Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10397/90558
Title: | To follow others or be yourself? Social influence in online restaurant reviews | Authors: | Li, H Meng, F Jeong, M Zhang, Z |
Issue Date: | Apr-2020 | Source: | International journal of contemporary hospitality management, 23 Apr. 2020, v. 32, no. 3, p. 1067-1087 | Abstract: | 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. |
Keywords: | Cognitive effort Dining experience Online status Restaurant online review Review variance Social influence |
Publisher: | Emerald Group Publishing Limited | Journal: | International journal of contemporary hospitality management | ISSN: | 0959-6119 | EISSN: | 1757-1049 | DOI: | 10.1108/IJCHM-03-2019-0263 | Rights: | © Emerald Publishing Limited This AAM is provided for your own personal use only. It may not be used for resale, reprinting, systematic distribution, emailing, or for any other commercial purpose without the permission of the publisher The following publication Li, H., Meng, F., Jeong, M. and Zhang, Z. (2020), "To follow others or be yourself? Social influence in online restaurant reviews", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 1067-1087 is published by Emerald and is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-03-2019-0263 |
Appears in Collections: | Journal/Magazine Article |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Li_follow_others_yourself.pdf | Pre-Published version | 1.06 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Page views
105
Last Week
0
0
Last month
Citations as of Mar 24, 2024
Downloads
219
Citations as of Mar 24, 2024
SCOPUSTM
Citations
44
Citations as of Mar 28, 2024
WEB OF SCIENCETM
Citations
44
Citations as of Mar 28, 2024
Google ScholarTM
Check
Altmetric
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.