c6ac2ec326 (MD5) / Rejected by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br), reason: Camila, O numero das paginas só pode aparecer a partir da introdução. Aguardo. Ana Luiza Holme 3799-3492 on 2016-01-04T11:14:13Z (GMT) / Submitted by Camila dos Anjos Ferraz (cacaferraz@gmail.com) on 2016-01-05T21:22:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Co-Creation in Hospitality Industry - a Case Study on the Drivers for Traveler-Generated Content.pdf: 2835215 bytes, checksum: 46c4a7a25788c28545d6f2e54f44fae6 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br) on 2016-01-06T11:12:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Co-Creation in Hospitality Industry - a Case Study on the Drivers for Traveler-Generated Content.pdf: 2835215 bytes, checksum: 46c4a7a25788c28545d6f2e54f44fae6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-06T11:44:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Co-Creation in Hospitality Industry - a Case Study on the Drivers for Traveler-Generated Content.pdf: 2835215 bytes, checksum: 46c4a7a25788c28545d6f2e54f44fae6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-18 / User-generated content in travel industry is the phenomenon studied in this research, which aims to fill the literature gap on the drivers to write reviews on TripAdvisor. The object of study is relevant from a managerial standpoint since the motivators that drive users to co-create can shape strategies and be turned into external leverages that generate value for brands through content production. From an academic perspective, the goal is to enhance literature on the field, and fill a gap on adherence of local culture to UGC given industry structure specificities. The business’ impact of UGC is supported by the fact that it increases e-commerce conversion rates since research undertaken by Ye, Law, Gu and Chen (2009) states each 10% in traveler review ratings boosts online booking in more than 5%. The literature review builds a theoretical framework on required concepts to support the TripAdvisor case study methodology. Quantitative and qualitative data compound the methodological approach through literature review, desk research, executive interview, and user survey which are analyzed under factor and cluster analysis to group users with similar drivers towards UGC. Additionally, cultural and country-specific aspects impact user behavior. Since hospitality industry in Brazil is concentrated on long tail – 92% of hotels in Brazil are independent ones (Jones Lang LaSalle, 2015, p. 7) – and lesser known hotels take better advantage of reviews – according to Luca (2011) each one Yelp-star increase in rating, increases in 9% independent restaurant revenue whereas in chain restaurants the reviews have no effect – , this dissertation sought to understand UGC in the context of travelers from São Paulo (Brazil) and adopted the case of TripAdvisor to describe what are the incentives that drives user’s co-creation among targeted travelers. It has an outcome of 4 different clusters with different drivers for UGC that enables to design marketing strategies, and it also concludes there’s a big potential to convert current content consumers into producers, the remaining importance of friends and family referrals and the role played by incentives. Among the conclusions, this study lead us to an exploration of positive feedback and network effect concepts, a reinforcement of the UGC relevance for long tail hotels, the interdependence across content production, consumption and participation; and the role played by technology allied with behavioral analysis to take effective decisions. The adherence of UGC to hospitality industry, also outlines the formulation of the concept present in the dissertation title of 'Traveler-Generated Content'. / Esta pesquisa estuda o fenômeno de conteúdo gerado por usuários aplicado à indústria de turismo com o objetivo de preencher a lacuna literária nas motivações que levam usuários à escrever avaliações no TripAdvisor. O objeto do estudo tem sua relevância gerencial uma vez que, identificadas as motivações dos viajantes para co-criar, estas possam tornar-se alavancas para geração de valor para marcas através da geração de conteúdo. Do ponto de vista acadêmico, o objetivo é expandir a literatura neste campo e endereçar a aderência de cultura local de co-criação aplicada às especifidades da indústria selecionada. O impacto de conteúdo gerado pelo usuário é endossado pelo fato das avaliações influenciarem as taxas de conversão. De acordo com a pesquisa conduzida por Ye, Law, Gu e Chen (2009), para cada 10% incremental na avaliação de um hotel, as reservas online crescem em 5%. A revisão literária constrói o modelo teórico para embasar a metodologia de estudo de caso do TripAdvisor. Aspectos quantitativos e qualitativos compõem a abordagem metodológica por meio de revisão literária, pesquisa por dados secundários, entrevista com executivo e pesquisa com usuários processadas com análises fatoriais e de agrupamentos (clusters). Além disso, o comportamento do usuário é impactado por aspectos culturais, o que diferencia suas motivações. A indústria de hospitalidade no Brasil é predominantemente dispersa sendo 92% dos quartos de hotéis independentes (Jones Lang LaSalle, 2015, p. 7) e hotéis menos conhecidos tendem a ser mais beneficiados em consideração do consumidor depois de receber avaliações segundo Luca (2011), que observou que o aumento de uma estrela na avaliação do Yelp, aumenta em 9% o faturamento de restaurantes independentes, enquanto nos de rede não há nenhum impacto. Portanto, essa dissertação almeja entender a geração de conteúdo por usuários no contexto de viajantes de São Paulo, Brasil, adotando o caso do TripAdvisor para descrever os incentivos para co-criação de usuários entre o público selecionado. A análise entrega quatro diferentes grupos que permitem embasar o desenvolvimento de estratégias de marketing. O estudo também sugere a existência de potencial na conversão de atuais consumidores de conteúdo em produtores de conteúdo, a remanescente importância das recomendações de familiares e amigos e o papel exercido por incentivos. Dentre as conclusões, a pesquisa leva à exploração dos conceitos de feedback positivo e efeito de rede, o reforço da relevância de conteúdo gerado por usuários para hotéis independentes, a interdependência entre participação, produção e consumo de conteúdo e o papel exercido pela tecnologia, aliada à análises comportamentais, na tomada de decisões. A aderência do conceito de UGC à indústria de hospitalidade nos leva ao conceito presente no título da dissertação de 'Conteúdo Gerado por Viajantes'.

Title: This is the end of the hotel industry, the way we know it – A qualitative study of the influence of the convergence culture, review sites and the digital communication on the hotel industry. This study aims to examine the digitalisation of the hotel industry and how the industry relates to review sites, partly from an organisational point of view and partly how the communication and the replies at the review site may look like. The study focuses on three hotel employees and how they relate to the review site TripAdvisor. Through a qualitative content analysis and interviews I aim to find out how the industry relates to digital communication. As a complement to the three internal voices I have interviewed a digital expert in the digital communication industry.   We live in a convergence culture where old and new media meet. Earlier studies in the area show that reviewers leave many digital footprints that indicates identity, demography an situation based information at review sites. It has shown that it is easier for a reader to percieve information from people the can identify themselves with. This study aims to complement current and previous studies in the area with a inside-out perspective, and a perspective from inside the hotel industry.   The study shows that the responding hotel employees have their own tone of voice and the relate to the medium in their own unique way. Despite different tone of voice it is clear that there is some kind of unwritten formula on how to organize the arguments in a review. Many tracks of intertextuality were found in the reponses of the hotel employees, either to other web texts such as other reviews or references to web pages. There is a explicit desire to interact and to connect with the guest or the reviewer. This confirms previous studies made on the topic.   This study shows that digitalisation has contributed to the increase of decentralisation in the industry and this decentralastion is necessary for digitalisation. Decision-making power in regards of publishing has moved from one department to involve and engage many departments and levels in the organisation. The three hotel employees who were interviewed had three different approaches to digital communication. One of them was well integrated and seemed to move naturally between the digital and the analogue world. When she answered digitally, she would often refer to the analouge world and in the analogue world she would refer to the digital. One of the others had a more segregated view on Internet. She is a occasional visitor at the review site and interpret the organisation as an analogue unit, where you actively have to visit the Internet. At the same time she would highlight how serious and important the reality of Inernet is. When she responds on review sites, she act carefully, systematically and with great consideration.            The last hotel employee experienced Internet at young age and act as a native citizen there. He claims that Internet has changed the analogue reality for him, his staff and for the guests. He refers to digital sources when he is online, as well as to the analogue reality. The digital reality incuses the analogue reality and vice versa. He claims that there is a clear before and after The Internet.   None of the employees address issues connected to reliability and the trustworthyness in the reviews they respond to. This is something that the digital expert on the other hand adresses. This is worth continue studying. In addition, every month 2,000 reviewers write a review at a hotel in the Nordic Choice Hotel group. At the same time and during the same month, more than 100,000 guests leave digital footprints at the social platforms Facebook and Instagram. Even though this is the end of the hotel industry, the way the industry knows it, the research on digital footprints has just begun.