This 1500 word individual report is to investigate the problem of fake online reviews by customers in the service industry as a display of satisfaction/dissatisfaction or even for monetary benefits. Fake reviews are written to promote a business by unethical means and to deliberately mislead others in their purchase/service consumption. This problem is a constraint unique to the management of international service companies.
In 2013, this problem received significant media attention where a hotel executive posted more than 100 fake reviews on TripAdvisor to increase the ratings of the hotel (Click to read article). In 2018, one of the largest service apartments company was fined $3 million for influencing customer negative reviews in preventing negative reviews to appear on TripAdvisor (Click to read article). Given the easy access to digital resources, this is a perennial and pertinent problem facing the dynamic service industry. This assignment will help develop your awareness and understanding of the features and complexities of customers posting fake online reviews in the service industry. The fundamental question of concern is whether customers post fake online reviews as a display of satisfaction / dissfaction or is the purpose to gain monetary benefits. For this assignment, you are required to conduct secondary research on fake online reviews posted by customers in the service industry. You will be required to produce an individual report which contains the following information: Discuss how and if posting fake online reviews is a problem in the Service industry. Discuss the underlying motivations behind posting fake online reviews by customers and employees. Discuss the effectiveness of online reviews as a measure of customer service experience satisfaction/dissatisfaction. Provide practical recommendations on how online reviews can be managed ethically and effectively. Get Marketing Assignment: I need help writing a research paper.
