Abstract

Travellers are increasingly shifting to booking hotels online to save time, minimize costs and enjoy the convenience it brings. In this study, the implications of online consumer reviews were examined to understand how it affects hotel bookings in Saudi Arabia. The study’s constructs were trust, valence, volume, realism and hotel booking intentions. Structural equation modelling and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results from 400 respondents. It was found that the Saudi Arabian's intentions to trust on online hotel reviews are influenced significantly by the valence and realism of the reviews. The hotel booking intentions are significantly influenced by trust, valence, and realism of the reviews. The volume of reviews did not have a statistically significant influence on trust on the online reviews or the hotel booking intentions. Therefore, the study concludes that the valence, realism, and trust on online reviews are significant in shaping hotel reservation intentions.

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