Assessing the effects of user-generated photos on hotel guests' price, service quality, overall image perceptions and booking intention

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of user-generated photos (UGPs) and review valence (RV) on hotel guests' perceived service quality, perceived price, perceived overall image and booking intention. Design/methodology/approach An online experiment where respondents were randomly assigned to one of the six conditions in a 2 (UGPs: provided vs not provided) x 3 (RV: positive vs neutral vs negative) between-subjects factorial design was used. The data of the study was collected from the travelers who used an online hotel review site to book a hotel at least once in the past 12 months. An independent sample t-test and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data of this study. Findings The results indicated that UGPs and RV significantly influenced hotel guests' service quality, price, overall image perceptions and booking intention. The interaction effects of UGPs and RV indicated that positive online hotel reviews with UGPs had higher impact on hotel guests' service quality, price, overall image perceptions and booking intention than neutral and negative online hotel reviews with UGPs. Practical implications The understanding of the effects of UGPs and RV on guests' price, service quality, overall image perception and booking intention can help hotel managers and social media website designers to better promote the hotel and provide efficient online hotel booking environment. Originality/value This study builds the relationships between UGPs and RV and hotel guests' perceived price, perceived service quality, perceived overall image and booking intention, which are crucial factors regarding online hotel marketing.