Online Reviews of Restaurants: Expectation-Confirmation Theory

Abstract

Today, consumers’ engagement in the restaurant culture is defined by their involvement in posting online reviews. Drawing upon expectation-confirmation theory (ECT), this study examined whether and how consumers’ confirmations of online reviews from their actual restaurant experiences affect their subsequent participation in online reviews. The research model of this study assessed the entire decision process of a restaurant experience. First, we examined the impacts of online review features – review quality, review timeliness, visual image quality, and rating – on review adoption. Second, we investigated the impact of review adoption on the confirmation of restaurant experiences and review intentions toward online forums. Using structural equation modeling based on the data (n = 596), the results revealed that review quality and review rating significantly influenced review adoption, and both confirmations to positive and negative review intention were significant.