From review consumption to review creation: how AI-generated summaries reshape user contributions on travel platforms

This study examines how AI-generated review summaries (AIRS) influence users’ review-writing behaviors on online travel platforms. Leveraging TripAdvisor’s rollout of AIRS on October 22, 2023, as a quasi-natural experiment, we construct a cross-platform panel dataset of 836 TripAdvisor hotels as the treatment group and matched Expedia counterparts as the control group, covering September 2021 to May 2024. Using a cross-platform difference-in-differences design, we find that AIRS significantly increases user review participation, especially for hotels with higher review volume, greater rating consensus, and linguistic complexity. Textual analyses further show that post-AIRS reviews exhibit stronger social participation motivation and enhanced cognitive and expressive capabilities. These findings suggest that AIRS extend beyond UGC consumption by transforming past reviews into a structured information environment that shapes users’ motivation and ability to create content. This study advances understanding of AI-mediated UGC ecosystems and informs intelligent review system design supporting UGC consumption and continued content creation.