Effects of Variance in Service Quality Ratings on Overall Scores of Users:

An Empirical Analysis Using Reviews on an Accommodation Reservation Site

Abstract

This study tested the effect of variance in service quality ratings on overall scores of users in reviews (7,210 sites, 576,449 reviews) on the well-known hotel accommodation reservation site “Rakuten Travel.” The results revealed that the overall score was lower for a hotel with higher variance in service quality ratings for most functions. This trend was clearer for leisure travelers than for business travelers. An additional survey of general managers of the hotels in the first analysis suggested that practicing total quality management (TQM) in a hotel may reduce the variance in service quality ratings of users.