NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 12/17/12 -- Hotel owners have long suspected that positive reviews are good for business, and that negative reviews can potentially lead to diminished profits. Now, there is an academic study to support this claim, and to validate the notion that online reputation and overall revenues are directly connected. The study, conducted by the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University and cited in a recent Los Angeles Times article, notes that hotels with better online reviews and higher "online reputation scores" tend to have better occupancy rates, and in turn they bring in more impressive revenues. This finding has won the attention of ReputationChanger.com; ReputationChanger.com reviews the reputation needs of many different businesses and brands, including several hotel clients.

The leading online reputation management firm has issued a new statement to the press, commenting on the study as it is summarized in the Times. "It is really a matter of common sense that good reviews lead to more customers, and more customers lead to more profits," says Cliff Stein, the Chief Executive Officer of ReputationChanger.com, in the company's new press statement. "Even so, many business professionals have long been skeptical as to whether there is a true monetary connection between online reputation and real-world success -- something that there clearly is, as this study makes clear."

Stein says that while positive reviews can have a tremendously helpful effect on a business or brand, the reverse is also true. "Just as positive reviews can build a business up and bring in clients by the droves, so, too, can negative reviews send consumers scurrying. Bad reviews can truly break a business, in particular a hotel."

The ReputationChanger.com CEO attributes this powerful effect to the advent of mobile devices and online review sites. "If you are seeking to make reservations at a hotel, or to find a local restaurant, it is all too easy to visit a hotel review site, or to hit up the Yelp.com app on your iPhone," Stein explains. "More and more, consumers are basing their major purchasing decisions on these review sites, as well as on the information they glean from online searches. The bottom line is that online reputation is make-or-break for companies of all kinds."

Indeed, Stein is adamant in saying that hotels are not the only businesses to benefit from good reviews, or to suffer when their online reputation takes a hit. "ReputationChanger.com reviews online reputation cases for companies in all industries and verticals," he affirms. "Our client list is made up of Fortune 500 brands and small business start-ups alike."

Stein also believes it is important for businesses to understand just how common negative, even devastating online reviews truly are. "Some businesses think that they are immune to this effect, because what they offer is so stellar and so customer-centric," he says. "For example, a hotel may believe its accommodations to be so superior that it could never in a million years get slammed with bad reviews -- but this is naïve, because bad reviews can come at any time and for any reason." Stein says that negative reviews are frequently fakes, planted by business rivals or even by unhappy employees.

Hotels and other businesses, seeking to make the most of this brave new online world and defend themselves against negative reviews, often turn to the online reputation management services of ReputationChanger.com, or a similar firm. Online reputation management companies make it their mission to give businesses and individuals alike control over how they are presented on the Web -- including control over their consumer reviews.

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Launched in 2009 by a team of online marketing pros, ReputationChanger.com has come to be lauded as the world's foremost reputation management service. Delivering services to businesses, brands, and individuals alike, the agency is zealous for giving companies and people control over how they are portrayed on the Web. ReputationChanger.com reviews cases for Fortune 500 brands, elected officials, small businesses, and more.