Ethics in Hotel Online Advertising Data Use

Extract

[...] According to a study conducted by Banerjee (2022), online reviews, corresponding to one of the inescapable practices of online advertising, have an impact on hotel booking decisions, leading to the unethical practice of publishing fake reviews, often originating from the hotels themselves through information collected on customer expectations. The author's study aims to investigate the real degree of exaggeration and the perception of exaggeration in authentic and fake reviews, based on the hotel category (luxury vs budget) and the polarity of the review (positive vs negative). "Fake online reviews are commonly assumed to be more exaggerated than authentic ones. The assumption has however not been empirically confirmed in different contexts. [...]

[...] The context presented in the literary review therefore demonstrates harmful effects on consumer feelings regarding the use of their personal data through online advertising. Thus, it appears that online tracking and targeted advertising are synonymous in the consumer's consciousness with the violation of privacy and the right to access information. It is therefore in this context that ethical questions appear important to address in the face of the excesses of digital marketing in the framework of protecting consumers' private lives, which are being called into question. [...]

[...] This evolution concerns the world of the hotel industry, whose marketing strategies are essential to capture and retain their clientele in a highly competitive sector. Considering these evolutions, hotel companies have had to adapt to the evolution of digital promotion in order to respond to the consumption habits of their clients due to the development of their communication on digital media. The objective of companies in the sector that turn to digital marketing is clear: to increase their visibility on all digital media in order to be able to target a large clientele while ensuring the personalization of their proposed offers. [...]

[...] This process allows online advertising, but targets hotels corresponding to the user's expectations. To do this, it would be convenient for consumers to be able to define their privacy requirements in advance based on such or such categories of interest in the hotel industry according to the advertising sites that can be consulted. This evolution would allow for personalized data protection, where users can control the level of detail of their profile visible to hotel industry advertisers and thus restrict any excessive use of their data. [...]

[...] Hotel Manager A better trust from customers is always a plus and maybe it can improve the image of the hotel industry. Hotel Manager As I said, it's a real concern today for many consumers, I am completely in agreement with this proposal that would improve the use of clients on different hotel sites. Hotel Manager Yes, I agree, but we must not add new constraints for the hotel and its operation, we already have so many. Hotel Manager That could be an idea, it depends on what future framework can be established. [...]