Does Social Couponing Stimulate Positive E-Word-of-Mouth and Referrals?

In the last years an increasing number of hotels have decided to run social coupon campaigns through Groupon and other daily deal sites. Available evidence suggests that several hotel managers have overlooked the “social” component of social couponing. In fact they have mainly considered the short-term effects (i.e. increased sales) of this marketing tool, underestimating its potential benefits in terms of e-word-of mouth (eWOM) and referrals. The aim of this study is therefore to shed light on the potential of social couponing to stimulate positive eWOM and referrals. For this purpose, the paper presents the results of a content analysis of 564 TripAdvisor reviews posted by guests that have stayed at 76 Italian hotels using a Groupon’s coupon. In addition, this study identifies the most important coupon-related factors which are able to explain the positive vs. negative eWOM. Beyond enriching theoretical knowledge on social couponing, this paper highlights that the decision of guests to engage in either positive or negative eWOM about the hotel is influenced by some coupon-related factors which can be managed by the hotels.