Comments and responses' combination: tourist destination's moderating effect

PurposeTo examine the relationship between online comments, merchant replies and online sales of tourism products and focus on the moderating role of tourist destination.Design/methodology/approachThis article uses crawler technology and regression analysis methods.FindingsThe researchers found the following: (1) The number of pictures uploaded with online comments, the number of merchant replies and the length of merchant replies have a significant positive effect on sales of tourism products, while the length of comments and the similarity of merchant replies negatively affect sales of tourism products. The emotional scores of the reviews do not significantly affect sales of tourism products. (2) Tourist destination moderates the relationship between user comments and sales of tourism products. The length of comments has a greater negative effect on sales of domestic tourism products, while the number of comments has a greater positive effect on sales of overseas tourism products. (3) Tourist destination moderates the relationship between merchant replies and sales of tourism products. Consumers who choose domestic tourism products pay more attention to the interactivity reflected by merchant replies (e.g. number and length of merchant replies), while consumers who choose overseas tourism products hope to receive replies that are more useful, such as reply similarity.Originality/valueThe research conclusions enrich the relevant research in the field of online review research and has practical significance for how companies increase sales of tourism products.