The impact of electronic word-of-mouth management in hotel ecosystem: insights about managers' decision-making process

PurposeThere is a lack of research proving how electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is a valuable source of information in the hospitality industry for developing hotels' intellectual capital. To fill this gap, this study aims to examine hotel managers' decision-making processes regarding the acceptance and management of eWOM and its impact on the Italian hotel ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachThis work takes advantage of the previous contributions to present a hotel's decision-making process model regarding structural capital. It includes eWOM as a context variable and changes implemented as a dependent variable in a comprehensive model. The structural equation modelling applies to a database obtained through a survey addressed to Italian hotel managers.FindingsThe results show that eWOM plays an essential role in managers' motivations to explain hotel changes implementation. The hotel leverages eWOM information and interaction through structural, relational and human capital to enhance products, services and strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThis work contributes to the extant literature by providing a comprehensive framework to explain the consequences of eWOM knowledge management from the intellectual capital view in the Italian hotel ecosystem.Practical implicationsFor practitioners, this research demonstrates how hotel managers should accept and manage eWOM knowledge through intellectual capital to make determinant decisions that improve hotel performance.Originality/valueThere is a scarcity of research on modelling the acceptability and management of eWOM in the hotel ecosystem from practitioners' perspectives. This work is the first attempt to determine how eWOM knowledge management boosts hotel intellectual capital and improves service innovation and performance.