International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration Online ...

This article was downloaded by: [Hong Kong Polytechnic University] On: 14 August 2014, At: 19:10 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjht20

Online Complaining Behavior in Mainland China Hotels: The Perception of Chinese and Non-Chinese Customers a

b

Norman Au , Dimitrios Buhalis & Rob Law

a

a

School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong b

School of Tourism, International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom Published online: 12 Aug 2014.

To cite this article: Norman Au, Dimitrios Buhalis & Rob Law (2014) Online Complaining Behavior in Mainland China Hotels: The Perception of Chinese and Non-Chinese Customers, International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 15:3, 248-274, DOI: 10.1080/15256480.2014.925722 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2014.925722

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/termsand-conditions

International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 15:248–274, 2014 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1525-6480 print/1525-6499 online DOI: 10.1080/15256480.2014.925722

Downloaded by [Hong Kong Polytechnic University] at 19:10 14 August 2014

Online Complaining Behavior in Mainland China Hotels: The Perception of Chinese and Non-Chinese Customers NORMAN AU School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

DIMITRIOS BUHALIS School of Tourism, International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom

ROB LAW School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Examining hotel customer feedback is vital for effective service recovery and improvement. The main objective of this study is to analyze online complaints about hotels in Mainland China and to examine the relationship between culture and other factors that affect the intention to complain online. Content analysis was performed for 822 complaints about hotels in major Chinese cities drawn from TripAdvisor and Ctrip. Complaints made by Chinese and non-Chinese customers were compared and 11 major complaint categories were identified. A two-way contingency table analysis demonstrated that traveler age, hotel price, and travel partner significantly influenced the online complaints made. KEYWORDS complaints, e-complaints, online, hotel, mainland China

Received November 29, 2011; accepted August 27, 2012. Address correspondence to Norman Au, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 17 Science Museum Rd., TST East, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR. E-mail: [email protected] 248

Online Complaining Behavior

249


INTRODUCTION In recent years, China has become an important tourism destination. Over 133 million tourists visited in 2010, generating an estimated total revenue of RMB1.26 trillion (Ryan & Gu, 2009; National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2011). Due to its remarkable economic development it has been projected that by 2020, China will become the world’s most popular destination for business and leisure travel and the fourth-largest source of outbound tourists (Chen, 2011; Ryan & Gu, 2009; Yu, 2010). Such rapid growth in the travel industry has created a strong demand for good-quality hotel accommodations. According to the Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics 2011, by the end of 2010, China had 13,991 star-rated hotels with over 1.71 million guest rooms, an increase of 2.4% compared to the year of 2009 (China National Tourism Administration, 2011). Consequently, many top international chains such as the Shangri-La, Hyatt, and Four Seasons as well as local and stateowned hotel brands have already made a significant investment in building new hotels in major Chinese cities to capture this demand. Customer complaints are critical for hotel managers to understand why and how to formulate effective complaint handling strategies and improve service quality (Zheng, Youn, & Kincaid, 2009; Sparks & Browning, 2010). Since service encounters are heterogeneous in nature, service failure and customer dissatisfaction are difficult to avoid completely (Sparks & Fredline, 2007; M. G. Kim, Wang & Mattila, 2010). In particular, customers may have various service or product preferences due to their diverse cultural backgrounds (Au, Law, & Buhalis, 2010). While dissatisfied customers due to service failure may simply choose to switch the provider, negative word-ofmouth (WOM) and complaints are the two most common postdissatisfaction behaviors, which could have considerable negative impact on the organization (Singh, 1990; Sanchez-Garcia & Curras-Perez, 2011). As such, consumer complaint behavior has attracted attention in the marketing literature (Singh, 1988) and its value for retaining customers in the hospitality industry has been well acknowledged (Snellman & Vihtkari, 2003). Kelley and Davis (1994) demonstrated a strong relationship between dissatisfaction with complaint handling and both customer trust as well as commitment to an organization. Studies also show that complaint behavior is related to demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and education level (Han, Keng, & Richmond, 1995); cultural background (Au, Buhalis, & Law, 2009; J. H. Huang, Huang, & Wu, 1996; Liu & McClure, 2001); and motive (Ro & Wong, 2012). As such, if they want to secure repeat business, tourism and hotel managers need a good understanding of how customer complaints work. Complaints are traditionally channeled through written communication or face-to-face interactions with the staff of an organization. However, with the rise of Web 2.0 and review forums, customers can now easily make


250

N. Au et al.

their complaints online for the entire world to see. Sometimes they include photographs or videos as evidence (Buhalis & Law, 2008; Chung & Buhalis, 2008). Blogs and Facebook, for example, are very important sources of recommendations about specific destinations for international travelers (Litvin, Goldsmith, & Pan, 2008). They also provide important social and hedonic benefits to the travel community (Wang & Fesenmaier, 2004b). The online population in China has increased substantially, from 630,000 in early 1997 to almost 420 million by mid-2010 (Internet Fundamental Data, 2010). Despite the importance of online forums, the issue of online complaint management has received limited attention from academic researchers and the industry (Zaugg, 2006). The impact of Web 2.0, especially social media, has created an unprecedented level of interconnectedness and interdependence across national boundaries. The potential demand from China’s enormous online population and its cultural background make this an advantageous environment for digital revolution. Web 2.0 is changing the way that people interact, and offers Chinese people unprecedented freedom to voice their opinions and demonstrate their individuality, acts that were not previously so permissible (M. Y. Zhang & Stening, 2010). Perhaps the online travel community will even challenge traditional Confucian values of collectivism and harmonious relationships, and this can have profound implications for tourism and hospitality management in China. Although many hotel companies are increasingly exploring the Chinese market and the use of Web 2.0, only a handful of studies so far have explored cultural differences in complaining behavior in the hotel industry (Ngai, Heung, Wong, & Chan, 2007). Even fewer have focused on online hotel complaints (Au et al., 2009). A study conducted by Au et al. (2010), for example, examined the differences in online complaints made by Chinese travelers and those from other countries for Hong Kong hotels. Given the growing trends in the Chinese market and travelers’ use of social media, an analysis of the kinds of hotel complaints posted online by Chinese and nonChinese customers, and the factors affecting their online behavior, would be a useful foundation for formulating business strategies and future research. Using content analysis of data collected from two popular travel review websites (TripAdvisor and Ctrip), the main objectives of this study were firstly to analyze the types of complaints found on e-channels for Chinese hotels, and secondly to examine the impact that culture and other factors have on the intention to complain electronically. This article considers China’s long history and unique culture, among other factors, to gain an insight into how well hotels in China are fulfilling the needs of both Chinese and non-Chinese customers.


251

LITERATURE REVIEW


Complaints Behavior in the Hotel Industry Hirschman (1970) proposed that customers have three types of reactions when they are dissatisfied with a product, namely exit, voice, and loyalty. Exit is the voluntary termination of an exchange relationship. Voice involves complaining directly to the company or a third party, such as friends and family. Loyalty suggests that the customer continuously consume the unsatisfactory product and hoping the situation will improve. Prior research has demonstrated that dissatisfaction does not necessarily result in complaining. Albrecht and Zemke (1996) stated that only 5% of dissatisfied customers actually make a complaint, because they are not willing to take the time and trouble to do so or to engage in uncomfortable conversations. This may be particularly true for tourists, who usually not only have limited time to spend but are also unfamiliar with the local language and complaining procedure at the destination (Ekiz, 2009). Although hotels never look forward to getting complaints from their customers, such queries do provide valuable information for management about what areas need to be improved. In fact, effective complaint management could have a dramatic impact on customer satisfaction, retention rates and promote a positive image of the company (Harrison-Walker, 2001), which could ultimately strengthen a hotel’s competitiveness. Over the past decade, complaints have been a popular topic in hospitality research. One area of interest is related to the factors affecting customer complaint behavior. A structural equation modeling analysis in the study of J. H. Kim and Chen (2010) revealed that convenience of complaining, consumer involvement with a dining experience and perceived self-importance are all related to complaint intention. To a certain extent, the organization itself can facilitate voiced complaints in order to collect valuable information for subsequent service recovery or future service design improvement. In addition to making complaint procedures convenient, offering service guarantees, regardless of it being unconditional or combined, is found to be another effective method to encourage voice. Yet the level of failure severity is found to have the strongest influence on complaint behavior (McQuiken & Robertson, 2011). Another area of interest is associated with the kind of channels adopted for making a complaint. In the pre-Web 2.0 era, a telephone hotline was a commonly used complaint option for hotel guests (Tantawy & Losekoot, 2001). In contrast, restaurant customers more often convey their dissatisfaction by complaining face-to-face to the management (Su & Bowen, 2001; Lam & Tang, 2003). Some more highly engaged complainants may even take their grievance publicly by raising it with the government and media (Lam & Tang, 2003).


252

N. Au et al.

The motivation behind making a complaint is also of interest. Often, the so-called opportunistic complaints are essentially fraudulent in nature and are raised to take financial advantage of a company’s service recovery efforts. Based on an analysis of 358 incidents in a hotel and restaurant service context, Ro and Wong (2012) showed that customers use tangible products more often than intangible services as a source of complaint for such opportunistic gains. Whether or not complaints are legitimate, the authors highlight the importance of setting up a database to capture their content for further examination and to be used in formulating guidelines for quality improvement and complaint management. The relationship between the sociodemographic background of complainants and their complaint behavior is another popular topic of study. To demonstrate, it has been shown that young people are the dominant complaining group among all age segments (Wildes & Seo, 2001; Lam & Tang, 2003). Those who are well educated and high earners tend to be more demanding as they are often more experienced consumers (Wildes & Seo, 2001). They further show that people accompanied by children are apt to be less patient and to complain more about the speed of service delivery. However, it is interesting that younger and less well-off customers are more likely to consider repatronizing despite their dissatisfaction (Wildes & Seo, 2001). Sujithamrak and Lam (2005) pointed out that the relationship between age and complaint behavior may depend on regional culture, after discovering that older customers tended to take private action to complain more often than their younger compatriots. However, it is important to note that these studies were carried out in the context of U.S. restaurant business so the question of whether the findings hold true for hotels in other countries and cultures remain open. There were several prior studies that focus on service recovery or complaint handling strategy. For example, researchers explored how the three major compliance-gaining theories can be applied to help human resources personnel properly handle the complaining processes (Matusitz & Breen, 2009); and how service recovery satisfaction is related to justice perception, with data collected in Korea (T. Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2009) and in Norway (Svari, Svensson, Slatten, & Edvardsson, 2010). Kim and Chen (2010) even proposed an integrated conceptual framework of service recovery process in relation to customer complaint behavior.

Culture and Complaints Culture is a major factor that affects complaining behavior. Hofstede (1980, p. 260) defines culture as the “collective programming of the mind which distinguishes one group of people from another.” Firstly, culture may shape customers’ preferences for certain aspects of products/services and how they



253

should be delivered (DeFranco, Wortman, Lam, & Countryman, 2005; Mattila, 1999). A study conducted by Fong and Burton (2006) showed that it is more challenging to sell Japanese branded products to Chinese-speaking customers than other customers. B. S. Liu, Sudharshan, and Hamer (2000) stated that customers from different cultures assign various importance values to the five service quality (SERVQUAL) dimensions of service quality. For example, Japanese business travelers place more importance on the availability of personalized services (such as butlers) and on psychological safety than American tourists do (Ahmed & Krohn, 1992). Similarly, Mattila (1999) suggests that Western consumers might be more likely than Asians to judge service quality based on the physical environment. Another study shows that Australian tourists consider personnel and cultural safety in the service experience more important than Mandarinspeaking tourists (Turner, Reisinger, & McQuilken, 2001). In some situations, customers from different cultural backgrounds may react differently to service responsiveness. For instance, Indonesians believe that service may occur over an extended time period and being in a hurry is an indication of impatience; whereas Koreans and Australians view punctuality as a measure of professionalism (Reisinger & Turner, 2002). Therefore, businesses that are deficient in any of these aspects may disappoint customers from particular cultures. Secondly, apart from the differences in what might trigger the desire to complain, cultural differences are critical in determining whether customers actually raise complaints when they are dissatisfied (DeFranco et al., 2005; Chebat, Kerzazi, & Zourrig, 2010; Yuksel, Kilinc, & Yuksel, 2006). Hofstede (2009) proposed that cultures mainly differ along four dimensions, including power distance, individualism versus collectivism (I/C), masculinity versus femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. The I/C dimension in particular is associated with fundamental differences in consumer behavior between Eastern and Western cultures (Patterson & Smith, 2003). Liu and McClure (2001) find that customers from cultures that are low in individualism or high in uncertainty avoidance (such as Asian ones) tend not to complain even if they receive poor service. Similar conclusions can also be drawn from a study conducted by Yuksel et al. (2006), showing that Turkish tourists, coming from a culture where individualism is relatively weak, compared to their Israeli counterparts, will feel sad after making a complaint as they consider it may harm the employees in some way. On the other hand, coming from a culture characterized by high uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and long-term orientation, Reisinger and Turner (1999) showed that the Japanese think explicit complaining is socially undesirable because it destroys consensus and harmonious relationships. Interestingly, however, they tend to give praise freely when they receive good service. This is also true in the tourism industry. Ngai et al. (2007) revealed that Asian guests are less likely to complain because of the fear of “losing face.”


254

N. Au et al.

The definition of “face” involves a reciprocal relationship of respect and courtesy to and from one’s counterparts (Buttery & Leung, 1998). Asian guests are also less familiar with the channels for complaining than nonAsian customers, but are more likely to take private action, such as making negative WOM comments to friends. The two cultural dimensions of I/C and uncertainty avoidance are often found to have a significant impact on complaint behavior (Baker, Meyer, & Chebat, 2011). However, it is not clear yet whether this is also found in social media where interaction has shifted from face-to-face to a “faceless” mode. The fact that user-generated content on the Internet and social media is generally open access and relatively anonymous may create new motivations for posting about hotel experiences.

Chinese Culture and Complaints To date, very little research has focused specifically on cultural values and complaint behavior in the Chinese context. Hofstede (1980, 2007) as well as Tsaur, Lin, and Wu (2005) characterize the Chinese as having high power distance and long-term orientation, low individualism, and moderate uncertainty avoidance. This suggests that Chinese society fosters strong relationships, accepts high levels of inequality of power, and tends to overcome obstacles with time rather than with will and strength. Such characteristics are confirmed in the studies conducted by Wong, Wong, Hui, and Law (2001) and Hoare and Butcher (2007). Compared with other East Asian countries, China has a significantly higher power distance, which usually goes along with a higher level of inequality of power and wealth in society (Hofstede, 2009), and thus scores slightly lower than the Asian average on the individualism dimension. The low individualism ranking may be partly attributed, to China’s history of communist rule and its heavy emphasis on a collectivist society. Loyalty tends to permeate collectivist cultures since these cultures foster strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. The unique cultural values of Chinese society help identify which factors are most important to their perceptions of product quality, as well as their propensity to complain. It also helps specify which behaviors are acceptable and which should be avoided. Ho (1980) described Chinese as being very face conscious in social interaction, perhaps because of their high power distance. To avoid upsetting interpersonal relationships, people have to allow others to keep face. Chiu et al. (2001) showed that Chinese are less likely to complain, especially when doing that would involve a direct personal confrontation with the responsible party. This is because not demanding a better solution after a service failure can be perceived as giving face to others. In some cases, it can also be seen as a way of saving face for themselves for picking an inferior product in the first place. This partly explains why Chinese tend to praise the products they have purchased (if they are good)


255

instead of complaining (if the products are not good) in front of their friends (Zhao & Mo, 2002). Heung and Lam (2003) also suggested that the Chinese tend to adopt an unassertive style of communication, which often leads to avoidance or silence even if they are dissatisfied. However, the Internet may change this dynamic by providing a safer alternative channel that allows people to make their complaints while avoiding direct contact with the other parties involved.


Web 2.0 Technologies and Complaint Behaviors Web 2.0, also known as the “interactive web,” refers to the second generation of web-based communities and hosted services available on the worldwide web that allows people to generate content, collaborate, and share information online (Hsu & Hsu, 2008). The content generated by Web 2.0 users, also called user-generated content (UGC), is having an impact on the decisionmaking behavior of Internet users and the e-business models that tourism businesses need to develop (Fotis, Buhalis, & Rossides, 2011, Sigala, 2009; Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, 2011). Early work in this area sought to develop a fundamental understanding of online communities by focusing on concepts and definitions (Preece, 2000). Subsequent studies have addressed factors affecting participation in online travel communities (Wang & Fesenmaier, 2004a) and usage (Cox, Burgess, Sellitto, & Buultjens, 2009). More recently, a focus on implications for travel decisions (Arsal, Backman, & Baldwin, 2008; C. Y. Huang, Chou, & Lin, 2010) highlights the importance for industry practitioners of paying close attention to negative comments posted on these interactive websites. Several newly established cyber-intermediaries have already had a great impact on tourism demand and supply. To tourism product suppliers, these sites help collect customer comments. Companies that make good use of the information can enhance customer satisfaction, generating an online reputation (Pan, MacLaurin, & Crotts, 2007). Examples of review sites in the tourism industry include TripAdvisor.com, Ctrip.com, holidaycheck.com, and gazetters.com. Some intermediaries, such as booking.com, also use proprietary reviews from their customers. These services can encourage or discourage travelers visiting particular destinations, hotels, attractions or companies, and exchange and even collaborate with others online. Because the information provided on these review sites mainly consists of stories based on personal experiences, readers find them more convincing and credible. Many research studies have discovered a significant relationship between UGC and travel behavior. Gretzel, Yoo, and Purifoy (2007) as well as Zheng et al. (2009), for example, show that more than half of the readers of travel websites found the comments useful and took them into account while deciding what to buy. Arsal et al. (2008) used thematic networks to analyze the influence of online community members’ postings on travel decisions and


256

N. Au et al.

show that experienced travelers are more influential than inexperienced ones in terms of their suggestions for accommodation, transportation, and financial issues. In addition, customers tend to have little tolerance for delayed responses from hotels to their online complaints (Mattila & Mount, 2003). Among prior studies on tourism and hospitality, only a few articles on online complaining behavior have been published. C. C. Lee and Hu (2004) analyzed the content of 222 hotel customers’ online complaints (on Complaints.com). They show that 75% of the failures fell into five categories, namely: the service provided differed from what had been agreed upon, the service declined in quality, customer service representatives were rude, the service was never actually provided, and there was an overcharging. All of these failures involve service delivery. A similar study conducted by Zheng et al. (2009) sorted 504 online comments from hotel customers on TripAdvisor into five categories; rooms, service, value, cleanliness, and dining. In another study, Vermeulen and Seegers (2008) show that positive online hotel reviews have a significant impact on travelers’ decision making for lesser-known hotels. Lastly, Au et al. (2009) analyzed 453 individual hotel complaints on TripAdvisor and show they generally fell into nine categories; service quality, space, cleanliness, facilities, bedding, price, provision of amenities, décor, and miscellaneous. Recent studies have tended to focus more on motivation for posting complaints online (Sparks & Browning, 2010), forms of complaint (Sparks & Browning, 2010; Vasquez, 2011) and how online reviews affect hotel booking intentions and perceived trust (Sparks & Browning, 2011). These findings show that complaining online seems to occur in response to hotels’ failure to adequately resolve an initial face-to-face complaint (including minor service failures). Hence, posting of complaints is most likely to be a result of venting or revenge, and these postings tend to coexist with advice and recommendations. In terms of their structure, many complaints contain information about the time, context, and place of the triggering event, with a clear evaluation of the incident. These reviews have also been shown to have a significant impact on booking intention and perceived trust in hotel companies, particularly if they are positively framed and accompanied by easy to process numerical ratings. However, to date only a limited number of studies have investigated how these relationships might vary between online customers of different nationalities and from different cultures.

METHODOLOGY Hotel reviews recently posted by Chinese users on Ctrip and by non-Chinese users on TripAdvisor were collected. Ctrip is the leading provider of hotel accommodation, airline tickets, and packaged tours in China. The site has



257

experienced substantial growth and is now one of the best-known and leading travel brands in China for reserving hotel rooms and air tickets. In 2006, Ctrip booked an astonishing 5.45 million hotel stay nights; the next most popular site, eLong, booked just 2.53 million (L. Zhang & Zhang, 2008). In 2009, China’s total online travel booking revenue increased to US$548 million, representing an annual increase of 27.2%, and 55.6% of this was contributed by Ctrip (Fu, 2010). Unlike TripAdvisor, reviews posted on Ctrip are predominantly from Chinese travelers for two reasons. Firstly, almost all complaints are written in simplified Chinese language. Secondly, only members with a mobile phone number registered in China are allowed to post reviews on the site. TripAdvisor was set up in early 2000 by the company behind Expedia. It was chosen for this study because of its large coverage of travel destinations and accommodation reviews (Law, 2006). Each month, TripAdvisor attracts more than 40 million unique visitors; it has 20 million members and over 40 million people have posted reviews and opinions (TripAdvisor, 2010). This site therefore provides information for millions of prospective travelers before they decide where to stay. TripAdvisor’s primary goal is to provide unbiased travel recommendations. The site indexes hotels from most cities worldwide and allows travelers to post reviews of them. The Chinese hotels selected in this study are all in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, designated as official tourist cities because of their beauty, historical sites, and business significance. According to the Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics 2009, they have been among the top tourist destinations in China for many years. The hotels on both websites can be viewed according to their popularity, room rates, or class. During the data collection period, reviews were sorted in ascending order on the basis of member rating. To ensure efficiency and proper representation of complaint data for each selected hotel, a maximum of 10 reviews (with details of the complaint) for each, starting from the lowest rating, were extracted for analysis. Reviews consisting of ratings alone with no textual content were excluded. In total, 445 usable individual reviews (complaints) from Ctrip covering 44 different hotels in Beijing, 25 in Guangzhou, and 46 in Shanghai were collected and analyzed over a 6-month period from January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010. TripAdvisor had significantly fewer reviews of Chinese hotels. So to ensure a similar number of complaints was captured for meaningful comparison, a total of 377 usable reviews on 34 hotels in Beijing, 14 in Guangzhou, and 37 in Shanghai were collected and analyzed over the 12-month period from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Content analysis of the data was then carried out. The coding scheme was based on previous research using subjective evaluation of content. Subjective (as opposed to automatic) coding is particularly appropriate in this study for two major reasons. Firstly, the reviews on Ctrip are all written in Chinese, and so far no appropriate qualitative analysis software has been


258

N. Au et al.

developed for analyzing the Chinese language. Secondly, understanding the tone and hidden meaning is critical in order to identify whether or not a post is actually a complaint. Expert interpretation is also required to capture the richness of the responses. The process of content analysis was based on the guidelines of Churchill (1987) and Berg (2007). The text extracted from the websites was first synthesized and coded by two experienced coders both with more than 10 years of management experience in hotel operations and handling customer-related issues, who are also experienced hospitality and tourism researchers. Then they independently categorized the data into different complaint categories following the approach adopted by previous studies by Gu and Ryan (2008) and Au et al. (2009), as well as their own analysis of the hidden meanings. For example, similar keywords or phrases such as “dirty tap water,” “stained carpets,” and “sticky” were classified into the theme or major category of cleanliness. Further words relating to specific physical areas such as the bins, toilets, and hallways were then coded as various subcategories, such as guest room and public areas. The idea of this was to determine the principal factor that had led to the complaint both inductively and deductively (Strauss, 1987). Differences in categorization between the coders were discussed until a consensus was reached. The correlations reflecting agreement between the coders were calculated. The intercoder reliability was checked using Krippendorff’s Alpha (Krippendorff, 2004), which was 0.80, indicating a high level of agreement between the two coders. To further ensure the reliability and validity of the categorization process, as suggested by Kassarjian (1977), the coding scheme and complaint categories were then carefully checked and refined by another experienced academic researcher. The complaints were classified into 11 different major categories, including service quality, space, cleanliness, facilities, location, noise, food, price, provision of amenities, décor, and miscellaneous. Each major category contained around 10% or more of the total cases from both sites. Service quality, miscellaneous, space, and cleanliness were further classified into subcategories when appropriate. Each complaint category and subcategory consists of lists of keywords closely associated with them. Additionally, information on room rates, number of rooms, and demographic information on the travelers was collected for further examination using a two-way contingency table analysis.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Major Complaint Categories After careful examination of the reviews, especially the holistic meaning within the context, data “chunks” were located, sorted, and classified into the categories identified above. Table 1 shows the key phrases from comments


259

TABLE 1 Classification of Categories of Travelers’ Complaints Posted on Web 2.0 Complaint category Service

Subcategory Service experience Courtesy Responsiveness


Competency Personal interaction Miscellaneous

Bedding Smell

Space Cleanliness

Pest View Others Space in general Guest room Toilet Cleanliness in general Guest room Public areas Toilet

Location Noise Food

Facilities

Price Provision of Amenities Décor

Keywords and sample complaints Lack of service staff; passive serving; find excuses for mistakes made; lax service staff Poor attitude; little smiling; no greetings; arrogant; inappropriate dress; unhelpful; rude; not friendly; lack of charm Staff were confused; poor communication skills; slow or refused to help; lazy Lack of product knowledge; lack of common knowledge; poor English Feel disrespected and discriminated against; impolite; impatient; inconsistent responses; money-minded; lack of enthusiasm Mattress too soft/hard; bed too small; pillow too hard; got skin allergy; blanket not warm enough Stinky/moldy smelling bedroom and corridor; smell of residual cigarette smoke; bad odors Mosquitoes Crowded view; no sea view Keycard for guest lift can go to any floor Room too small Small space between beds Small toilet space Old and dirty hotel; unclean staff uniform Rubbish left in bin; cigarette ash left on carpet; stained carpets; chipped dresser with sticky drawers Products blocking the fire exit door; dirty hallways Smelly; dirty tap water; stains on towel; soap scum on showerhead; stains on bath and shower curtain; hair on bath Difficult to locate; remote; long way to walk Poor sound-proofing; noisy air-conditioner; street noise; noise from corridor Nothing special; no value for money; small portion size; limited varieties; staff only recommend expensive food items; no food refills for breakfast buffet at 10:30 a.m.; juice tastes bitter Hot water not hot enough; old fashioned/primitive design; air-conditioner not cold; cracks found in bathroom sink; television has poor reception; no air-conditioning in corridor Not value for money; expensive Shower gel and hand soap not good or not provided; toilet paper too rough Rough; color too cool; lacks luxurious feel; not practical; room is dark; décor was dated

260

N. Au et al.

TABLE 2 Cases of E-Complaints on Ctrip and TripAdvisor by Complaint Categories


Non-Chinese (from TripAdvisor) Complaint category

Subcategory

Service quality

Service experience Courtesy Responsiveness Competency Personal interaction Others

Subtotal Miscellaneous

Subtotal Space Subtotal Cleanliness

Subtotal Location Noise Food Facilities Price Provision of amenities Décor

Others Bedding Smell Pest View Space in general Guest room Bathroom General cleanliness Guest room Public areas Toilet Others

Chinese (from Ctrip)

% of total % of total Cases (n = 377) Cases (n = 445)

Difference % of total

61 33 33 53 18 8 206 10 29 25 2 9 75 15 41 11 67 25 27 4 11 0 67 59 41 49 108 109 42

16.2 8.8 8.8 14.1 4.8 2.1 54.6 2.7 7.7 6.6 0.5 2.4 19.9 4.0 10.9 2.9 17.8 6.6 7.2 1.1 2.9 0 17.8 15.7 10.9 13.0 28.7 28.9 11.1

73 26 37 30 6 15 187 11 24 35 11 13 94 15 52 7 74 9 19 8 15 0 51 32 55 65 107 44 44

16.4 5.8 8.3 6.7 1.4 3.4 42.0 2.5 5.4 7.9 2.5 2.9 21.1 3.4 11.7 1.6 16.6 2.0 4.3 1.8 3.4 0 11.5 7.2 12.4 14.6 24.0 10.0 9.9

+0.2 −3.0 −0.5 −7.4 −3.4 +1.3 −12.6 −0.2 −2.3 +1.3 +2.0 +0.5 +1.2 −0.6 +0.8 −1.3 −1.2 −4.6 −2.9 +0.7 +0.5 0 −6.3 −8.5 +1.5 +1.6 −4.7 −18.9 −1.2

105

27.9

102

22.9

−5.0

classified in different categories and subcategories. Table 2 shows the number and percentage of cases in the 11 major categories or factors that motivated customers to post negative comments online, namely service quality, space, cleanliness, location, noise, food, facilities, price, provision of amenities, décor, and miscellaneous. Table 2 shows that, in general, service quality is the dominant complaint category, representing 42% of all cases for the Chinese and over 54% for non-Chinese customers. This suggests that service quality demonstrates the biggest shortfall in customers’ perceptions; it may also mean that service quality is what customers care most about during their stay. The


261

following selected (translated) posts illustrate complaints about the general service offered by the hotels: The business centre is very badly serviced, booking the meeting room was pricey, as was printing and photocopying; although this is to be expected in international hotels, one does expect the facilities to work properly.


The doormen didn’t give me a hand with my luggage in the entrance hall. They just stood there and chatted with each other.

Décor and facilities were the next two complaint categories showing relatively high counts (> 22%) for both Chinese and non-Chinese customers, although the latter comprised about 5% more in each category. This suggests that the exterior and interior décor of the hotels generally did not meet customers’ expectations. Though customers’ preference on décor can be very subjective and may vary from one individual to another, it is interesting that nonetheless there appears to be cultural differences in terms of how much attention Chinese and non-Chinese customers paid to the décor. This seems to be consistent with a study conducted by Emir (2011) in which German tourists tended to make more complaints about the atmosphere in a Turkish hotel restaurant than customers of other nationalities. The findings of this study show that Chinese customers frequently criticized the lack of a luxurious feeling in the exterior and interior décor, and did not seem to like traditional Chinese decor. For example: The hotel lobby doesn’t look grand enough . . . the luxury suite was big enough, but not luxurious enough. . . . After I moved into the room I discovered it was Chinese-style décor (and I don’t like this type of style), and the furniture was a dark reddish color.

The non-Chinese guests, on the other hand, seemed to focus more on practical use of the facilities. This can be seen from complaints like: “the rooms need refurbishing,” “the lighting is totally inadequate,” and “the décor was a bit dated but adequate.” This supports the proposition that the high individualism of Western culture encourages people to focus more on individual needs, whereas the Chinese seem to care more about external appearance and the impression projected to others. The work of Gu and Ryan (2008) also supports the idea that the external appearance of the hotel is one of the main determinants of satisfaction among Chinese customers. Complaints about facilities were common for both Chinese and nonChinese guests, mainly resulting from problems like worn carpets and furniture, poorly performing air conditioners, and a lack of new technologies such as LCD TVs.


262

N. Au et al.

Among the 11 major complaint categories, cleanliness received the lowest percentage of complaints from both Chinese and non-Chinese guests, yet it still requires serious attention from management. Examples of common complaints include stained carpets (including with cigarette ash) and shower curtains, sticky drawers, dirty hallways, and dirty water. This suggests there could be issues not only for staff training and the budget for hardware replacement, but also general hotel practice given that non-smoking rooms were typically not made available in the mid-range and budget hotel categories. In contrast to Au et al.’s (2010) analysis of online complaints about Hong Kong hotels, this study identifies location, noise, and food as additional major complaint categories. This implies that noise and poor food quality are other areas of concern for hotels in China, as reflected in comments such as, “During the night, the ventilation kept making a high-pitched sound,” “Poor soundproofing of rooms and windows,” “Housekeepers regularly vacuum and talk to each other outside rooms well before eight a.m.,” “Breakfast was just as bad. Half-cooked eggs,” “The coffee was obviously a powdered mix and the price was 300 RMB,” and: I’m not sure if the people next door were having some kind of celebration, but they were so noisy that no one could sleep. We called the hotel a few times to have them take care of it, but it wasn’t until nearly midnight that they finally restrained themselves!

It can be seen that these problems are caused by a combination of substandard maintenance and construction, inconsiderate behavior from staff and other guests, insufficient training of staff, and a lack of awareness of the quality expected by customers in that price range.

Major Differences Between Chinese and Non-Chinese Guests When examining the differences between the Chinese and non-Chinese guests in terms of number of complaints, it can be seen that the former (using Ctrip) complained less than the latter (using TripAdvisor) across most categories. The two categories showing the biggest such difference were price (10% for Chinese vs. 28.9% non-Chinese) and location (7.2% vs. 15.6%). The relatively low number of price complaints from Chinese guests could be explained by the cultural element of face, particularly when staying in high-end luxury hotels with friends or family (Chiu, Tsang, & Yang, 2001). To make a complaint of this nature implies that a consumer is not willing or generous enough to pay for a good hotel. With the growing popularity of social media, online posts can be easily seen and spread through electronic WOM. This is supported by the fact that no complaints were posted by Chinese guests in the very top hotel category (RMB > 1,400 per



263

night) and less than 10% of the total complaints were about hotels in the RMB1,100–1,399 price band. With regards to location, it is likely that non-Chinese customers, who are mostly foreign travelers, will be less familiar with the location than the locals. They might have different needs and expectations about what is considered good value for money. Hence, most complaints from non-Chinese guests were about the high prices charged by the hotel restaurants and the inconvenient location of the hotel, with few shops nearby, leaving them with little choice but to dine there. The Chinese, on the other hand, complained mainly about not getting the best room rates from Ctrip and the remoteness of the hotels (as opposed to them being merely inconvenient or having few shops nearby). Chinese customers probably know how to get around better and find local restaurants offering good value for money without worrying about linguistic barriers. While service quality was the largest complaint category, Chinese guests made fewer complaints about the competency of staff (6.7% vs. 14.1%), personal interaction (1.3% vs. 4.8%), and courtesy (5.8% vs. 8.8%). Chinese customers may be well aware of the generally low standards of Chinese hotel service. As such, they have more realistic expectations, be more accommodating, and place less emphasis on interaction quality, especially in terms of communication skills as described by Hoare and Butcher (2008). One important difference is that most complaints about staff competence made by non-Chinese guests were related to their poor English. However, this probably does not completely explain the discrepancy. Chinese culture respects seniority and superiority in a social hierarchy (M. Y. Zhang & Stening, 2010), especially in the presence of non-Chinese where face is called into question. When applied to the customer-employee relationship, this kind of mentality finds expression in comments such as: I was sitting and discussing business with friends, [and] I saw all the Westerners around us were served complimentary fruit. Only our table of Chinese people didn’t have one. I don’t mind whether or not they give us a plate of fruit, but it was that I felt deeply that they were a hotel focused on serving foreigners and they didn’t care about Chinese people’s feelings at all!

Significant Relationships Between Categories of Complaint and Other Factors A two-way contingency table analysis was conducted using the SPSS software. Table 3 shows the significant relationships found between background factors and propensity to make online complaints across different categories. It can be seen that the type of travel partner (χ 2 = 47.41, p = .023) and the reviewer’s age (χ 2 = 37.79, p = .036) both have a significant relationship

264

N. Au et al.

TABLE 3 Significant Relationships Between Tendency to Complain Across Different Complaint Categories and Other Factors TripAdvisor (n = 350)


Complaint category

Travel partner

Reviewer’s age

47.41 .023 30

37.79 .036 24

Service Quality

χ2 P df

Miscellaneous

χ2 P df

Space

χ2 P df

29.40 .003 12

Food

χ2 P df

18.14 .001 4

Price

χ2 P df

Ctrip (n = 445) Room rate Room rate

41.54 .003 20

Number of rooms

62.92 .000 30

44.26 .007 24

54.48 .001 25

31.74 .046 20

23.85 65) only made 4% of the total complaints. This implies that customers on business trips, most of whom are likely to be middle age, are more conscious of the level of service being delivered. This may not be surprising since they may tend to be frequent travelers who are fully aware of the minimum acceptable standard of service. The tendency for Chinese guests to complain about hotel services varied by room rate (p < .000) and the size of the hotel in terms of number of rooms (p < .007). The majority of complaints were made about hotels with less than 299 rooms charging RMB200–499 (31%) and RMB500–799 (40%) per night. It is interesting to see that both low- (below RMB199) and high-end hotels (more than RMB1,400) received only 4% and 5% of the total complaints, respectively. This suggests that high-end hotels, which are mostly internationally branded and foreign-owned, have better management and quality control (Mak, 2008). It also provides further support for the idea that Chinese are reluctant to complain in order to avoid losing face when they are spending a lot of money for a luxury hotel. Such behavior is more likely to happen if the guest is a regular or VIP customer. This is to ensure that the customer’s



265

relationship with the hotel is not purposely upset. For budget hotels, it is likely that a decent room with minimal service will be enough to keep customers happy. The major issues seem to be with midlevel, two- to three-star hotels, typically with less than 299 rooms, which made up more than 80% of the total hotel market in China in 2007. Hotels in this range received most complaints about service quality and miscellaneous issues (p = .046), such as bad smells, poor view, uncomfortable bedding, and pests. Midrange hotels were also more likely to receive complaints about price (p < .000). For non-Chinese guests, reactions appear to vary with reviewers’ age in the case of space (p = .003) and food (p = .001). Customers in the 25 to 34 age group made the highest percentage of complaints (49%) about room space, whereas the 56 to 64 age group complained most (42%) about food quality. Perhaps non-Chinese customers expect to try a greater variety of food, particularly local Chinese dishes. Travelers aged 56–64 have more life experience and will be knowledgeable enough to appreciate good food. Hence they are more likely to be dissatisfied when the food falls short of their expectations, especially where local chefs are inexperienced at cooking Western food.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS This study has identified three further major complaint categories in addition to those found in Au et al.’s (2009) study of Hong Kong hotels. The results indicate that Chinese hotels clearly need to focus more on location, noise, and food quality in order to secure repeat business. They may be able to alleviate problems by installing soundproofed windows, monitoring food purchasing and chef recruitment, and providing free shuttle bus transportation between major traffic hubs and hotels. However, service quality is still the core customer expectation for Chinese hotels. These findings echo the study of Chinese budget hotels by Hua et al. (2009), which suggests that service quality is one of the main determinants of customer satisfaction. Customers’ age, type of companion, culture, room rates, and hotel size all play a critical role in affecting product satisfaction and hence in the number of online complaints. These findings have important implications for hotel operators and tourism investors who plan to establish or expand their businesses in China, especially if they are targeting Chinese leisure or business travelers. Traditionally, many strategic decisions are based on a statistical analysis of hotel performance using indicators such as occupancy, average daily rate, and revenue per room (Pine & Phillips, 2005). Nowadays, however, careful thought should be given to specific segments of the target market whose preferences on product or service offering will vary by age and traveling partner. The size and class of a hotel will also affect customers’ expectations of product performance. Having more detailed and credible


266

N. Au et al.

complaint data from customers on popular online channels would certainly give more accurate reflections of their perspectives on performance. The results also demonstrate that there are indeed significant differences in complaint behavior between Chinese and non-Chinese guests. The relatively low percentage of complaints from Chinese, and their accommodating reactions to pricing issues in top luxury hotels, both suggest the traditional culture of face exists in the online Chinese community as well. Familiarity with the local environment and culture also makes customers more adaptable and understanding about problems with their stay. It is therefore crucial that managers are aware that just because Chinese customers have not complained does not necessarily mean they are satisfied. On the other hand, managers in hotels targeting Westerners should be aware of cultural differences in terms of their likes and dislikes. These findings suggest the food should be of high quality in order to meet Western guests’ expectations, especially those in middle age. The guest rooms should be of reasonable size and the practical use of amenities should be considered at the design stage. Furthermore, maps that provide guidance and essential information about the surrounding restaurants and attractions should be distributed to guests upon arrival. Notwithstanding the above, Web 2.0 may gradually replace traditional Chinese values with a new set of values, particularly for the younger generation. Web 2.0 has caused a paradigm shift in people’s mindset and the way we communicate and socialize with each other. Its impact on China is even more evident because the country has such a large base of users, which can reach critical mass to facilitate mass collaboration. The digital revolution has empowered Chinese with an unparalleled freedom to voice their opinions, changing their roles from information recipients to generators. While the current results did not reveal such a phenomenon for Chinese visitors due to the lack of data about reviewer age on Ctrip, significant relationships do exist between age and number of complaints for non-Chinese guests based on the TripAdvisor data. Hence in conjunction with the rapid growth of mobile devices, online social networking could become an integral part of many people’s lives and a natural extension of personal communication in China (M. Y. Zhang & Stening, 2010). For many young Chinese socializing online is now a substitute for real-life social interaction. This can be seen from the rapid growth in the number of microblog users registered on Sina.com from 50 million in October 2010 (Kyle, 2010) to 140 million in April 2011 (CIW, 2011). Eventually, the strong reliance on traditional guanxi (relationship networks) may be replaced by reliance on virtual relationships that are developed via social media between people that have never met in person. Furthermore, the fact that people in the digital world can remain anonymous—or at least post under an assumed identity—may reduce power distance in China. People may come to value online opinions more by the strength of their argument than by the age, position, or seniority of the



267

people who post them. In particular, more people from the affluent young generation—the so-called “post-80s and 90s” groups—are studying abroad and embracing Western values more readily than their parents. They are less burdened by traditional Chinese culture and have their own set of diverse values. Accordingly, the Chinese market is likely to become highly fragmented, made up with different age groups, and with different mentalities and expectations about product quality and service standards. This is evident from the significant relationship between reviewers’ age and complaints for the non-Chinese guests in the study. The sustainable growth of China’s hotel and tourism market in the coming decades means that multinational companies’ success or failure may well depend on their ability to capture the growth. One strategy suggested by this study is for companies to finely segment their marketing strategy by age, income, or type of travel. Previous studies have shown that China’s state-run hotels have had problems in product differentiation, market segmentation and brand development (Cai, 2004; Cai, Zhang, Pearson, & Bai, 2000). Such a weakness is also evident on their hotel websites (Hsu, Zhu, & Agrusa, 2004). Companies should bear in mind that even a niche market in China may consist of millions of people. Web 2.0 provides a vibrant channel for Westerners to better understand what the public (or target segment) is thinking and respond to their needs, which is critical for forming appropriate business models to capture this market. In fact, leveraging the collective attitudes of customers has the potential to create more customer value and more innovative products than ever before. Tourism and hotel companies should actively interact with customers on online platforms and encourage them to express their opinions. Given the short history of consumer culture in China, Chinese customers may not yet have developed strong brand loyalties. By interacting and responding to customers, companies can build strong brand value for their products and services. It is equally important to be aware that improper business practices can also now be widely and quickly exposed to the public, with devastating consequences. Hotels in the future may need to have the ability to undertake real-time monitoring of the services used by their customers and how they are being described on specific social media websites. Because most Chinese guests are likely to post their opinions in Chinese, it is therefore crucial that such companies employ staff who can understand the language. Although the traditional Chinese values of respect for seniority and pursuit of harmony are becoming less dominant, these changes may be good news for China’s development. After all, individual initiative for change is a cornerstone of innovation, but it often comes into conflict with the pursuit of harmony and collectivism in an organization. In the digital economy, no organization can survive without being constantly innovative and changing its business models in order to cope with the shifting environment as shaped by advanced technologies.

268

N. Au et al.


Limitations and Future Work In view of the very limited research published in Chinese on the impact of Web 2.0 and culture on complaints for Chinese hotels, the findings of this study would provide a useful framework for further theoretical development of online complaint management strategies. Based on these findings, complaining behaviors vary according to travelers’ cultural background, age, and type of travel partners. This implies such factors could also affect travelers’ complimenting behavior, which is another area worthy of further investigation. Understanding what makes customers happy is as important as knowing what makes them dissatisfied. Since service quality has been identified as the largest category of complaints in this study, future research may consider concentrating on coding service-related comments only, perhaps with reference to the SERVQUAL constructs, in order to gain insights about which specific service dimension(s) may need more attention. On the other hand, future studies could also focus on specific age groups if they are the target markets for some hotels. Such work could also be extended to other popular travel websites, online tourism products, and cultures. As reviewer age is not available from Ctrip, the use of other data collection methods to explore possible generation gaps in China could be examined in future research. More complex models can be developed to identify patterns of online complaining by different travelers from different cultural backgrounds. This will certainly help tourism and hotel managers to formulate better and more specific policies and strategies to manage online complaints. The findings should also be evaluated in the light of the limitations of this study. Firstly, it would have been impractical within the current research design to investigate every possible factor that may affect online complaint behavior. Nevertheless, it would be useful to extract and examine other wellknown antecedent factors such as perceived cost and benefit in future studies using a survey design. Second, this research is limited because it is based on data collected from the Internet, and it may not be possible to ensure the completeness and truthfulness of the complaints posted online. However, an effort was made in sampling to minimize possible bias. Also, some of these review websites maintain the integrity of their content by screening posts, enabling a segment of reviews—perhaps the most impassioned—to be captured here. Lastly, this study only analyzed complaints posted on TripAdvisor and Ctrip for Chinese hotels over two specific time periods. Certain groups of people would be excluded from the analysis. The results cannot be generalized to all online reviewers who have stayed in hotels in China. Future studies may seek to expand the sampling frame and sample size to other social media websites over a longer period of time. Lastly, compliments posted on these sites can be included for comparative analysis.


269

FUNDING This research was supported in part by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Grants 1-ZV3U and A-PK54).


REFERENCES Ahmed, Z. U., & Krohn, F. B. (1992). Understanding the unique consumer behavior of Japanese tourists. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 1(3), 73–86. Albrecht, K., & Zemke, R. (1996). Service America! Doing business in the new economy. Chicago, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin. Arsal, I., Backman, S., & Baldwin, E. (2008). Influence of an online travel community on travel decisions. In P. O’Connor, W. Hopken, & U. Gretzel (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2008 (pp. 82–93). New York, NY: Springer Wien. Au, N., Buhalis, D., & Law, R. (2009). Complaints on the online environment— the case of Hong Kong hotels. In W. Hopken, U. Gretzel, & R. Law (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in Tourism 2009 (pp. 73–85). Vienna, Switzerland: Springer-Verlag. Au, N., Law, R., & Buhalis, D. (2010). The impact of culture on e-complaints: Evidence from the Chinese consumers in hospitality organizations. In U. Gretzel, R. Law, & M. Fuchs (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2010 (pp. 285–296). Vienna, Switzerland: Springer-Verlag. Australian Tourism Data Warehouse. (2011). The Internet, Web 2.0 and the tourism industry. Retrieved from http://www.tourismtasmania.com.au/_data/assets/ pdf_file/0005/37472/Tutorial_11_-_The_Internet,_Web_2.0_And_The_Tourism_ Industry.pdf Baker, T. L., Meyer, T., & Chebat, J. C. (2011). Cultural impacts on felt and expressed emotions and third party complaint relationships. Journal of Business Research. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.06.006 Berg, B. L. (2007). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education. Buhalis, D., & Law, R. (2008). Progress in tourism management: Twenty years on and 10 years after the Internet: The state of eTourism research. Tourism Management, 29(4), 609–623. Buttery, E. A., & Leung, T. K. P. (1998). The differences between Chinese and Western negotiations. European Journal of Marketing, 32(3/4), 374–390. Cai, L. A. (2004). State-owned economy and budget hotels in China – from commodity to brand. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 9(1), 29–42. Cai, L. A., Zhang, L., Pearson, T. E., & Bai, X. (2000). Challenges for China’s staterun hotels: A marketing perspective. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 7(1), 29–46. Chebat, J. C., Kerzazi, L., & Zourrig, H. (2010). Impact of culture on dissatisfied customers: An empirical study. City, Culture and Society, 1(1), 37–44. Chen, J. (2011). China’s business travel bounces back. Retrieved from http://www. chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2011-05/05/content_12449276.htm


270

N. Au et al.

China National Tourism Administration. (2011). The yearbook of China tourism. Beijing, China: Author. China Tourism Statistics. (2009). The yearbook of China tourism statistics. Beijing, China: National Tourism Administration of the PRC. Chiu, C. Y., Tsang, S. C., & Yang, C. F. (2001). The role of face situation attitudinal antecedents in Chinese consumer complaint behavior. Journal of Social Psychology, 128(2), 173–180. Chung, J., & Buhalis, D. (2008). Information needs in online social networks. Information Technology and Tourism, 10(4), 267–282. Churchill, G. A. (1987). Market research: Methodological foundations (4th ed.). Chicago, IL: The Dryden Press. Cox, C., Burgess, S., Sellitto, C., & Buultjens, J. (2009). The role of user-generated content in tourists’ travel planning behaviour. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 18, 743–764. DeFranco, A., Wortman, J., Lam, T., & Countryman, C. (2005). A cross-cultural comparison of customer complaint behavior in restaurants in hotels. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 10(2), 173–190. Ekiz, E. H. (2009). Mapping out factors constraining tourist complaints: Hints for managers who wish to hear more. Asian Journal of Business Management, 1(1), 6–18. Emir, E. (2011). Customer complaint behaviours in Turkish hotel restaurants: An application in Lara and Kundu areas of Antalya. African Journal of Business Management, 5(11), 4239–4253. Fong, J., & Burton, S. (2006). Online word-of-mouth: A comparison of American and Chinese discussion boards. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 18(2), 146–156. Fotis, J., Buhalis, D., & Rossides, N. (2011). Social media impact on holiday travel planning: The case of the Russian and the FSU markets. International Journal of Online Marketing, 1(4), 1–19. Fu, R. (2010). Top online travel booking websites in China. Retrieved from http:// www.chinainternetwatch.com/519/top-chinese-online-travel-booking-websites Gretzel, U., Yoo, K. H., & Purifoy, M. (2007). Online travel review study: role and impact of online travel reviews. Texas A & M University. Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences. Laboratory for Intelligent Systems in Tourism. Retrieved from http://www.tripadvisor.com/pdfs/OnlineTravelReview Report.pdf Gu, H., & Ryan, C. (2008). Chinese clientele at Chinese hotels—preferences and satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27(3), 337–345. Han, S., Keng, K. A., & Richmond, D. (1995). Determinants of consumer complaint behaviour: A study of Singapore consumers. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 8(2), 59–76. Harrison-Walker, L. J. (2001). E-complaining: A content analysis of an Internet complaint forum. Journal of Services Marketing, 15(5), 397–412. Heung, C. S., & Lam, T. (2003). Customer complaint behavior towards hotel restaurant services. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 15(5), 283–289.



271

Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, voice and loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations and states. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Ho, D. Y. F. (1980). Face and stereotyped notions about Chinese face behavior. Philippine Journal of Psychology, 13, 20–33. Hoare, R. J., & Butcher, K. (2008). Do Chinese cultural values affect customer satisfaction/loyalty? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 20(2), 156–171. Hofstede, G. H. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in workrelated values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Hofstede, G. H. (2007). What are Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions? Retrieved from http://www.geert-hofstede.com/index.shtml Hofstede, G. H. (2009). China—Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions explained. Retrieved from http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_china.shtml Hsu, C. J., & Hsu, C. M. (2008). The relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction in a leading Chinese Web 2.0 company. The Business Review, 11(1), 84–89. Hsu, K., Zhu, Z., & Agrusa, J. (2004). Turning click-through visitors into customers: A study of Chinese hotel websites. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 11(4), 81–91. Huang, C. Y., Chou, C. J., & Lin, P. C. (2010). Effects of online health sources on credibility and behavioral intentions. Communication Research, 37(1), 105–132. Huang, J. H., Huang, C. T., & Wu, S. (1996). National character and response to unsatisfactory hotel service. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 15(3), 229–243. Internet Fundamental Data. (2010). China Internet network information centre. Retrieved from http://www1.cnnic.cn/en/index/0O/index.htm Kassarjian, H. (1977). Content analysis in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 4(1), 8–18. Kelley, S. W., & Davis, M. A. (1994). Antecedents to customer expectations for service recovery. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(1), 52–61. Kim, J. H., & Chen, J. S. (2010). The effects of situational and personal characteristics on consumer complaint behavior in restaurant services. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 27(1), 96–112. Kim, M. G., Wang, C., & Mattila, A. S. (2010). The relationship between consumer complaining behavior and service recovery: An integrated review. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(7), 975–991. Kim, T., Kim, W. G., & Kim, H. B. (2009). The effects of perceived justice on recovery satisfaction, trust, word-of-mouth, and revisit intention in upscale hotels. Tourism Management, 30(1), 51–62. Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Lam, T., & Tang, V. (2003). Recognizing customer complaint behavior: The case of Hong Kong hotel restaurants. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 14(1), 69–86. Law, R. (2006). Internet and tourism—Part XXI: Trip advisor. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 20(1), 75–77.


272

N. Au et al.

Lee, C. C., & Hu, C. (2004). Analyzing hotel customers’ e-complaints from an Internet complaint forum. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 17(2/3), 167–181. Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. Tourism Management, 29(3), 458–468. Liu, B. S., Sudharshan, D., & Hamer, L. O. (2000). After service response in service quality assessment: A real-time updating model approach. Journal of Service Marketing, 14(2), 160–177. Liu, R. R., & McClure, P. (2001). Recognizing cross-cultural differences in consumer complaint behavior and intentions: An empirical examination. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(1), 54–74. Mak, B. (2008). The future of the state-owned hotels in China: Stay or go? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27(3), 355–367. Mattila, A. S. (1999). The role of culture and purchase motivation in service encounter evaluations. Journal of Services Marketing, 13(4/5), 376–389. Mattila, A. S., & Mount, D. J. (2003). International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22(2), 135–145. Matusitz, J., & Breen, G. M. (2009). Consumer dissatisfaction, complaints, and the involvement of human resource personnel in the hospitality and tourism industry. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 8(2), 234–246. McQuiken, L., & Robertson, N. (2011). The influence of guarantees, active requests to voice and failure severity on customer complaint behavior. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(4), 953–962. National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2011). National economy and society development statistics 2010 report. Retrieved from http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/ndtjgb/ qgndtjgb/t20110228_402705692.htm Ngai, W. T., Heung, C. S., Wong, Y. H., & Chan, K. Y. (2007). Consumer complaint behavior of Asians and non-Asians about hotel services: An empirical analysis. European Journal of Marketing, 41(11/12), 1375–1391. Pan, B., MacLaurin, T., & Crotts, J. (2007). Travel blogs and the implications for destination marketing. Journal of Travel Research, 46(1), 36–45. Patterson, P. G., & Smith, T. (2003). A cross-cultural study of switching barriers and propensity to stay with service providers. Journal of Retailing, 79(2), 107–120. Pine, R., & Phillips, P. (2005). Performance comparisons of hotels in China. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 24(1), 57–73. Preece, J. (2000). Online communities: Designing usability, supporting sociability. Chichester, England: John Wiley and Sons. Reisinger, Y., & Turner, L. (1999). A cultural analysis of Japanese tourists: Challengers for tourism marketers. European Journal of Marketing, 33(11/12), 1203–1227. Reisinger, Y., & Turner, L. (2002). Cultural differences between Asian tourist markets and Australian hosts, Part 1. Journal of Travel Research, 40(1), 295–315. Ro, H., & Wong, J. (2012). Customer opportunistic complaints management: A critical incident approach. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(2), 419–427. Ryan, C., & Gu, H. (2007). Perceptions of Chinese hotels. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 48(4), 380–391. Ryan, C., & Gu, H. (2009). Tourism in China destinations, cultures and communities. New York, NY: Routledge.



273

Sanchez-Garcia, I., & Curras-Perez, R. (2011). Effects of dissatisfaction in tourist services: The role of anger and regret. Tourism Management, 32(6), 1397–1406. Sigala, M. (2009). WEB 2.0 in the tourism industry: A new tourism generation and new e-business models. Retrieved from http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/ show_page/20554 Singh, J. (1988). Consumer complaint intentions & behavior: Definitional and taxonomical issues. Journal of Marketing, 52(1), 93–107. Singh, J. (1990). A typology of consumer dissatisfaction response styles. Journal of Retailing, 66(1), 57–99. Snellman, K., & Vihtkari, T. (2003). Customer complaining behaviour in technology-based service encounters. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 14(2), 217–231. Sparks, B. A., & Browning, V. (2010). Complaining in cyberspace: The motives and forms of hotel guests’ complaints online. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 19(7), 797–818. Sparks, B. A., & Browning, V. (2011). The impact of online reviews on hotel booking intentions and perception of trust. Tourism Management, 32(6), 1310–1323. Sparks, B. A., & Fredline, E. (2007). Providing an explanation for service failure: Context, content and customer responses. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 31, 241–260. Strauss, A. L. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Su, W. Y., & Bowen, J. T. (2001). Restaurant customer complaint behavior. Journal of Restaurant & Foodservice Marketing, 4(2), 35–65. Sujithamrak, S., & Lam, T. (2005). Relationship complaint behavior and demographic characteristics: A study of hotel restaurants’ patrons. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 10(3), 289–307. Svari, S., Svensson, G., Slatten, T., & Edvardsson, B. (2010). A DIP-construct of perceived justice in negative service encounters and complaint handling in the Norwegian tourism industry. Managing Service Quality, 20(1), 26–45. Tantawy, A., & Losekoot, E. (2001). An assessment of key hotel guest contact personnel in handling guest complaints. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 1(4), 21–43. TripAdvisor. (2010). About TripAdvisor. Retrieved from http://www.tripadvisor.com/ pages/about_us.html Tsaur, S. H., Lin, C. T., & Wu, C. S. (2005). Cultural differences of service quality and behavioral intention in tourist hotels. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 13(1), 41–63. Turner, W. T., Reisinger, Y., & McQuilken, L. (2001). How cultural differences cause dimensions of tourism satisfaction. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 11(1), 79–101. Vasquez, C. (2011). Complaints online: The case of TripAdvisor. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(6), 1707–1717. Vermeulen, I. E., & Seegers, D. (2008). Tired and tested: The impact of online hotel reviews on consumer consideration. Tourism Management, 30(1), 123–127. Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2004a). Modelling participation in an online travel community. Journal of Travel Research, 42(3), 261–270.


274

N. Au et al.

Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2004b). Towards understanding members’ general participation in and active contribution to an online travel community. Tourism Management, 25(6), 709–722. Wildes, V. J., & Seo, W. (2001). Customers vote with their forks: Consumer complaining behavior in the restaurant industry. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 2(2), 21–34. Wong, C. S., Wong, Y. T., Hui, C., & Law, S. (2001). The significant role of Chinese employees’ organizational commitment: Implications for managing employees in Chinese societies. Journal of World Business, 36(3), 326–340. Yu, T. (2010, March 29). Number of outbound tourists soaring. China Daily. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-03/29/content_ 9654759.htm Yuksel, A., Kilinc, U. K., & Yuksel, F. (2006). Cross-national analysis of hotel customers’ attitudes toward complaining and their complaining behaviours. Tourism Management, 27(1), 11–24. Zaugg, A. D. (2006). Online complaint management @Swisscom—a case study (Working Paper No. 183). Bern, Germany: Instituts fur Wirtschaftsinformatik der Universitat Bern. Zhang, M. Y., & Stening, B. W. (2010). China 2.0—the transformation of an emerging superpower and the new opportunities. Singapore: John Wiley and Sons (Asia). Zhang, L., & Zhang, M. (2008). Market structure of China’s network industry. Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, 1(1), 75–87. Zhao, P., & Mo, Y. L. (2002). Determinants of consumer complaint behavior: The case of durable goods in China. Journal of Tsinghua University, 17(2), 32–38. Zheng, T., Youn, H., & Kincaid, C. (2009). An analysis of customers’ e-complaint for luxury resort properties. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 18(7), 718–729.