Journal of Promotion Management

ISSN: 1049-6491 (Print) 1540-7594 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/wjpm20

Impact of Online Reviews on Consumer’s Hotel

Booking Intentions: Does Brand Image Mediate?

Uttam Chakraborty & Santosh Kumar Biswal

To cite this article: Uttam Chakraborty & Santosh Kumar Biswal (2020) Impact of Online
Reviews on Consumer’s Hotel Booking Intentions: Does Brand Image Mediate?, Journal of
Promotion Management, 26:7, 943-963, DOI: 10.1080/10496491.2020.1746465

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2020.1746465

Published online: 01 Apr 2020.

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JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT
2020, VOL. 26, NO. 7, 943–963
https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2020.1746465

Impact of Online Reviews on Consumer’s Hotel Booking

Intentions: Does Brand Image Mediate?
Uttam Chakrabortya and Santosh Kumar Biswalb
a
Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune (SIBM-Pune) Symbiosis International
(Deemed University), Pune, India; bSymbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC)
Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
The recent trend suggests that people are more inclined to Online reviews; attribution
online hotel reviews to take online hotel booking decisions. theory; brand image; brand
The present study argues that when consumers are exposed communication; mediation
effect; hotel
to online hotel reviews, it draws an impression of the hotel booking intentions
brand in the mind of consumers, resulting in influence their
hotel booking intentions. The current study determines the
mediation effects of brand image between credible online
hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions. To
ascertain the uni-dimensionality of the scales, the present
study executes exploratory factor analysis. The ensure the
internal consistency of the variable scales, the study deter-
mines Cronbach’s alpha. To measure the mediation effects,
the present study performs structural equation modeling
bootstrapping method. Data analysis reveals that marketers
should look at hedonic brand image, which ultimately influen-
ces consumers’ hotel booking intentions. This is a unique
study that ascertains the type of brand image that actually
mediates between the impact of online hotel reviews and
consumers’ hotel booking intentions. In addition, the paper
furnishes theoretical background on how people interpret
online hotel reviews and its effects.

Introduction
Over the decades, the media landscape has undergone sea changes and so
does the consumer communication in the area of brand management
(Yusuf et al., 2018). The concept of brand evolution, used for understand-
ing how brand evolves in consumers’ everyday life over time through brand
communication (Mishra, 2019), remains an ever changing domain, which
keeps the marketers on their toes. The present era is the Internet domi-
nated world, where one-star rating decrease in Yelp can make significant
loss for a business and one-star rating increase can do the wonders (Salehi-

CONTACT Uttam Chakraborty note2uttam@gmail.com Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune

(SIBM-Pune), Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Symbiosis Knowledge Village, Pune, Maharashtra,
412115, India.
ß 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
944 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

Esfahani & Kang, 2019). The enormous growth of the Internet usage is
attributed mainly to online social media (Pinto et al., 2019).
Suffice to say, brand communication is not new. It has been a focal point
of interest among marketing researchers and practitioners as well (Simon,
2017). It plays a vital role in each of this passage in attracting and taking
action to the buying behavior of consumers. The passage of creating brand
image from the epoch of storytelling to the cyber era has undergone mas-
sive transformations and has been influencing the buying intentions of con-
sumers. Consumers remain largely in social media than any other online
activities. In addition, it is now evident that the impact of different brand
exposures on product or service choices in social media has become a new
and striking activity of consumers (Humphrey et al., 2017). Molinillo et al.
(2017) stresses on the role of brand communication in keeping brand
image, brand trust and eventually brand loyalty in order. Further, the
brand image influences the consumers’ brand trust and loyalty. Be it story-
telling, which strengthens the emotional connections, and recognizes and
identifies the brand or the proliferation of information and communication
has influenced the brand image of various products and services (Hofmann
et al., 2019).
Image is the outcome of the mental processing of the information
(Koubaa, 2008). According to Keller, “ultimately, the power of a brand lies
in the minds of consumers or customers, in what they have experienced
and learned about the brand over time” (Keller, 2000, p. 10). Yuan et al.
(2016, p. 3070) states that brand image is created within the minds of cus-
tomers. It is defined as a set of beliefs about a specific brand within the
minds of target customers”. In other words, it is an understanding and
trust of consumers on certain brands when compared to other brands. It is
a personal thinking of the consumers toward the brand which represents
all the descriptive and evaluative brand related information (Kim et al.,
2019). A positive brand image influences the purchase intentions of the
consumers (Nyadzayo & Khajehzadeh, 2016). If the brand image is positive,
then the brand information influences the consumers more compared to
the competitors’ brand information. Brand image as a series of or the sum
the total of brand attributes held in the memory of the consumers, result-
ing in perceptions about the brand (Gaustad et al., 2019).
Broadly, brand image is understood in two aspects. Firstly, it could be
functional brand image. Secondly, it could be hedonic brand image (Bruhn
et al., 2012). Functional brand image mainly focuses on functionality or
utility or performance of the brand. Functional brand image is understood
as what consumers think about the performance and quality of products
and services. It is all about the utilitarian attributes of the products or serv-
ices (Blinda et al., 2019). In general, the utilitarian attributes cover the
 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 945

desire for control, autonomy, efficiency, monetary savings, convenience,

and the like. Such kind of brand image originates the consequential infor-
mation about the quality and the value of the brand. On the other hand,
the hedonic brand image stresses on the perceptions, feelings, or meaning
that consumers create from abstract and imaginary states (Bruhn et al.,
2012). As part of experiential marketing, some prominent brands provide
appealing brand experiences to connect consumers in hedonic manners
(Mart
ın-Consuegra et al., 2019). Generally, consumers show loyalty to the
brand which evokes hedonic emotions (Kim et al., 2019). It could be curi-
osity, entertainment, visual attraction, escape, intrinsic enjoyment, hang
out, relaxation, self-expression and the like.

Online reviews on consumer behavior on hotel booking

In online platforms, large number of consumers exist from different parts
of the world. Even the Facebook has also witnessed the users of 1.7 billion
worldwide (Shiau et al., 2018). Consumers’ opinions in terms of online
reviews on service sectors like hotels or tourism have significant impact on
consumers’ buying decision. Even 74 percent travelers follow others’ com-
ments which ultimately influence their trust and enjoyment (De
Pelsmacker et al., 2018) and credibility (Lo & Yao, 2019). Social media
messages, especially online communication like online reviews influence the
brand relationship development. It is also found that consumer engagement
platforms (EPs) in social media have been the navigators where the con-
sumers integrate resources and co-create social values on buying intentions
and subsequent making transactions (Huang & Benyoucef, 2015). In Indian
context, prior studies have found that 40 million people follow online
reviews (Chakraborty & Bhat, 2018). Further, people in India follow online
reviews to take hotel booking decisions (Chakraborty, 2019).
The present study argues that when consumers read various online hotel
reviews that create an impression of trust and reliability among consumers.
As a result, these reviews influence consumers’ hotel booking intentions.
Online reviews can be defined as “all informal communications directed at
consumers through Internet-based technology related to the usage or char-
acteristics of particular goods and services, or their sellers” (Litvin et al.,
2008, p. 461). Communication on the social networking sites keeps on
influencing customers’ brand perceptions and purchasing decisions as they
use these channels of communication for trusted sources of information,
experiences, and opinions (G
omez et al., 2019). Moreover, online reviews
are perceived as more credible source of information compared to other
traditional sources of information (Fang et al., 2016). Further, online
reviews are regarded as the most influential communication channel that
946 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

influences consumers’ buying decisions (Hu & Chen, 2016). Online reviews,
a form of electronic word of mouth (eWOM), promote consumers to
propagate a message, which brings a marked growth in the exposure and
influence of messages (Yen & Tang, 2019). There is an optimistic relation-
ship between the size of the brand and its promise, and the consumers’
interest to create online reviews. It is also a kind of feedback that influences
and affects the consumers’ buying intentions (Nasr et al., 2018). The
eWOM, online reviews and user-generated content, has changed the land-
scape of marketing communications in many folds. Online reviews show-
case influential impacts on consumers’ service assessments (Lei & Law,
2019). In addition, these reviews have brought a significant amount of
guidance and information for monitoring and managing social media mar-
keting communications to the fore (Liu et al., 2017). However, it largely
depends on the information quality, information credibility and attitude
toward the information (Colton & Poploski, 2019; Erkan & Evans, 2016).
People follow online reviews to take purchase decisions of various products
or service categories like, books, movies, online games, hotels and restaurants
(De Pelsmacker et al., 2018; Sharifi, 2019). People are more inclined toward
online reviews of other fellow customers as it is more likely to be independ-
ent and trustworthy compared to the information provided by the hotel com-
panies (Lo & Yao, 2019). People consider online hotel review websites (like
Expedia.com, Tripadvisor.com) as very important decision making resource
for their hotel booking purposes. On the other side, hotel companies also
adopt various social media strategies to keep pace and connect with the con-
sumers. Even web based travel agents also provide reviews to their customers.
Hotel companies make use of online reviews to detect the discrepancies or
faults in their services. They actively use social media to understand needs
and concerns of their customers. 10 percent increase in travelers’ reviews rat-
ing leads to 5 percent increase in additional hotel bookings (Kwok & Xie,
2016). Therefore, many hotel managers try to manipulate online reviews to
enhance their hotel bookings (Ahmad & Sun, 2018). Thus, credibility is a big
concern for online reviews. Therefore, the present study determines to what
extent consumers feel that the hotel reviews are credible and its consequences
in terms of hotel bookings.
The current research adheres to attribution theory (Heider, 1958). The
theory has attempted to examine the outcomes of credible online hotel
reviews on consumers’ hotel booking intentions. Attribution theory states
that people are more inclined to the inputs emanated from the environ-
ment. Therefore, when consumers come across varied online hotel reviews,
they are able to create an image of the hotel (in term of its quality of the
services or amenities or room features) in their mind which ultimately
affects their hotel booking intentions. In the current research, this
 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 947

theoretical underpinning connects consumers with online hotel reviews and

their hotel booking intentions.
Bulut and Karabulut (2018) highlighted that existing literature has
neglected to assess the receiving and participating dimensions of eWOM.
Therefore, the present study considers online reviews which is one form of
eWOM and its receiving and participating dimensions. Although numerous
prior studies have empirically tested the effects of online reviews on con-
sumers’ hotel booking intentions and awareness (Zhao et al., 2015), con-
sumer satisfaction (Kim et al., 2016), and helpfulness in decision making
(Kwok & Xie, 2016). However, so far existing studies have ignored to
understand the mediating roles of brand image. Further, the extant litera-
ture has neglected to evaluate the credibility of online reviews before exam-
ining its impact on consumers’ hotel booking intentions. Moreover,
previous studies have neglected to provide a theoretical justification in the
light of how credible online hotel reviews influence people’s perception on
hotel brands which ultimately influence their hotel booking intentions
(Banerjee & Chua, 2019; Xia et al., 2019). Therefore, the present study has
contributed to above-mentioned research gaps. The study has focused on
the mediation because mediating variable acts as a bridge that transmits
the impact of an independent variable on a dependent variable
(MacKinnon et al., 2007). In specific, the present study has attempted to
highlight the relevance of brand image which actually transmits the effects
of online reviews to the consumers’ hotel booking intentions.
Therefore, the research question (RQ) of the study is:
RQ1- Does brand image mediate the relationship between credible online
hotel reviews and consumer’s hotel booking intention?
Hence, the research objective (RO) of the study is to determine the
mediation effects of brand image between credible online hotel reviews and
consumer’s hotel booking intention.
The next section contains the relevant literature review. The third section
covers the research methodology. The fourth section deals with the findings
and discussions. The fifth section is the concluding section. Theoretical and
managerial implications are also highlighted.

Literature review
Credible online reviews
The word credibility is defined as “quality or power of inspiring belief” or
“capacity for belief” (Osidele, 2002, p. 33). Examining and assessing the
credibility of online reviews indicate the validity of reviews (Lo & Yao,
2019). It is apparent that consumers utilize online reviews and sources
from social spheres to decide on their buying options (Akhtar et al., 2019).
948 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

Relying on reviews possesses equal weightage as personal recommendations

(Craciun & Moore, 2019). There is an optimistic relationship between use-
fulness of online reviews and online purchase intentions. Consumers are
being bombarded with loads of information related to hotels. Therefore,
the credibility of information is a concern for the consumers. Thus, online
review websites need to be equipped with sufficient credibility measures
along with an adequate amount of reviews (Shan, 2016). Credible reviews
intensify consumers’ knowledge on brands (Sijoria et al., 2018). However,
online reviews can be manipulated. Therefore, consumers look for credible
reviews to get authentic information. Such kind of reviews convey people’s
experiences with the brand which will help others to assess the perform-
ance of the brand. Therefore, the present study has tried to determine the
specific type or pattern of online hotel reviews which actually convince
the consumers.

Attribution theory
Heider, in the year of 1920, introduced attribution theory, which acts as a
foundation for the subsequent theories on people’s perception proposed by
various authors (Heider, 1958). The motivation for that study was to solve
the problems between sensory information and real objects. Later, Heider
concentrated on the social interaction area and studied how people make
sense of other’s behavior. According to Heider (1958, p. 21), “Persons are
perceived as action centers and as such can do something to us. They can
benefit or harm us intentionally, and we can benefit or harm them.
Persons have abilities, wishes and sentiments; they can act purposefully,
and can perceive or watch us”.
Attribution theory is described as “a theory that describes the cognitive
processes by which people determine the causes of behavior and events in
their world” (Mullen & Johnson, 2013, p. 174). The aspect of psychology of
interpersonal relationship has been indicated in Heider’s ‘attribution theory’
(Patwardhan & Patwardhan, 2016). Further, Heider extends the theory by
emphasizing on people’s multiple responses (Heider, 1958).
In the current research, attribution theory is treated as a central theory
that links the credible online hotel reviews and brand image. Heider (1958)
coined attribution theory which emerged from psychology of interpersonal
relationships. This theory focuses on the people’s perception on events and
its consequences on people’s behavior (Heider, 1958). “Attribution theory
deals with how people interpret incidents or behaviors in terms of their
causal inferences, and their interpretations play a significant role in deter-
mining reactions to these incidents or behaviors” (Chang et al., 2015, p.
50). In this context, when consumers are exposed to number of reviews,
 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 949

they try to interpret the reviews in terms of the offerings of the brand. As
a result, it creates an image of the brands in the minds of consumers
(Chakraborty & Bhat, 2018). Brand image strengthens the perception of the
hotel brand in the consumers’ mind which helps the hotel brands to
occupy a distinct place in the consumers’ mind. As a result, it influences
their hotel booking intentions (Jackson, 2019). In other words, when con-
sumers are exposed to a number online hotel reviews (incidents), the image
of the hotel brands come to the fore (reaction of incidents). As a result,
this brand image of hotel influences the hotel booking behavior of the con-
sumers (behavior of the consumers).

Brand image
Image can be considered “the set of beliefs, ideas, and impression that a
person holds regarding an object” (Kotler, 2001, p. 273). The image which
brings branding is a niche area in the marketing research. Brand image is
the reflection of consumers’ opinions toward the brand (S€ ur€
uc€u et al.,
2019). Brand image refers to the consumer’s feelings on brands and has an
impact on consumer’s purchase intention (Yuan et al., 2016). Bruhn et al.
(2012) points out that brand communication through online social media
has strong influence on brand image. Moreover, they managed to look at
the brand image in terms of hedonic brand image and functional brand
image. Functional brand image stresses on objective experiences of the con-
sumers toward the brand like brand’s performance and operations.
Hedonic brand image focuses on subjective experiences of the consumers
toward the brand. Hedonic brand image explains love, emotions and feel-
ings of the consumers on brands. In specific, hedonic brand image is the
emotional perception of the consumers that are attached to a specific
brand. Higher amount of intense emotional quotient influences the con-
sumers’ engagement. As a result, it creates a bigger perception of the brand
image (Blasco-Arcas et al., 2016).

Consumers’ hotel booking intention

In the present study, consumers’ hotel booking intentions are considered as
behavioral consequence of brand image. It is found that online reviews
have much bearings on consumers’ intentions and behavior (Zhao et al.,
2015). If the online reviews are positive, it leads to higher brand image,
resulting in more hotel bookings. On the contrary, if the online reviews are
negative, the brand image will be adversely affected. Consequently, it will
lower the hotel bookings to a greater extent (Sreejesh & Anusree, 2016).
Online reviews enable the consumers to get the required information on
950 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

hotel facilities (Padma & Ahn, 2020). Then, the consumers attempt to
check the suitability of their preferences and aspirations (Geetha et al.,
2017). The higher the suitability, the higher is the hotel booking intentions
(Yadav & Roychoudhury, 2019). Functional brand image is created in the
consumers’ mind based on the online reviews related to functional aspects
of the hotels like, amenities of the hotel, room features or performance
quality of the hotels. Consumers’ opinion based on hotel’s performance can
affect functional brand image, which ultimately influence consumers’ hotel
booking intentions. Therefore, the present study hypothesizes that func-
tional brand image is considered as a mediating variable between trusted
online hotel reviews and consumer’s hotel booking intentions. Thus, the
present study proposes that,
H1. Functional brand image has mediating effects between credible online hotel
reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions.

Hedonic brand image is created in consumers’ mind based on the online

reviews related to feelings or emotions of consumers for a particular hotel.
Consumers’ online hotel reviews based on their subjective feelings or emo-
tions on hotel brands can also influence the consumers’ hotel booking
intention. Therefore, the present study hypothesizes that hedonic brand
image is treated as a mediating variable between credible online hotel
reviews and consumer’s’ hotel booking intentions. Thus, the present study
proposes that,
H2. Hedonic brand image has mediating effects between credible online hotel
reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions.

Methodology
Research design
A questionnaire was prepared based on the previous literature. Moreover,
content validity of the questionnaire was performed. Pilot study was per-
formed to test the uni-dimensionality of the variable scales. For the final
study, structural equation modeling bootstrapping method was performed
to determine the mediation effects of both the brand images (functional
and hedonic) between online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel book-
ing intentions.

Questionnaire design
Measures
A relevant literature review was performed to decide the questionnaire that
can measure the variables. Items proposed by Luo et al. (2015) was
 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 951

followed and modified to measure the perceived credible online hotel

reviews (PCOR). The PCOR measures to what extent the reviews are per-
ceived as credible. The items taken to measure PCOR are - online reviews
on hotels are realistic; online reviews on hotels are logical; and online
reviews on hotels are accurate. Bruhn et al. (2012) was taken to assess the
functional and hedonic brand image. Functional brand image basically
stresses on the utility or performance of brands. The items followed to
measure the functional brand image are – online reviews on hotels describe
the hotel’s performance; online reviews on hotels describe the hotel’s effi-
ciency; and online reviews on hotels describe the hotel’s competence.
Further, hedonic brand image stresses on the subjective experiences of the
consumers toward the brand. The items considered to measure the hedonic
brand image are - online reviews on hotels make the hotel brand attractive
toward the consumers; online reviews on hotels make the hotel brand
charming toward the consumers; and online reviews on hotels make the
hotel brand fascinating toward the consumers. Li et al. (2017) was taken
into consideration to determine the items that can assess consumers’ hotel
booking intentions. Consumers’ hotel booking intentions measure to what
extent the consumers are willing to book the hotels online. The items used
to measure consumers’ hotel booking intentions are - online reviews help
me to decide which hotel I am likely to book; online reviews facilitate me
to decide which hotel I would consider to stay; and online reviews guide
me to consider the hotel that I am likely to visit. Each and every constructs
were measured using 5 point Likert scale with 1¼ strongly disagree and 5¼
strongly agree.

Content validity
In a view to ensure its content validity, three hotel managers were commu-
nicated with a questionnaire. Appointment seeking on requests were sent
to 16 hotel managers through LinkedIn. Nine managers out of 16 agreed
for the appointment. Based on their time and availability, three managers
were selected. The questionnaire was communicated to two academicians
to furnish better clarity. To identify indistinct questions and bring clarity, a
pilot study was conducted with 405 respondents. The questionnaire was
further undergone for modifications and later administered for the study.

Pilot study
To determine the validity of the questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted.
Cronbach’s alpha (reliability alpha) was measured for each construct.
Exploratory factor analysis (PCA extraction method and varimax rotation
method) was analyzed to find out uni-dimensionality of the variables.
952 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

Comrey and Lee (1992) noted that above 300 sample size can provide sig-
nificant factor analysis results. Therefore, the present study has considered
405 respondents for the pilot study.

Sample design
Questionnaire was designed for data collection. For pilot and final study,
the convenience sampling technique was used for data collection.
Respondents were selected from Mumbai City which is a very popular
tourist destination in India as well as in Asia (Martin et al., 2007).
Therefore, people from all over the country come to Mumbai and stay in
hotels. With the help of various tourism offices in Mumbai, respondents
were selected. All the respondents filled the questionnaire in person. It was
ensured that the respondents were Indians and had booked their hotels
online. It was further ensured that the respondents followed online hotel
reviews before booking the hotels online. Data were collected from actual
consumers as it leads to better external validity (Sreejesh & Anusree, 2016).

Final study
1087 samples were considered for final study. Mansoori et al. (2018) high-
lighted that sample size over 1000 are acceptable for data analysis.
Cronbach’s alpha (reliability alpha) was measured for each construct.
Structural equation modeling is suitable for this study. It is such a statistical
tool which can assess the relationships between the variables (Hair et al.,
2009). Measurement model, convergent validity and discriminant validity
were examined. Structural equation modeling bootstrapping method was
used to assess the mediating effects of functional brand image and hedonic
brand image between perceived credible online hotel reviews and consum-
ers’ hotel booking intentions. Structural equation modeling bootstrapping
method was performed in this study because this is the suitable statistical
tool that can measure mediation effects (Kim et al., 2018).

Results and discussions

Pilot study
Pilot study was conducted with 405 sample size. The reliability alpha
(Cronbach’s alpha) for all the four variables, namely perceived credible
online hotel reviews, functional brand image, hedonic brand image and
consumers’ hotel booking intentions were in the range of 0.823 to 0.911
which were above 0.7. Thus, the results were acceptable (Nunnally, 1978, p.
245). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to measure the variables’
uni-dimensionality. Result shows four different factors with Eigen values
 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 953

more than 1. Further, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test (KMO) value was 0.724 that
ensured the adequacy of sample size as it is above 0.5 (Malhotra & Dash,
2011, p. 590).

Final study
Out of 1087 respondents, 785 (72%) were males. 302 (28%) were females.
In addition, the age ranging from 18 to 29 years old were 621. The age
ranging 30 to 39 years old were 254. The age above 39 years were 212.
Further, 226 were undergraduates, 625 were graduates and 236 were
postgraduates.

Measurement model
Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) technique was followed for meas-
urement model. MLE was used because MLE provides valid and stable
results (Hair et al., 2009). MLE is the technique that is used to find the
parameters for a given statistic where the known likelihood distribution is
maximized, which means parameters are estimated as the values that have
the largest probability of producing the sample covariance matrix (Hair
et al., 2009). Various indices of measurement model, namely normed chi
square ¼ 1.457, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) ¼ 0.989, comparative fit index
(CFI) ¼ 0.997, Tucker- Lewis index (TLI) ¼ 0.996, adjusted goodness-of-fit
index (AGFI) ¼ 0.983 and root mean square error of approximation
(RMSEA) ¼ 0.021. All the results were within the accepted level (see
Table 1).

Construct validation
The reliability alpha (Cronbach’s alpha) of all the variables, namely, per-
ceived credible online hotel reviews, functional brand image, hedonic brand
image and consumers’ hotel booking intentions were in the range of 0.857
to 0.895 (see Table 2). Thus, the results were acceptable as it was more
than 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978).

Convergent validity
Factor loadings of all the items were more than 0.5 (see Table 2).
Average variance extracted (AVE) of all the latent variables were more
than 0.5 and construct reliability (CR) of all the latent variables were more
than 0.7 (see Table 2), therefore, results were acceptable (Hair et al., 2009).
954 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

Table 1. Measurement model indices.

Indices Threshold value Present study results
normed chi square >1 normed chi square <3 (Hair et al., 2009) 1.457
GFI >0.95 (Hair et al., 2009) 0.989
CFI >0.95 (Hair et al., 2009) 0.997
TLI >0.95 (Hair et al., 2009) 0.996
AGFI >0.90 (Hair et al., 2009) 0.983
RMSEA <0.08 (Hair et al., 2009) 0.021

Table 2. Convergent validity.

Average Maximum Average
Variance Shared Shared
Measurement Factor Cronbach’s Construct Extracted Variance Variance
Variable Instruments Loadings Alpha reliability (CR) (AVE) (MSV) (ASV)
Perceived Credible PCOR_1 0.841 0.857 0.858 0.669 0.045 0.022
Online Reviews PCOR_2 0.856
PCOR_3 0.752
Functional Functional 1 0.900 0.873 0.875 0.701 0.045 0.024
Brand Image Functional 2 0.762
Functional_3 0.844
Hedonic Hedonic_1 0.941 0.895 0.898 0.747 0.025 0.016
Brand Image Hedonic_2 0.764
Hedonic_3 0.879
Consumer’s hotel HBI_1 0.908 0.891 0.893 0.736 0.006 0.004
booking intention HBI_2 0.788
HBI_3 0.874

Table 3. Discriminant validity.

Variable Hedonic PCOR Functional HBI
Hedonic 0.864
PCOR 0.129 0.818
Functional 0.158 0.211 0.837
HBI 0.070 0.075 0.036 0.858
Diagonal bold figures are the square root of AVE. Off-diagonal figures are the correlations between
the constructs.

Table 4. Mediation effects of functional brand image between source credible online reviews
and purchase intention.
Direct beta value with
mediator ( PCOR !
Direct beta value without Functional Brand Image
mediator (PCOR ! HBI) ! HBI) Indirect effect Mediation type observed
0.084 0.079 0.005 (NS) No Mediation
significantficance at the p < 0.01 level and NS ¼ Not significant

Discriminant validity
Square root of AVE of a latent construct is higher than all the inter con-
struct correlations (see Table 3).
AVE of a latent variable is higher than the maximum shared variance
(MSV) and average shared variance (ASV) of same latent variable (see
Table 2). Therefore, the results were acceptable (Hair et al., 2009).
 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 955

Table 5. Mediation effects of hedonic brand image between source credible online reviews
and purchase intention.
Direct beta value with
mediator ( PCOR !
Direct beta value without Hedonic Brand Image
mediator (PCOR ! HBI) ! HBI) Indirect effect Mediation type observed
0.084 0.074 0.009 Partial Mediation
Significance at the p < 0.01 level and  p < 0.05. .

Hypothesis testing
The current research has used the structural equation modeling bootstrap-
ping method to determine the mediation effect of functional brand image
and hedonic brand image between perceived credible online hotel reviews
and consumers’ hotel booking intentions.
Table 4 indicates that functional brand image has no mediation effects
between credible online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel book-
ing intentions.
Further, Table 5 reveals that the hedonic brand image has partial medi-
ation effects between credible online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel
booking intentions.

Discussions
Brands are willing to make their presence through testimonials on social
media. Consumers’ online word of mouth has greater influence, resulting
in enhancing the brand image of the products or services (Humphrey
et al., 2017). Hence, the brands must have active presence in social media.
The present study, based on attribution theory, has attempted to examine
mediating effects of brand image between the credible online hotel reviews
and consumers’ hotel booking intentions. In other words, this theory is
considered as a theoretical strength in the area of effects of online reviews
and hotel booking intentions. This paper can be a potential evidence of the
applicability or validity of this theory. It can navigate the social perceiving
of consumer via online reviews. By describing attribution theory, Heider
(1958) stressed on two dimensions - dispositional (internal cause) and situ-
ational (external cause) attributions. In the present study, dispositional
attribution refers to the internal evaluations of the consumers on hotels
based on online reviews and situational attributions are the consumers’
hotel booking intentions. In online environment, online reviews are the
opinions of individuals on hotels. Initially, online reviews are aggregated
and form a judgment on hotel (dispositional attribution) which leads to
consumer behavior (situational attributions).
The present study integrates attribution theory with the brand image
concept which decides the consumers’ hotel booking intentions. This study
956 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

can be considered as an example of application of attribution theory in the

context of brand communication. This study shows through the lens of
attribution theory to what extent online brand communication can
strengthen the brand image of hotels. The higher the strength, the higher is
the brand image. As a result, it enhances the hotel booking intentions.
This paper provides a guidance about how hotel marketers can convince
Indian consumers to book their hotels. Data analysis reveals that the
hedonic brand image had partial mediation effects between credible online
hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions. Contrary to the
hypothesis formulated, present study has found that functional brand image
had no significant mediation effects between credible online hotel reviews
and consumers’ hotel booking intentions. Hence, hypothesis H1 was
rejected. However, this finding is inconsistent with Raji et al. (2019). Raji
et al. (2019) in the context of automotive brand, found that both functional
and hedonic have significant mediating effects between online social media
and people’s behavior. One of the possible reasons behind different findings
might be the present study results are based on service category whereas
Raji et al. (2019) considered the product category.
The online reviews are more specific to hotel performance or amenities
which provide Indian consumers an impression that it is likely to be con-
tributed by the marketers of the hotels. However, if online reviews contain
emotional experiences and perceptions of the consumers on hotels, it
improves the trustworthiness of online reviews. In other words, consumers
in India choose online reviews that discusses about emotional attributes of
the consumers on hotels rather than any discussions cropped up on the
performance of the hotels. If online hotel reviews contain consumers’ emo-
tional attributes, then the consumers will consider the messages on hotels
as credible. As a result, it will influence their hotel booking intentions.

Conclusions
The study was carried out to measure the mediating effects of brand image
between credible online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel booking inten-
tions. The present study followed the attribution theory to theoretically
explain the relationship between online hotel reviews and brands. The
argument of the study was when consumers are exposed to various online
hotel related reviews, it draws an impression of the hotel brand in the
mind of consumers. Later, such kind of brand image affect the consumers’
hotel booking intentions. The aspects of functional and hedonic brand
image were discussed in the light of brand image. Data analysis in the con-
text of India revealed that hedonic brand image had significant partial
 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 957

mediation effects between credible online hotel reviews and consumers’

hotel booking intentions.
With the rise of social media, consumers are more empowered and sig-
nificant amount of contribution on brand management has been gained
(Sitta et al., 2018). This research can be treated as an indication in the area
of digital media which further claims that branding has a decisive role.
Marketers have to acknowledge that the online reviews create transparency
about hotel brands and its performance. Before booking the hotels, con-
sumers prefer to go through online hotel related reviews. Therefore, mar-
keters should provide hotel related information to the consumers through
social media. Marketers should concentrate on social media marketing
(Rouliez et al., 2019). Hotel brand related information should be high-
lighted in the social media (Yang et al., 2017).
Hedonic brand image has significant partial mediation effects between
credible online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions.
However, functional brand image has no mediation effects between credible
online hotel reviews and consumers’ hotel booking intentions. It is also found
that the consumer is not merely swayed by hotel brand’s performance or the
reviews on various feature of hotels. In fact, they are more influenced by con-
sumers’ experiences with the hotel brands. Online hotel related reviews which
discuss consumers’ feelings or emotions can influence other consumers to
book the hotel. Hence, marketers should more concentrate on hedonic brand
image which ultimately influence the consumers to book the hotel.
The focus of the marketers should make the present customers believe
that their association with the hotel is indispensable. Marketers should try
to convert their customers as the promoters of the hotel. Hence, marketers
can come up with promotional activities where they give their present cus-
tomers a chance to share their experiences of the hotels. The endorsement
of the hotel brand by the existing customers through convincing arguments
can influence the prospective customers to book the hotels. Marketers can
impart training to its managers how they can facilitate their customers to
get better experiences. Further, hotel managers can motivate their custom-
ers to write their experiences in social media through online reviews.
Marketers can also make of use social media to create a buzz among its
consumers. Marketers can create a social forum like brand community or
brand page which is dedicated only for a specific hotel brand. Further, it
can facilitate the marketers to engage in meaningful conversation with their
present consumers which will influence its present customers to promote
the hotel brand. Marketers can go for a consumer education drive in which
they can educate their present consumers about their offerings and its
usage. It can also help their present consumers to write more quality
reviews. In Internet, the information on hotels are huge. Therefore, online
958 U. CHAKRABORTY AND S. K. BISWAL

reviews can be sorted as per hotel attributes that facilitate the users in sort-
ing the reviews. Marketers should give facility to the customers that they
can get online reviews based on the hotel attributes as per their
preferences.

Limitations and future research directions

This study is still a subject to a number of limitations. Firstly, the conveni-
ence sampling technique in the process of data collection has constrained
the scope of generalization. Secondly, this study focuses only on hotels.
Other service categories can be considered for future research. This study
focuses only on India. Studies can be carried out in other countries also. It
only considers how online reviews influence the brand image. The study
did not consider other factors, which might influence the brand image. In
future, studies can be conducted to identify the factors that influence the
brand image of the hotels. Finally, longitudinal studies can be undertaken
to understand the developments of hotel’s brand image dimensions based
on online credible reviews.

ORCID
Uttam Chakraborty http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1984-7677
Santosh Kumar Biswal http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0719-1383

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Appendix
Scale used for the study
Perceived credible online reviews (PCOR)
PCOR-1. Online reviews on hotels are realistic.
PCOR-2. Online reviews on hotels are logical.
PCOR-3. Online reviews on hotels are accurate.
Functional Brand Image:
Functional 1- Online reviews on hotels describe the hotel’s performance.
Functional 2- Online reviews on hotels describe the hotel’s efficiency.
Functional 3- Online reviews on hotels describe the hotel’s competence.
Hedonic Brand Image:
Hedonic 1- Online reviews on hotels make the hotel brand attractive toward
the consumers.
Hedonic 2- Online reviews on hotels make the hotel brand charming toward
the consumers.
Hedonic 3- Online reviews on hotels make the hotel brand fascinating toward
the consumers.
Hotel Booking Intentions (HBI)
HBI-1. Online reviews help me to decide which hotel I am likely to book.
HBI-2. Online reviews facilitate me to decide which hotel I would consider to stay.
HBI-3. Online reviews guide me to consider the hotel that I am likely to visit.