The Complex World of Online Reviews: Criteria for Establishing a Global Index for Accommodation

Online reviews play a crucial role in shaping consumer decisions, particularly in the hospitality industry where the intangibility of services creates uncertainty. The lack of a standardized approach to measure the quality of hotels based on online reviews poses challenges for consumers and businesses alike. In the past, there have been various attempts to create a global index of average accommodation scores. However, all of them presented serious deficiencies in terms of transparency and level of dissemination, failing to achieve the expected success. To address these challenges, the study proposes the establishment of a rational reputation standard for accommodation services through online reviews. A Delphi method is proposed to seek consensus among academic experts and hotel managers, aiming to prioritize criteria for creating a transparent algorithm and a reliable global index for comparing accommodation establishments. The proposed rational reputation standard aims to empower consumers, allowing them to make informed decisions, while benefiting the hospitality industry by promoting transparency and credibility, as well as to allow public authorities with knowledge to establish a quality standard based on online reviews.