What Makes Potential Tourists Trust the Managerial Response of the Hotel? - The Three-Way Interaction of Ability, Benevolence, and Integrity

Potential customers are likely to rely on online reviews as e-WOM. While review from negative consumer has an impact on customers’ decision-making, the response of hotel to negative review is also perceived as a signal of restoring trust. Although three dimensions of trust (ability, benevolence, and integrity) have significant effects on the overall trust of consumers, it is still an open issue how the three variables interact. To fill this gap, current study investigates a three-way interaction effect of the dimension of trusting belief in managerial responses by experimental analyses. The results suggest that the hotel’s ability to handle the issue is the most important consideration for hotel management. Attitude toward hotels is high even if only one of benevolence and integrity is high under conditions of high ability. In contrast, attitude is only high when both other dimensions are high simultaneously. This study has implications for understanding the distinct effect of each dimension of trusting belief in online review systems and providing insights into effective managerial response strategies from the perspective of trust.