The Influence of Hotel Price on Perceived Service Quality and Value in e-tourism

CONCLUSIONS

This study has analyzed a previously overlooked yet important research prob-

lem: the impact of price information on perceptions of service quality and value 

in an online context for the hospitality industry. It shows that price has a signifi-

cant effect on the evaluation of perceived quality and value, based on a data set 

of online traveler reviews. The regression estimates reported here suggest that 

price has a negative effect on the evaluation of perceived value, although four 

components of perceived service quality can have a positive impact. These 

results also indicate that price plays a positive role in a reviewer’s ratings of 

perceived quality. In terms of factors moderating these relationships, price has a 

more significant impact on perceptions of quality for higher-star hotels than 

economy establishments. Additionally, it does not have a significant influence on 

perceived quality for leisure customers but does affect business travelers’ ratings.

This study contributes to the tourism and hospitality literature by identifying 

the influence of price on perceived quality and value in an online context. The 

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36    JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY & TOURISM RESEARCH

results suggest that price has a significant effect on perceived quality and value 

and that this relationship is moderated by star rating and trip type. Hotel manag-

ers should, therefore, seriously consider using online traveler reviews when 

developing pricing strategies. Another contribution of this study is the valida-

tion of the moderating role of star rating and trip type, which enables a clearer 

understanding of the influence of price on perceived quality and value accord-

ing to hotel classification and trip type.

We conclude by addressing the limitations of this study and discussing future 

research topics. First, our analysis is restricted to star-rated hotels in Beijing 

listed on the Chinese-language site doadao.com. Although this does not neces-

sarily introduce bias, similar findings should be interpreted as only applying to 

other cities in different countries. Future research could extend this work to the 

analysis of international review websites in order to improve external validity 

and enable an examination of differences across cultures. Second, other factors 

might moderate the impact of price on perceptions of quality and value, such as 

the district where a hotel is located and the number of rooms. These factors are 

not considered in this article, but it is intended that future research will include 

more of them. Third, content analysis is an effective way to understand textual 

reviews. It would be worthwhile to conduct a content analysis in future studies 

to better understand customers’ experience. As well, our study focuses on the 

impact of price on perceived value and quality. The influence of brand, which 

is an important factor in hospitality and tourism management, was not included 

in this study due to the limitations of data and study scope. A future research 

direction would thus take brand as a targeting factor for investigation. Overall, 

this study makes a contribution as an initial step toward understanding the 

impact of price information on the perceived service quality and value of the 

hotel industry using online traveler reviews.