Abstract
The utility derived from a service is contingent on both its intrinsic characteristics and various situational factors. One key element that influences consumer satisfaction is adherence to prior expectations. This is particularly relevant for experience goods, whose quality can only be determined after consumption and are highly dependent on external factors, such as weather. On these premises, the current study explores the role of expectations by analysing the effect of weather surprises (i.e., the mismatch between forecasted and realized weather) on online ratings of tourism in two Italian destinations, Milan and Venice. Results from the analysis of over 200,000 online reviews on Booking.com indicate that weather surprises do indeed have an impact on the reported experienced utility, the effect depending on the type of the surprise. Positive surprises, such as good weather, lead to higher scores while negative surprises, such as bad weather, result in lower reported utility with hotel services. Moreover, we find that duration moderates surprise effects, mitigating the impact of both positive and negative surprises on utility.