Examining product quality and competitiveness via online reviews: An integrated approach of importance performance competitor analysis and Kano model

Understanding and enhancing product quality and competitiveness are vital in today's market. By leveraging the significant potential of online reviews for market-wide consumer research and strategic quality enhancement, this study introduces a novel review analytics approach that combines Importance Performance Competitor Analysis (IPCA) with the Kano model to evaluate and improve product attributes. The proposed Kano-Weighted IPCA (KWIPCA) framework assesses the importance and performance of product attributes by independently weighting positive and negative reviews according to the principles of the Kano model, while also considering multiple competitors in the market. The final output is a user-friendly, four-quadrant matrix that provides comprehensive insights into the market importance of attributes, their relative achievement, and competitors' performance distribution. This KWIPCA matrix enables the evaluation of a product's strengths and weaknesses relative to competitors, identification of critical areas needing immediate improvement, and offers strategic guidance for enhancing overall customer satisfaction. To demonstrate and validate the KWIPCA framework, a case study was conducted using 8567 reviews of 22 five-star hotels in Seoul, South Korea. The results confirm the KWIPCA's effectiveness in providing actionable insights and competitive benchmarking.