Review Ratings, Sentiment in Review Comments, and Restaurant Profitability: Firm-Level Evidence

IF 3.4 4区管理学 Q1 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM

Cornell Hospitality Quarterly Pub Date : 2023-12-21 DOI:10.1177/19389655231214758

Saddam Abdullah, P. Van Cauwenberge, Heidi Vander Bauwhede, Peter O’Connor

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article examines the effect of user review ratings and sentiment in review comments on restaurant profitability. In addition, the effects of sentiment in review comments in a local versus a foreign language are compared. User sentiments are mined from 63,904 Dutch and 42,980 English TripAdvisor review comments for restaurants in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium). The article exploits the availability of detailed firm-level financial reports, which are mandatory for all Belgian companies. This facilitates the investigation of bottom-line profitability, which is the ultimate measure of success, and at the same time, the inclusion of firm-specific control variables in the regression analyses. Findings suggest positive sentiment toward restaurants in general and that variations in sentiment impact profitability. Sentiment in review comments is highly significant and has a larger impact than review ratings. In addition, comments in the local language (Dutch) are more impactful than comments in a global language (English). Overall results suggest that, rather than focusing solely on quantitative ratings, restaurateurs should focus on users’ qualitative review comments, actively managing them to help drive restaurant performance. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically assess how review ratings, sentiment in review comments, and language of review comments impact bottom-line restaurant performance, adding to the literature supporting proactive online reputation management.

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评论评级、评论意见中的情绪与餐厅盈利能力：公司层面的证据

本文研究了用户评论等级和评论意见中的情感对餐厅盈利能力的影响。此外，还比较了本地语言和外语评论意见的情感影响。用户情感是从法兰德斯（比利时荷语区）63904 条荷兰语和 42980 条英语的 TripAdvisor 餐厅评论中挖掘出来的。文章利用了比利时所有公司都必须提交的详细公司级财务报告。这有助于调查作为成功最终衡量标准的底线盈利能力，同时在回归分析中纳入公司特定的控制变量。研究结果表明，人们对餐馆的总体评价是积极的，评价的变化会影响盈利能力。评论意见中的情绪非常显著，比评论评级的影响更大。此外，本地语言（荷兰语）的评论比全球语言（英语）的评论影响更大。总体结果表明，餐厅经营者不应只关注定量评分，而应关注用户的定性评论，积极管理这些评论，以帮助提升餐厅业绩。据作者所知，这是第一项实证评估评论评级、评论意见中的情感以及评论意见的语言如何影响餐厅业绩的研究，为支持积极主动的在线声誉管理的文献增添了新的内容。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cornell Hospitality Quarterly Multiple-

CiteScore

8.50

自引率

2.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (CQ) publishes research in all business disciplines that contribute to management practice in the hospitality and tourism industries. Like the hospitality industry itself, the editorial content of CQ is broad, including topics in strategic management, consumer behavior, marketing, financial management, real-estate, accounting, operations management, planning and design, human resources management, applied economics, information technology, international development, communications, travel and tourism, and more general management. The audience is academics, hospitality managers, developers, consultants, investors, and students.