Does cultural distance affect online review ratings? Measuring international customers’ satisfaction with services leveraging digital platforms and big data

Mariani, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7916-2576 and Matarazzo, M. (2021) Does cultural distance affect online review ratings? Measuring international customers’ satisfaction with services leveraging digital platforms and big data. Journal of Management and Governance, 25 (4). pp. 1057-1078. ISSN 1385-3457 doi: 10.1007/s10997-020-09531-z

Abstract/Summary

The advent and development of digital platforms has helped enhance the international visibility of brands, products and services, and has also introduced a proliferation of online reviews. This study develops a big data analysis of customer online reviews of hospitality services to gauge the extent to which the cultural distance among service providers and their customers influences online review ratings. By examining almost 715,000 online reviews written by hotel customers from more than 100 different nationalities, the effect of national cultural differences among service customers and providers (namely cultural distance) on online review ratings is innovatively scrutinized. The paper, by considering reviewers’ behavioral features, demographics, and trip-related factors, reveals that the effect of national cultural distance on online review ratings is negative. Several implications for practitioners are also discussed.