London, 27 August 2012 - The UK is no longer a nation prone to complaining, at least when it comes to travel, data revealed today by TripAdvisor®, the world’s largest travel site, would suggest.

The British are among the five most positive nations when it comes to posting reviews of accommodation properties worldwide on TripAdvisor, with an average score of 4.1 out of five - higher than almost every other European nation.[1]

The data debunks well-worn national stereotypes, which have for decades portrayed Brits as more downbeat when compared to their European and American cousins. 

South Africa tops the list of countries producing the most positive reviews, with an average score of 4.22 out of five posted byreviewers there, compared with just 3.8 for the least positive nation of reviewers – Malaysia.[2]

TripAdvisor also revealed the nationalities providing the most amount of detail in their reviews on accommodations, with Brits second only to Canadians. UK TripAdvisor reviewers post an average of 177 words per review, topped only by Canadians (191 words per review), with Brazilians providing the least amount of feedback on their experiences with a still respectable 88 words per review.[3]

Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson, said: “When TripAdvisor was founded, the idea of ‘the wisdom of the crowd’ was still relatively unheard of and there was a fear that people would only want to share their travel horror stories. In fact, our experience over the last twelve years has shown the opposite to be true – people do genuinely want to share their good experiences with the world first and foremost.”

Simon Fried, consumer behavioural psychologist, explains why the majority of consumers are prepared to share their positive experience with others:

“At first it may seem surprising that so many people selflessly contribute for the sake of the common good, but the underlying psychological urges are very strong. In the offline world when we receive a gift or someone does us a favour we are naturally compelled to give back. Now the internet has empowered us to carry this behaviour into the online world,”  

“Secondly, most of us have an image of ourselves as the sort of person that does the right thing. In order to maintain this image we prove it to ourselves by doing a good deed, such as recommending to others something we have enjoyed ourselves.  Both the need to give back and to maintain a consistent self-image are deep-seated urges.”

-Ends-

Data appendix

Table #1: Average TripAdvisor Accommodation Review Rating by Country of Origin

Table #2: Average TripAdvisor Accommodation Review Word Length by Country of Origin

Notes to editor:

About Simon Fried:

Simon Fried is a behavioural psychologist who helps clients around the world improve their understanding of how and why consumers act. Applying behavioural economics techniques such as heuristics to marketing, product and communications initiatives improves results by better influencing desired behaviours.

An expert on how to apply the latest behavioural psychology and brain science research Simon works with a range of clients from both the private and public sectors. He is a trusted advisor to several of the world’s largest consumer goods, automotive and financial services companies as well as to public sector institutions such as the OFT and financial regulators.

Simon who was one of the first to apply new brain-science understanding to business and has an M.Sc in Behavioural Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from Bocconi in Milan.