In a latest report measuring the impact of hotel reviews on booking behaviours, some 83% of digital natives, the largest incoming travel group, stress that reviews play a very important role in their booking decision.
Booking.com is their preferred review source (68%), while Google is creeping up at 61% and TripAdvisor and Expedia each clocked in at 30% each.
The TrustYou Impact of Review Content on the Booking Behaviour of Digital Natives which addressed the central question of how digital natives perceive and use reviews as a means of communication in the tourism industry, further revealed that what young travellers appreciated most in reviews was an authentic writing style (73%), detailed (69%) and current (66%), not older than three months.
During the search process, 38% look at 6-10 reviews, and 31% at one to five reviews before they booked a trip. Both negative and positive reviews were considered.
Images are also important to digital natives. In proof, they stated preferences for social channels that revolved around images – Instagram and Snapchat, for example are popular. Some 80% of participants said images – either professional or consumer images are important or very important.
How the review score is represented was also key. Some 68% believe scores are the best way to present reviews; and 51% consider a consolidated representation to be good; and 29% prefer widgets.
Based on UNWTO forecasts for global tourism growth, it is estimated that by 2020, almost 370 million youth travellers, aka digital natives, will account for a total spend of over US$400 billion.
In order to meet the requirements of tomorrow’s main travel segment, TrustYou makes these recommendations:
1. Display relevant and consolidated information
Embedding reviews is imperative when wanting to convince a digital native to book. The majority prefers to read a large number of reviews – more than six – and appreciates a summarised score in a five-point scale. Some 77% prefer the review score widget to be embedded with the hotel description and price.
2. Build trust and keep it clear
Trust is a big issue with digital natives as their awareness of fake news, clickbaits etc, make them general suspicious. A third-party widget can add significant value to websites.
The high preference for an authentic writing style in the reviews (73%) also points to the importance of trustworthiness to digital natives. Tour operators and accommodation providers should proactively collect reviews and display them openly on the website.
3. Use visuals
Research shows visuals are important to 80% of young travellers. Suppliers should therefore allow for user generated content in the form of images in addition to their own professional ones.
For full report, click here.
