Managing Customer Reviews for Value Co-creation: An Empowerment Theory Perspective

Tourism provides myriad opportunities for customer engagement and value co-creation, especially in online communities. This research analyzed the role of empowerment in the tourist knowledge value co-creation process in online review contexts. Using scenario-based, between-subjects experimental designs, three studies were conducted using online consumer samples to examine the effects of hotel response personalization and online review valence on empowerment and intention to co-create knowledge value for both previous and prospective hotel guests. The studies find that online reviewers (previous guests) are more empowered when they receive a personalized response and when they have positive service experiences. The effect of hotel response personalization on empowerment is stronger in negative as compared to positive review scenarios. Empowerment mediates the effect of personalization on intentions to co-create knowledge value. The same effects exist for prospective guests who read online reviews and hotel responses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.