ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH

Jetlagged and overlooked: how social jetlag shapes the perceived helpfulness of tourist reviews?

Cheng, Yun; Wei, Yichun; Liang, Sai; Yang, Yang

Abstract

Social jetlag can negatively impact tourists’ travel experiences. However, how social jetlag influences tourists’ review-posting behavior remains unclear. Grounded in conservation of resources theory, we leverage the exogenous variation created by daylight saving time transitions to investigate whether and how social jetlag affects review helpfulness. Based on a comprehensive dataset of 922,831 reviews across 1,337 hotels in Chicago, New York, and Orlando between 2007 and 2021, we find that social jetlag significantly reduces perceived helpfulness of reviews. The information richness of reviews mediates this detrimental effect. Moreover, the negative effect is more pronounced for reviewers reporting low sleep quality. This study contributes to the literature on user online engagement by addressing the overlooked influence of temporal biological factors in shaping digital engagement in the tourism context.

Keywords

Social jetlag; review helpfulness; conservation of resources theory; daylight saving time; consumer behavior

Research topic

AI and Big Data, Digital Platform and Pricing

Research method

Econometrics, Big Data

Geographic area

US

Additional links for this paper

ResearchGate

Publisher Website

Web of Science

HOW TO CITE

Cheng, Y., Wei, Y., Liang, S., & Yang, Y. (2025). Jetlagged and overlooked: how social jetlag shapes the perceived helpfulness of tourist reviews?. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 1-21.

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