To follow others or be yourself? Social influence in online restaurant reviews

Purpose Online reviews are often likely to be socially influenced by prior reviews. This study aims to examine key review and reviewer characteristics which may influence the social influence process. Design/methodology/approach Restaurant review data from Yelp.com are analyzed using an ordered logi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of contemporary hospitality management 2020-04, Vol.32 (3), p.1067-1087
Main Authors: Li, Hengyun, Meng, Fang, Jeong, Miyoung, Zhang, Zili
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bias
Conformity
Consumers
Consumption
Customer services
Decision making
Literature reviews
Product quality
Product reviews
Ratings & rankings
Restaurants
Social networks
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Summary:Purpose Online reviews are often likely to be socially influenced by prior reviews. This study aims to examine key review and reviewer characteristics which may influence the social influence process. Design/methodology/approach Restaurant review data from Yelp.com are analyzed using an ordered logit model and text mining approach. Findings This study reveals that prior average review rating exerts a positive influence on subsequent review ratings for the same restaurant, but the effect is attenuated by the variance in existing review ratings. Moreover, social influence is stronger for consumers who had a moderate dining experience or invested less cognitive effort in writing online reviews. Compared to reviewers classified by Yelp as “elite,” non-elite reviewers appear more susceptible to the social influence of prior average review rating. Practical implications This study provides guidelines for mitigating the social influence of prior reviews and improving the accuracy of online product/service ratings, which will eventually enhance business and the reputation of online review platforms. Originality/value The findings from this study contribute to the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) literature and social influence literature in terms of the bidirectional nature of social influence on eWOM.
ISSN:0959-6119
1757-1049
DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-03-2019-0263