THE IMPACT OF ONLINE COMPLAINING BEHAVIOR ON HOTELS’ OVERALL RATING USING ONLINE REVIEWS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ASIAN AND NON-ASIAN CUSTOMERS
Authors
Apostolos Giovanis, Business Administration Dept., University of West Attica, Greece
Pinelopi Athanasopoulou, Sport Organization & Management Dept., University of Peloponnese, Sparta, Greece
Dimitris Papakyriakopoulos, Business Administration Dept., University of West Attica, Greece
Emmanouil Choustoulakis, Sport Organization & Management Dept., University of Peloponnese, Sparta, Greece
Krinanthi Gdonteli, Sport Organization & Management Dept., University of Peloponnese, Sparta, Greece
Summary of the Conference Paper
The expansion of digital platforms has transformed consumer decision-making in the hospitality industry, with negative reviews exerting a disproportionate influence on hotel reputations and profitability. While cultural differences in complaining behavior are documented, research on how these differences affect overall ratings across specific service attributes remains limited. This study addresses this gap by analyzing 90,419 online complaints from 3+ star hotels in Greece, comparing 9,528 reviews from Asian travelers with 80,891 from non-Asian travelers. Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, the study identifies nine key complaint categories: location, staff, food, cleanliness, comfort, facilities, room, price, and processes. Findings from linear regression models indicate that cleanliness and process-related issues are the strongest negative predictors of satisfaction. Cross-cultural analysis further reveals that staff and process-related complaints significantly impact Asian travelers more, while food-related complaints have a greater negative effect on non-Asian travelers. These results provide critical insights for hotel managers to implement culturally tailored service improvements and resource allocation strategies.
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APA Style (7th Edition) Giovanis, N. A., Athanasopoulou, P., Papakyriakopoulos, D., Choustoulakis, E., & Gdonteli, K. (2025, October 16–18). The impact of online complaining behavior on hotels’ overall rating using online reviews: A comparative study of Asian and non-Asian customers [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the 53rd EBES Conference, Madrid, Spain (Vol. 1, pp. 713–717).
MLA Style (9th Edition) Giovanis, N. A., et al. “The Impact of Online Complaining Behavior on Hotels’ Overall Rating Using Online Reviews: A Comparative Study of Asian and Non-Asian Customers.” Proceedings of the 53rd EBES Conference, vol. 1, 16–18 Oct. 2025, Madrid, pp. 713-717.
Chicago Style (17th Edition – Notes and Bibliography) Giovanis, N. A., Pinelopi Athanasopoulou, Dimitris Papakyriakopoulos, Emmanouil Choustoulakis, and Krinanthi Gdonteli. “The Impact of Online Complaining Behavior on Hotels’ Overall Rating Using Online Reviews: A Comparative Study of Asian and Non-Asian Customers.” In Proceedings of the 53rd EBES Conference, 1:713–717. Madrid, October 16–18, 2025.
Harvard Style Giovanis, N.A., Athanasopoulou, P., Papakyriakopoulos, D., Choustoulakis, E. and Gdonteli, K. (2025) ‘The impact of online complaining behavior on hotels’ overall rating using online reviews: a comparative study of Asian and non-Asian customers’, Proceedings of the 53rd EBES Conference. Madrid, 16–18 October, 1, pp. 713–717.
IEEE Style N. A. Giovanis, P. Athanasopoulou, D. Papakyriakopoulos, E. Choustoulakis, and K. Gdonteli, “The impact of online complaining behavior on hotels’ overall rating using online reviews: A comparative study of Asian and non-Asian customers,” in Proc. 53rd EBES Conf., vol. 1, Madrid, Oct. 16–18, 2025, pp. 713–717.