Analyzing consumer decision-making patterns in online restaurant selection: A study of information processing styles on yelp

IF 9.9 1区管理学 Q1 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM

International Journal of Hospitality Management Pub Date : 2025-05-29 DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2025.104306

Yun Wan , Makoto Nakayama

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study examines how consumers make decisions when selecting restaurants online. It introduces a framework that categorizes decision-makers into four distinct styles - quick experts, hasty amateurs, casual novices, and relaxed professionals – based on their prior dining experience and time spent on the selection task. Through clickstream analysis of 282 participants using Yelp, we employed an algorithmic approach to identify these patterns and analyzed their information search and processing behaviors. Results revealed distinct patterns: experienced users conducted focused, sophisticated searches and prioritized credible sources, while less experienced users employed broader searches and were more influenced by promotional content. All groups exhibited satisficing behavior, but experienced users were more discriminating. We conclude that experience and time constraints significantly influence online restaurant selection strategies. These findings contribute to understanding consumer behavior in hospitality contexts, provide insights for hospitality managers to optimize digital presence, extends the theoretical framework of hospitality consumer decision-making.

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消费者在网上餐厅选择中的决策模式分析：基于yelp信息处理风格的研究

这项研究考察了消费者在网上选择餐厅时是如何做出决定的。它引入了一个框架，将决策者分为四种不同的风格——快速专家、仓促的业余爱好者、随意的新手和轻松的专业人士——基于他们之前的用餐经验和花在选择任务上的时间。通过对282名Yelp参与者的点击流分析，我们采用了一种算法方法来识别这些模式，并分析了他们的信息搜索和处理行为。结果显示出不同的模式：经验丰富的用户进行集中、复杂的搜索，并优先考虑可靠的来源，而经验不足的用户进行更广泛的搜索，更受促销内容的影响。所有群体都表现出满意的行为，但经验丰富的用户更具辨别力。我们得出结论，经验和时间限制显著影响在线餐厅选择策略。这些发现有助于理解酒店环境下的消费者行为，为酒店管理者优化数字形象提供见解，扩展了酒店消费者决策的理论框架。

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

International Journal of Hospitality Management HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM-

CiteScore

21.20

自引率

9.40%

发文量

218

审稿时长

85 days

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Hospitality Management serves as a platform for discussing significant trends and advancements in various disciplines related to the hospitality industry. The publication covers a wide range of topics, including human resources management, consumer behavior and marketing, business forecasting and applied economics, operational management, strategic management, financial management, planning and design, information technology and e-commerce, training and development, technological developments, and national and international legislation. In addition to covering these topics, the journal features research papers, state-of-the-art reviews, and analyses of business practices within the hospitality industry. It aims to provide readers with valuable insights and knowledge in order to advance research and improve practices in the field. The journal is also indexed and abstracted in various databases, including the Journal of Travel Research, PIRA, Academic Journal Guide, Documentation Touristique, Leisure, Recreation and Tourism Abstracts, Lodging and Restaurant Index, Scopus, CIRET, and the Social Sciences Citation Index. This ensures that the journal's content is widely accessible and discoverable by researchers and practitioners in the hospitality field.