Motivations to consult eWOM, value co-creation, and intent to write eWOM: understanding heterogeneity of the guest experience

Purpose This study aims to capture the heterogeneity of customer motivations. Specifically, it explores unobserved guest motivation heterogeneity regarding electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) consultation, perceptions of the co-creation process and possible future effects on consumption behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The purpose was tested with data from a panel of 393 hotel guests who stayed at hotels in Spain. This paper performed the finite mixture SEM model to analyse both structural equation estimations and unobserved heterogeneity at the same time. The estimation of a finite mix model was applied to identify guest profiles. Findings Two latent segments were found in which the “motivations to consult eWOM → value co-creation process with the hotel → intention to write eWOM” relationship chain presented significant effect differences. Practical implications The findings show that relationships between eWOM behaviour and value co-creation are heterogeneous across segments and thus represent robust segmentation criteria. The sociodemographic characteristics that define the identified latent segments enable hotels to develop differentiated communication strategies. Originality/value The contribution of this study lies in considering the existence of heterogeneity along the guest experience, where the customer’s perception of the value co-creation process with the hotel has a significant impact on the subsequent intention to write eWOM. The results contribute to the advancement of segmentation research in the hospitality industry.