Motives for reading and articulating user-generated restaurant reviews on Yelp.com. (12th August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Parikh, Anish; Behnke, Carl; Vorvoreanu, Mihaela; Almanza, Barbara; Nelson, Doug
• Is Part Of: Journal of hospitality and tourism technology. Volume 5:Number 2(2014)
• Page Start: 160
• Page End: 176
• Publication Date: 2014-08-12
• Subjects: Tourism -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Hospitality industry -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Information technology -- Periodicals; 338.47910285
• DOI: 10.1108/JHTT-04-2013-0011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-9880

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</title> <p> – The purpose of this research is to examine why and when restaurant consumers use and contribute user-generated reviews. This research is needed to determine the relevance of user-generated restaurant reviews in the current marketplace. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</title> <p> – The research methodology is based on a quantitative approach, and focused on current <ext-link ext-link-type="uri">Yelp.com</ext-link> users as its population. Questions focused on the amount of usage, motives for usage, level of trust, users' tendencies to seek novelty in restaurants and motives for contribution. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</title> <p> – Users tend to trust the reviews on <ext-link ext-link-type="uri">Yelp.com</ext-link> and engage in the community aspects of the platform. <ext-link ext-link-type="uri">Yelp.com</ext-link> users also are altruistic in their motivation for contributing reviews to <ext-link ext-link-type="uri">Yelp.com</ext-link>. <ext-link ext-link-type="uri">Yelp.com</ext-link> users who access it tend to act on the information found within the reviews. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</title> <p> – Research articles have focused on user-generated reviews in the past; however, few have examined motivations of using and posting restaurant reviews. The value of conducting research comes from being able to understand the importance of user-generated restaurant reviews for customers in a comprehensive manner.</p> </sec> </abstract>