https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9691-1540
Introduction
Online Reviews (ORs) have become a part of the normality. There is a paucity of studies that focus specifically on the impact of Negative Online Reviews (NORs) on the business owners of Micro Enterprises (MEs). Due to the daunting effect of COVID-19, the reopening of hospitality businesses is well overdue. During this time, NORs put further stress on businesses. While NORs are unavoidable and at times necessary, issues arise when some NORs are perceived as unreasonable and false. Certain misleading NORs can lead to destroying a business’ reputation (Goldenberg et al., Citation2007; Mei et al., Citation2019). For MEs, NORs can be even more devastating as they are often initiated based on the goal of their owners to realise a particular lifestyle to balance economic, family, and social needs (Nordbø, Citation2021). Thus, the business is not simply a job as it may be their livelihood and identity.
Methodology
A qualitative research method and the exploratory approach were applied to explore the reactions and perceived impact of NORs on business owners. The business owners must have received NORs, which are perceived by them as untruthful or unreasonable. The researcher scanned the reviews (on TripAdvisor, Google reviews and MEs’ Facebook page reviews) and looked at business owners who have responded to NORs, where they have provided detailed responses. Thus, method triangulation was used where the initial step involved a document analysis stage. Then a naturalistic inquiry was used to conduct in-depth interviews with business owners until a redundancy of 10 was reached.
Results
An overview of the respondents are illustrated in . The result of data analysis using an interpretive approach resulted in several themes, which are presented in . While not all NORs are untruthful, they tend to be exaggerated as customers often seek to highlight the negativity to a greater degree (Kapoor et al., Citation2021).
Table 1. Respondents.
Table 2. Identified themes.
(The customer) left a negative review on our Facebook page claiming that our food is among the most expensive in the town … I was furious when I read that because that’s just simply not true. But I tried to reply in a diplomatic way … She then proceeds to accuse us of lying … then proceeds to attack our food quality. And this went and on and on … It just seemed that the customer wanted to win an argument regardless. I was already exhausted after a busy day, we just reopened our restaurant with in-door dining (after lightened COVID-19 restrictions)! Sometimes I wonder, why am I doing this … ? [R1]
She (the customer) left negative feedback on Google review and on our Facebook page saying that our food is the worst she has ever tasted. These are the most popular dishes! I accept that she didn’t like the taste, because well everyone has different taste buds but it’s just untruthful and frankly hurtful … sometimes I wonder if all this is worth it. [R7]
However, not all business owners believe that NORs affect them personally anymore.
Yea we’ve had some negative reviews. I don’t really care too much. I mean the positive reviews speak for themselves, right? I’ve to look at the bigger picture. We’re doing something right, right? I hope at least (laughs). I’ve been in this business for so many years, so I’ve sort of become immune and try not to take it personally [R8].
Much of this is also depending on how many years the business has been in operation. Some MEs have stopped responding to any feedback whatsoever. Nevertheless, not responding to NORs may cause further negative effects (Wang & Chaudhry, Citation2018). Many reported feelings of anger and the use of maladaptive coping strategies, which lead to detrimental psychological, physical, and behavioural outcomes (Eager et al., Citation2019). Factors pertaining to respondents’ OR exposure, emotional responses, and coping strategies predict the impact of NORs on the thoughts of exiting the current business operation. Such finding is rather devastating as MEs consist of an important contributor to the local economy and wealth (Muller et al., Citation2021; Muske & Woods, Citation2004). Unfortunately, they are too often left alone to fend for themselves, financially and emotionally.
Conclusion
Key preliminary findings indicates that NORs have a negative impact on ME owners on a personal level, especially those who are fairly new in the industry. With many businesses having already closed and other hospitality workers changing their careers permanently due to the pandemic, many are at the tipping point. While financial support may be available as government aid in many countries, emotional support is another challenge, leading to negative consequences on hospitality ME owners’ physical and mental state.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Xiang Ying Mei
Xiang Ying Mei is an assosiate professor in marketing at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. She holds a PhD in tourism management from the University of Queensland, Australia. In addition to years of practical experiences in the service industries, her research interests range from government policies, innovation, regional development, tourism management and development, experience economy, consumer behaviour and marketing, to digital learning tools and student engagement in higher education. Mei has previously published in journals such as Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Library & Information Science Research, International Review of Retail Distribution & Consumer Research, Tourism Management Perspectives, Current Issues in Tourism, Anatolia, Tourism Analysis, European Journal of Tourism Research, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, and Tourism and Hospitality Research.
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