Impact of visual information on online consumer review behavior: Evidence from a hotel booking website

Abstract

The types and amount of visual and textual information differently influence consumers? responses towards experiential products. This research empirically examines the impact of visual information on consumers? online review behaviors by analyzing online data collected from hotel booking website Agoda.com. The empirical results indicate that visual information has a positive impact on consumers? responses, which are measured through online review ratings and sentiment. This result is observed only when various types of visual information such as, photos of rooms, facilities, views, and restaurants, are provided. However, consumer responses tend to be negative as the number of photos, regardless of type, increases.