The cobra effect that can affect hotel reviews
I recall a one-night stay at a hotel midway between the airport and the city during one of my frequent overseas trips I made, at some stage of my time in the hotel industry. It was a transit-stop stayover. The hotel was OK for one night. There was though, I reason – if nothing else, that made it memorable. When checking out staff was pushing me to put a positive review on TripAdvisor. They were pushy for me to leave a review and believe me - even offering to write it for me! Delving deeper, I learnt that staff were incentivized to somehow attain a certain number of positive reviews over a fixed period.
Re-checking that hotel’s reviews in retrospect, I noticed that very little was said about the rooms, the amenities and public spaces. Instead, guests rambled about the “ultra-friendly staff…”that this person (name) or that person (name) did this or that for us!” with a few mentions about the buffet. In other words, they were mostly rating the frontline people who run the hotel with hardly any mention about their complete experience of staying in that hotel.
And now, when I see a company with all great reviews that mostly gush about how super friendly the staff was, I wonder if it is the truth or a bunch of cobra breeders. You may wonder, cobra breeders…Huh?
Have you ever tried to fix a problem, only to make things worse? That’s called the cobra effect—when an attempted solution results in unintended consequences - the kind of backfired brilliance only bureaucracy could dream up.
The term “cobra effect” originated during the time of the British rule of colonial India. The British government wanted to tackle the worrying number of venomous cobra snakes in Delhi. They thought they were clever when they put up a sign: “We’ll pay for every dead cobra.” Creating this incentive was initially a successful strategy—many rewards were claimed and the number of cobra snakes spotted in Delhi started to decrease.
However, the number of dead cobra snakes presented to the bounty office for the reward kept piling up. Why? Turned out, people had started breeding cobras in their backyards like chickens to cash in. The government became aware of the scheme, and stopped offering the reward for dead cobras. Breeders then tossed their slithering stock back into the streets. Result? Delhi had more cobras than it started with.
Now picture a hotel that pays staff for every glowing review. At first, the stars pour in. But soon, the hustle shifts — less about service, more about pushing guests for five stars. When the bonus dries up, so does the act. The art of genuine hospitality gets lost somewhere between the TripAdvisor pop-ups and the phony smiles.
Key takeaway: Short-term carrots breed long-term cobras. Real success in hospitality doesn’t come from enticement or by applying undue pressure on staff. It comes from culture, from pride - even when no one’s dangling a prize at the end of the shift.
Ilzaf Keefahs is a freelance writer who enjoys focusing on hospitality related matters that he is passionate about, and likes to share his views with hoteliers and customers alike. He delves into the heart of hospitality to figure out both customer service and consumer trends that impact the industry
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