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Old 2011-06-05, 16:02   Link #119
Anh_Minh
I disagree with you all.
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irisiel View Post
Well, if the customers are repeat customers, and if they've been going there for years, I could see some affectionate feeling on part of the place, and that something unusual such as a national review might get them to think "well, we're going this year anyway, so why not when it's likely that this event occurs? We've seen all other events during previous years!", sort of if someone proposes to review something that you care about (gym, café, concert hall, etcetera), and you have a favourite out of all of them that you've attended for a long time, and you realises that it will probably be reviewed during That Weekend, wouldn't you feel tempted to go and see how it goes, and maybe even guess who is the mystery guest.

It's sort of like TV during sweeps (when new episodes are churned out to get viewers so that TV stations can have expensive commercial spots, as the viewer count is counted during sweeps), you get a new, interesting experience in a package that you are familiar with a likes.
If they had that many incredibly dedicated customers, I doubt they'd be failing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deconstructor View Post
Well, an inn reviewer should have connections to inn customers, if only because inn customers read the expert opinion of a magazine to figure out the best places to stay.
They get letters of insult because of inaccurate reviews. If they're lucky, they get letters of thanks because of accurate ones. If they run contests, they get application postcards. That's pretty much it. What makes you think that they can just snap their fingers and have people plan vacations to suit their need to write a review?

Quote:
The magazine could simply ask for volunteers from regular customers at inns around Japan, and I'm sure people want to be helpful.
Without Kissuiso - who actually have more incentive to read the magazine than any customers, who'll generally just buy the thing when planning a vacation - noticing? No.

Not to mention, again, that I find it highly unlikely that anyone would go to that much effort just to write a review for one little inn.



Quote:
An one night inn stay is pricey, but not overly expensive. The reviewer can notify everyone in advance, well before the day of the evaluation. If you notice, all the customers called Kissuiso at the exact same time - one day before the review. The young master had to put some of his calls on hold. Another coincidence, perhaps?
Affordable as it may be, it's not the kind of expense people plan for the convenience of a magazine reviewer. Heck, it's usually the other way around: you read reviews so you don't have to try the stuff yourself.


Quote:
As stated above, asking for volunteers to scout can be done without the inn specifically knowing who the volunteers are. Yes, the staff at Kissuiso assumed the mystery guest was coming over due to the abnormal amount of customers they had.
They assumed a mystery guest was coming because the magazine announced they'd be in the region.


Quote:
I guess it's possible, but people don't usually do something out of their everyday routine unless they're asked to. I have a flaw with this argument: If loyal customers figured out when the review day was, then wouldn't they have informed Kissuiso so the inn could prepare? Unless they're actually in cahoots with the reviewer.
Or, you know, they figure the inn knows as well as they do.


Quote:
The improved service is definitely an incentive to staying over with a mystery guest. As for your second reason, I don't think any customers are that obsessed with inns. Sure, they like to know whether the review is fair or foul, but going so far to verify the validity of a review?
"Customers aren't that obsessed" is one reason why I think your hypothesis that guests came on the say-so of a magazine is unlikely. (The other being, where did they find the guests to start with.)
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