From booking to rating activities: A holistic analysis of online review behavior in a destination

The objective of this study is to analyze the online review behavior of users in the context of a range of activities undertaken at a destination while considering the determinant factors at three stages, namely, reservation (booking time and price), consumption (experience), and post-consumption (online behavior). Drawing on expectancy–value theory and cognitive dissonance theory, the main contribution of this paper to the tourism literature lies in its argument that the timing of the characteristics that describe the above activities may have different effects on the final response of users, be it their qualitative decision of posting or their quantitative decision of rating. By taking advantage of a unique database containing information at different stages from booking to rating, results show that the prices, which are observed at the booking time, can affect the posting and rating decisions of users, while the moment of the activity, which is observed at the consumption stage, only affects their posting decision. • Prices—observed at the booking stage—influence posting and rating decisions. • Timing of activities—observed at the consumption stage—only affects posting decisions. • The core tenets of expectancy-value theory are tested in posting and rating decisions. • Posting an online review can serve as a mechanism for reducing cognitive dissonance.