A Study on How Online Reviews Affect Restaurant Selection: Consumers

This report investigates the impact of online reviews on consumer restaurant selection. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The methodology includes an inductive research approach and a combination of positivism and interpretivism philosophies, utilizing causal research design. Data collection involves online surveys and secondary sources such as journals and articles. The study uses probability random sampling with a sample size of 200, followed by thematic and statistical analysis. The data analysis focuses on the relationship between positive and negative reviews and restaurant selection using ANOVA models. The findings reveal a positive, though weak, correlation between online reviews and consumer choices, indicating that while reviews influence selection, other factors also play a significant role. The report highlights the importance of online reputation management for restaurants.

THE IMPACT OF ONLINE REVIEWS ON
THE SELECTION OF RESTAURANT BY
CONSUMERS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Research methodology.........................................................................................................................2
DATA ANALYSIS................................................................................................................................6
Data analysis aims and objectives...................................................................................................6
REFERNCES.....................................................................................................................................20
APPENDIX........................................................................................................................................22
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is the systematic and theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a
field of study. It is a process of data collection and resolves the research problem in more effective
manner. Various sources used several types of methods to solve the problem. With the help of this,
researcher tries to search the given question in systematic manner and find out their solutions to
achieve appropriate conclusion (Mackey and Gass, 2015). The present research is based on to
analyse the impact of online reviews on the selection of restaurant by customers. To reach on a valid
conclusion, the researcher has selected different research methodologies which are as follows:
Research approach: It can be referred as a method to develop a new theory and knowledge require
understanding more about the subject. There are two types of the research approach; inductive and
deductive (Deductive Reasoning Versus Inductive Reasoning, 2014). In deductive research
approach, a set of hypothesis form where some observations or tests apply to ensure the rejection or
confirmation of hypothesis. Here, the reasoning starts with a theory and leads to develop a new
theory. Apart from this, in inductive research, investigation starts with the observation and theories
are use towards the end of the research process as an outcome of observations. In other words, there
are no theories and hypotheses apply in inductive studies at the starting of the investigation (Taylor,
Bogdan and DeVault, 2015). The present investigation is based on analysing the impact of online
reviews in selection of restaurant by customers. The suitable research approach for the current study
has inductive because there has no hypothesis framed under the research. With the help of this
approach, the researcher has able to focused on observation of customers who use online reviews to
select the restaurant. Via the following research strategy, investigator can observe behaviour of
customers towards restaurant selection (Inductive Approach, 2014). So, it becomes easy to analyse
and measure the effectiveness of different online reviews and their impact on choosing restaurant by
a customer.
Research philosophy: It can be defined as that paradigm which assists in developing a research
background, nature of study and knowledge. It is a major framework for the research which
combines various theories, perceptions, beliefs, laws and practices. Research philosophy is used by
the researchers because it demonstrates the relationship between the research questions and research
objectives of a study (Silverman, 2016). There are two types of research philosophies:
interpretivism and positivism. Interpretivism basically defines the social action which can be
anything. Here, the aim of the scholar is to interpret that social action and draw a valid outcome.
With the help of this method, the researchers easily explain what they are studying during the
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research. On the other hand, positivism philosophy assists the researcher to collect data and
interpret it via objective approach. Under this, findings of study are usually observable and
quantifiable. Here, the investigator takes helps hypothesis and some theories to obtain the valid
result. The present study has related to analyse the impact of online reviews on the selection of
restaurant by customers. To achieve the aim and related objectives, the researcher has been used
combination of both positivism and interpretivism research philosophy (Neuman and Robson,
2012). Positivism has helped the scholar to focus on objectivity of investigation rather than its
subjectivity. By considering this, he has collected the data by a large customer sample in numerical
form. So, positivism approach will help the investigator to achieve various objectives of study in
right manner. On the other hand, interpretivism has focused on the customers’ values and beliefs at
the time of selection of restaurant via online reviews. With the help of this, the researcher has got a
clear justification regarding the research problem (Flick, 2015). Therefore, combination of both
positivism and interpretivism research philosophy has assisted the scholar to determine the relation
of online reviews and selection of restaurant by customers.
Research design: It refers to a systematic plan or a study that play an important role in solving the
research problem in a logical manner. It delivers a complete research structure and framework to
develop a good understanding regarding the entire research (Research design, 2009). There are
three types of research design: descriptive, exploratory and cause and effect i.e causal. Descriptive
research design defines the type of research question, design, question and data analysis that will be
applied to a given topic. To analyse the issues, different alternative but similar studies related to
research subject compare with each other. Exploratory research design is when there is few or no
earlier studies conduct on research problem. The focus of adopting this research design is to gain
insights on a particular topic to understand the investigation problem at starting stage
(Panneerselvam, 2014). But in cause and effect research design, focus of the researcher is on to
assess impacts of specific changes on existing norms, various processes etc. It also explains the
patterns of relationship between variables. The present investigation is based on to assess the impact
of online reviews on the selection of restaurant by customers. The investigator has been selected
causal research design because it has assisted in determining the reasons of impacts of changes on
existing norms. So, with the help of causal research design, the researcher will assess the impact of
online reviews on the selection of restaurant by customers and attain specific outcomes (Smith,
2015).
Research type: It is a technique that provides a logical approach to gain information about a
particular subject. Qualitative and quantitative are two types of research techniques. For the present
investigation, the researcher has been used both research types. In qualitative research, the scholar
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has focused on the sample i.e. customers who are using online reviews to choose restaurant
(Qualitative Research Methods Overview, 2014). With the help of this, the investigator has explored
unstructured data about impact of online reviews on selection of restaurant by customers. It has very
effective method to examine behaviours and belief regarding the choosing of a restaurant by reading
online reviews. On the other hand, with the help of quantitative research technique, the researcher
has extract important information from the collected data and categorizes responses of customers
for various questions relevant to the online reviews. Along with this, it has also quantifies the casual
relationship between online review and restaurant select by customers (Quantitative Methods in
Education Research, 2014). Therefore, the combination of qualitative and quantitative has helped
the researcher to analyse the impact of online reviews in selection of restaurant by customers.
Data collection: For the current research study, the scholar has been used both primary and
secondary data collection methods. To obtain new and fresh information about the role of online
reviews in selection of restaurant by a customer, researcher has been used online questionnaire
survey (Research Instruments for Data Collection, 2014). By this, the collected data from this
method has assisted the investigator to analyse the impact of online reviews on choice of restaurant
by the customers. Via this, he can assess usefulness of online reviews and its related impacts. On the
other hand, the investigator has been used secondary source of information to get new insights of
present research. In this context, the scholar has been used historical studies on online reviews in
selection on different kind of services such as hotel, products, services etc. Along with this, the
conduced literature review provides a clear insight to get the solutions of the present research
subject (Billig and Waterman, 2014). Major sources which have been selected by the scholar for
collecting secondary information are journals, articles, websites, online data, internet, online
research articles, books and libraries, newsletters etc.
Sampling: The present study has based on analysing the impact of online reviews in selection of
restaurant by customers. For this, the researcher has been use probability random sampling because
it has provided an equal opportunity to each customer to select in a sample. In this context, the
scholar has been taken 200 because each sample unit has their own views. This selected sample has
been used by the researcher for collecting the primary information about the impact of online
reviews in selection of restaurant by customers (Cammarota and Fine, 2010).
Data analysis: Data analysis can be defined as a process of examining, testing, modelling and
transforming the collected data to get a meaningful conclusion of a research problem. For the
present study, the researcher has been used thematic and statistical techniques for analysing primary
and secondary data. Under thematic analysis, the outcomes have been presented in the form of
charts, graphs, figure, diagrams etc. On the other hand, to assess numerical or quantitative data, the
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scholar has been used statistical techniques. With the help of this method, relationship between
online reviews and impact on customers to select restaurant has determined (Gast and Ledford,
2014).
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DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis aims and objectives
Aims The main aim of this research study is to measure the online reviews on selection of
restaurant by customers.
Objectives: The main objectives of the research are to identify the following things.
 Impact of on line reviews on the selection of restaurant by consumers. 1st solution
 Websites people often use to make there decisions using online FREQ CHART
 The impact of negative online reviews on the selection of restaurant by consumers. 2nd
solution
 Frequency of reading of online customer reviews to determine which restaurant to be
chosen.
 Use of online reviews to choose place where one can take lunch or dinner.
Frequency of visit of people to restaurant website before selecting specific one.
Impact of on line reviews on the selection of restaurant by consumers. 1st solution
H0: There is no significance difference between positive and negative reviews and selection of
restaurant
H1: There is significant difference of positive and negative reviews and selection of restaurant
Variables Entered/Removeda
Model Variables Entered Variables
Removed
Method
1 POSITIVEREVIE
Wb . Enter
a. Dependent Variable: READCUSTOMERREVIEWS
b. Tolerance = .000 limits reached.
Model Summaryb
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .062a .004 -.001 .609
a. Predictors: (Constant), POSITIVEREVIEW
b. Dependent Variable: READCUSTOMERREVIEWS
ANOVAa
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Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression .284 1 .284 .767 .382b
Residual 73.396 198 .371
Total 73.680 199
a. Dependent Variable: READCUSTOMERREVIEWS
b. Predictors: (Constant), POSITIVEREVIEW
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 1.399 .082 17.106 .000
POSITIVEREVIEW .029 .033 .062 .876 .382
a. Dependent Variable: READCUSTOMERREVIEWS
Residuals Statisticsa
Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation N
Predicted Value 1.43 1.54 1.46 .038 200
Residual -.544 1.572 .000 .607 200
Std. Predicted Value -.844 2.225 .000 1.000 200
Std. Residual -.894 2.582 .000 .997 200
a. Dependent Variable: READCUSTOMERREVIEWS
Interpretation
In order to understand the impact of positive and negative reviews on the selection of restaurant
ANNOVA model is applied. It can be seen from the diagram that there are many components of this
model. Same are explained below.
R square- Value of R reflects the relationship between two variables and it reflects whether two
variables are interrelated to each other. The value of correlation remain in range of -1,0 and +1. It
can be seen from the table that value of R is 0.04 which is positive. This value is reflecting that
there is positive relationship between two variables and positive as well as negative reviews affects
selection of restaurants from the people side. However, value of correlation is very low and it can be
said that there are few number of people on the basis of review select specific restaurant.
R - This is one of the most important components of the regression model because it reflects the
changes that come in dependent variable due to change in independent variable. It can be observed
from the table that value if R square is 0.062 which means that due to change in independent
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variable only 62% variation comes in dependent variable. It can be said that positive and negative
reviews moderately some affects selection of restaurant from people side. This clearly reflects that
people give moderate importance to the reviews that are on websites. However, they read these
reviews in order to select best restaurant for taking lunch or dinner.
Mean square- It is part of regression model which reflect the variation that comes in regression and
residual values. There is not a big difference between values of mean square in regression and
residual and on this basis it can be said that in future also any big change will not be observed in
case of dependent variable.
Level of significance- Value of level of significance reflects whether there is big difference between
both variables. It can be observed from the table given above that value of P>0.05 (0.382>0.05)
which means that there is significant difference in mean values of dependent and independent
variable. The significant or large difference in both variable values and low value of R as well as R
square clearly reflects that values of both variables are not moving in same direction. Values of both
variables are moving in slightly positive direction and due to this reason there is big difference
between values of the variable. Value of P>0.05 and it mean that there is a significant difference
between mean values of positive and negative reviews as well as selection of restaurant.
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The impact of negative online reviews on the selection of restaurant by consumers.
H0: There is no significant difference in mean values of negative reviews and selection of
restaurant among groups
H1: There is significant difference in mean values of negative reviews and selection of restaurant
among groups
ANOVA
READCUSTOMERREVIEWS
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 1.743 4 .436 1.182 .320
Within Groups 71.937 195 .369
Total 73.680 199
Interpretation
Value of level of significance is 0.320 which is below alpha value. It can be said that P>0.05
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(0.320>0.05) and this reflects that there is significant difference in mean value of negative reviews
and selection of restaurant on the basis of same among different groups. It can be seen that value of
mean square within group is 0.369 and between groups is 0.436 which is reflecting that there is
huge difference in response that are given by different groups. This reflects that mean value of those
who assume that negative reviews affects their selection on specific restaurant under strongly agree
category is different from those who select restaurant by considering negative reviews under agree
category. This means that respondents are not giving response on specific direction. Some says that
they consider negative review to make decisions related to selection of restaurant but they does not
give too importance to same in their decisions. On other hand, some says that they consider
negative review and to great extent it affect there choice related to restaurant. The rate of variance is
not same across the above discussed groups.
The impact of online advertisements on giving positive or negative reviews by consumers
H0: There is no impact of online advertisement on positive and negative reviews given by
consumers.
H1: There is impact of online advertisement on positive and negative reviews given by consumers.
Variables Entered/Removeda
Model Variables Entered Variables
Removed
Method
1 ONLINEADVb . Enter
a. Dependent Variable: POSNEG
b. All requested variables entered.
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .039a .001 -.004 .89121
a. Predictors: (Constant), ONLINEADV
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression .236 1 .236 .297 .586b
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Residual 157.264 198 .794
Total 157.500 199
a. Dependent Variable: POSNEG
b. Predictors: (Constant), ONLINEADV
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 1.378 .146 9.422 .000
ONLINEADV .057 .104 .039 .545 .586
a. Dependent Variable: POSNEG
Interpretation
R- It can be seen from the table that value of R is 0.39 which is reflecting that there is moderate
relationship between two variables. It can be said that due to change in independent variable 39%
change comes in dependent variable. It is clear that there is less impact of online advertisement on
the reviews given by the customers. This does not mean that online view of advertisement does not
affect or play a role in there positive or negative review about the restaurant. Online view of
advertisement certainly affects the reviews given by customers but only to some extent. This may
happen because in online advertisement every restaurant communicates positive things about it.
Hence, there is a common similarity between online advertisements. Hence, it is one of the main
reason due to which it is not considered by the people to great extent to give reviews about the
restaurant.
R square- Value of R square reflects the relationship between two variables and it can be identified
from the table that value of same is 0.01 and it means that there is positive but very low correlation
between variables. This is again revealing the fact that online view of advertisement related to
restaurants does not affect people reviews. It can be said the people are viewing advertisement but
they does not consider it to give reviews. This is also revealing that people on the basis of their
experience in the specific restaurant give positive or negative comments on restaurant.
Mean square- Mean square is reflecting the variance between variables;. It can be observed from
the diagram that value of mean square is high in case of residuals then regression. On this basis it
can be said that there is possibility that in future the correlation between online view of
advertisement and reviews of customers will improve.
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