After examining more than 40,000 reviews of star-rated hotels in Hong Kong, a study pronounces a large number to be suspicious. While some were not deliberately false, most were considered at least misleading to consumers. The study, conducted by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, says the alarming number of misleading reviews could have serious consequences for the hospitality industry, as more and more hotel bookings occur online and travellers rely heavily on guest reviews in their decision making.

In order to better understand how and why these misleading reviews were occurring, and how travellers can recognize them in the future, the study was conducted using the TripAdvisor numerical rating system, which rates overall experiences, service, value, sleep quality, cleanliness, property location and guestrooms. Looking at reviews for 185 primarily 4-star hotels in Hong Kong, researchers determined one of the easiest ways to spot a misleading or fake review is to note discrepancies between ratings for overall experience and ratings for more specific aspects, as well as significant differences between separate reviews.

The study also pointed out two types of reviewers — those who gave varying reviews and those who gave consistently very good or very poor reviews. Members rating hotels in a seemingly bipolar way are more likely to be paid reviewers, hired to leave good reviews for certain brands and properties while also leaving extremely negative reviews for the competition.

Overall, however, researchers did agree it is less likely to see false or misleading reviews the more luxurious and prestigious a property may be, leading many to feel the issue is more prevalent among mid-grade and budget hotels in Hong Kong.

The solution? Researchers from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management suggest e-commerce platforms address the issue by flagging posts that seem suspicious. They also recommend consumers watch for inconsistent reviews and pay adequate attention to property review discrepancies.