Cover not available
Article published In:
Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 10:4 (2019) ► pp.493–511

Hotel management’s attempts at repairing customers’ trust

The use of apology and denial

| The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The present study explores the discursive practice of the hospitality industry in addressing competence-based, benevolence-based, and integrity-based accusations of trust violation made by dissatisfied customers on TripAdvisor. Authentic negative online reviews written by dissatisfied customers and the corresponding responses by hotel management downloaded directly from TripAdvisor are analyzed qualitatively with Nvivo10. Results show that hotel management has the strongest preference for apology, followed by implicit denial and then explicit denial when dealing with the three different types of accusations of trust violation. The findings will enhance our understanding of trust and its repair, and benefit hospitality practitioners responsible for handling online criticisms and complaints.
Keywords: apology, denial, hotel accommodation, TripAdvisor, trust violation, trust repair
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Apology and denial
  • 3.Hotel management’s attempts at trust repair
  • 4.Method
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Addressing trust violation accusations with apology and denial
    • 5.2Addressing trust violation accusations with other moves
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Use of apology, implicit denial and explicit denial
    • 6.2Use of other moves
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 January 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.18008.ho
References

References

Bhatia, Vijay
2004 Worlds of Written Discourse: A Genre-based View. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Ulla Connor, Thomas Upton, and Budsaba Kanoksilapatham
2007 “Introduction to move analysis.” In Discourse on the Move: Using Corpus Linguistics to Describe Discourse Structure edited by D. Biber, U. Connor, and T. Upton, 23–42. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bradley, Graham, and Beverly Sparks
2009 “Dealing with service failures: The use of explanations.” Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing 261: 129–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chan, Nga-ling, and Basak Guillet
2011 “Investigation of social media marketing: How does the hotel industry in Hong Kong perform in marketing on social media websites?.” Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing 281: 345–68. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ferrin, Donald, Peter Kim, Cecily Cooper, and Kurt Dirks
2007 “Silence speaks volumes: The effectiveness of reticence in comparison to apology and denial for responding to integrity- and competence-based trust violations.” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, 4: 893–908. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Folkes, Valerie, and Yun-oh Whang
2003 “Account-giving for a corporate transgression influences moral judgement: when those who ‘spin’ condone harm-doing.” Journal of Applied Psychology 88, 1: 79–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fornell, Claes, and Birger Wernerfelt
1987 “Defensive marketing strategy by customer complaint management: a theoretical analysis.” Journal of Marketing Research 241: 337–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fornell, Claes, Michael Johnson, Eugene Anderson, Jaesung Cha, and Barbara Bryant
1996 “The American customer satisfaction index: nature, purpose, and findings.” Journal of Marketing 601: 7–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fuoli, Matteo, and Carita Paradis
2014 “A model of trust-repair discourse.” Journal of Pragmatics 741: 52–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jambulingam, Thani, Ravi Kathuria, and John Nevin
2009 “How fairness garners loyalty in the pharmaceutical supply chain Role of trust in the wholesaler-pharmacy relationship.” International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing 3, 4: 305–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ho, Victor
2017a “Achieving service recovery through responding to negative online reviews.” Discourse & Communication 11, 1: 31–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017b “Giving offense and making amends: How hotel management attempts to manage rapport with dissatisfied customers.” Journal of Pragmatics 1091: 1–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, Peter, Donald Ferrin, Cecily Cooper, and Kurt Dirks
2004 “Removing the shadow of suspicion: The effects of apology versus denial for repairing competence- versus integrity-based trust violations.” Journal of Applied Psychology 891: 104–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, Peter, Cecily Cooper, Kurt Dirks, and Donald Ferrin
2013 “Repairing trust with individuals vs. groups.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 1201: 1–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lazare, Aaron
2004 On Apology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Levy, Stuart, Wenjing Duan, and Soyoung Boo
2013 “An analysis of one-star online reviews and responses in the Washington, D.C., lodging market.” Cornell Hospitality Quarterly 54, 1: 49–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Linell, Per, and Ivana Marková
2013 Dialogical Approaches to Trust in Communication. Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Litvin, Stephen, and Laura Hoffman
2012 “Responses to consumer-generated media in the hospitality marketplace: An empirical study.” Journal of Vacation Marketing 18, 2: 135–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matzat, Uwe, and Chris Snijders
2012 “Rebuilding trust in online shops on consumer review sites: Sellers’ responses to user-generated complaints.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 181: 62–79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mayer, Roger, James Davis, and F. David Schoorman
1995 “An integrative model of organizational trust.” The Academy of Management Review 20, 3: 709–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mazzarol, Tim, Jillian Sweeney, and Geoffrey Soutar
2007 “Conceptualizing word-of-mouth activity, triggers and conditions: An exploratory study.” European Journal of Marketing 411: 1475–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McColl-Kennedy, Janet, and Beverly Sparks
2003 “Application of fairness theory to service failures and service recovery.” Journal of Service Research 51: 251–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Murphy, Laurie, Gianna Mascardo, and Pierre Benckendorff
2007 “Exploring word-of-mouth influences on travel decisions: Friends and relatives vs. other travelers.” International Journal of Consumer Studies 311: 517–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Connor, Peter
2010 “Managing a hotel’s image on TripAdvisor.” Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management 191: 754–772. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olshtain, Elite
1989 “Apologies across languages.’ In Cross-cultural speech acts realization project, edited by S. Blum-Kulka, J. House, and G. Kasper, 155–173. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.Google Scholar
Papathanassis, Alexis, and Friederike Knolle
2011 “Exploring the adoption and processing of online holiday reviews: A grounded theory approach.” Tourism Management 321: 215–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Park, Hee and Xiaowen Guan
2009 “Culture, Positive and Negative Face Threats, and Apology Intentions.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology 28, 3: 244–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sigal, Janet, Louis Hsu, Stacey Foodim, and Jeffrey Betman
1988 “Factors affecting perceptions of political candidates accused of sexual and financial misconduct.” Political Psychology 91: 273–80. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sparks, Beverly, and Graham Bradley
2017 “A ‘triple A’ typology of responding to negative consumer-generated online reviews.” Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research 41, 6: 719–745. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sparks, Beverly, and Liz Fredline
2007 “Providing an explanation for service failure: Context, content, and customer responses.” Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research 31, 2: 241–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spenader, Jennifer, and Emar Maier
2009 “Contrast as denial in multi-dimensional semantics.” Journal of Pragmatics 411: 1707–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spencer-Oatey, Helen
2008 “Face, (im)politeness and rapport.” In Culturally Speaking: Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory, 2nd edition, edited by H. Spencer-Oatey, 11–47. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Spencer-Oatey, Helen, and Peter Franklin
2009 Intercultural Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Intercultural Communication. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spreng, Richard, Gilbert Harrell, and Robert Mackoy
1995 “Service recovery: impact on satisfaction and intentions.” Journal of Services Marketing 9, 1: 15–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stapleton, Karyn
2016 “Accountable preferences? Discourse, identity, and the anti-prejudice norm.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology 35, 5: 491–514. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tedlow, Richard
2010 Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face – and What to do about It. New York: Portfolio.Google Scholar
White, Tiffany
2005 “Consumer trust and advice acceptance: The moderating roles of benevolence, expertise, and negative emotions.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 15, 2: 141–8. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yavas, Ugur, Osman Karatepe, Emin Babakus, and Turgay Avci
2004 “Customer complaints and organizational responses: A study of hotel guests in Northern Cyprus.” Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing 11, 2–3: 31–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Yi, and Camilla Vásquez
2014 “Hotels’ responses to online reviews: Managing consumer dissatisfaction.” Discourse, Context and Media 61: 54–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Ho, Victor
2020. Do hotels enhance and challenge rapport with customers with the same degree of commitment?. Journal of Pragmatics 166 ► pp. 70 ff. DOI logo
Ho, Victor
2021. Denial in managerial responses: Forms, targets and discourse environment. Journal of Pragmatics 176 ► pp. 124 ff. DOI logo
Hopkinson, Christopher
2021. Realizations of oppositional speech acts in English: a contrastive analysis of discourse in L1 and L2 settings. Intercultural Pragmatics 18:2 ► pp. 163 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 17 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.