Word of Mouth, the Importance of Reviews and Ratings in Tourism Marketing

The Internet and social media have given place to what is commonly known as the democratization of content and this phenomenon is changing the way that consumers and companies interact. Business strategies are shifting from influencing consumers directly and induce sales to mediating the influence that Internet users have on each other. A consumer review is “a mixture of fact and opinion, impression and sentiment, found and unfound tidbits, experiences, and even rumor” (Blackshaw & Nazarro, 2006). Consumers' comments are seen as honest and transparent, but it is their subjective perception what shapes the behavior of other potential consumers. With the emergence of the Internet, tourists search for information and reviews of destinations, hotels or services. Several studies have highlighted the great influence of online reputation through reviews and ratings and how it affects purchasing decisions by others (Schuckert, Liu, & Law, 2015). These reviews are seen as unbiased and trustworthy, and considered to reduce uncertainty and perceived risks (Gretzel & Yoo, 2008; Park & Nicolau, 2015). Before choosing a destination, tourists are likely to spend a significant amount of time searching for information including reviews of other tourists posted on the Internet. The average traveler browses 38 websites prior to purchasing vacation packages (Schaal, 2013), which may include tourism forums, online reviews in booking sites and other generic social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Can customer sentiment impact firm value? An integrated text mining approach

Developing measures to capture customer sentiment and securing a positive customer experience is a strategic necessity to improve firm profitability and shareholder value. The paper considers the relationship between customer satisfaction, earnings, and firm value as these drives change in stock prices, customer, and investor sentiment. The present study investigates the impact of customer sentiment polarity on stock prices based on Indian automobile sector databased such as the Indian Nifty Auto SNE (Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Eicher). A top-down approach is adopted to construct a financial proxy-based sentiment index completed with sentiment extracted from automobile news and customer reviews. The paper uses a text mining approach to holistically measure customer sentiment’s impact on investor sentiment and stock prices. The study was initially performed at the overall individual stock from the Nifty Auto NSE but focused on the top three passenger vehicle manufacturing companies i.e., Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Eicher. It was found that the sentiment index was augmented with news and customer reviews allows predicting more accurately NIFTY AUTO stock price movements. This implies that customer sentiment is a major driver of investor sentiment which in turn impacts the stock market and the firm value. Thus, the present study is an integrated approach to holistically measure customer sentiment’s impact on investor sentiment and stock prices.WOS:00071138140002