A comparision of the rankings of ethnic restaurant dining experiences: Electronic word-of-mouth postings versus on-site customer surveys

This study examined the differences in ranking of dining elements and overall satisfaction between on-site customers and online reviews of ethnic restaurants. On-site surveys were conducted at 11 ethnic restaurants in the greater New Orleans area. Electronic online reviews (eWOMs) were obtained for the same 11 restaurants from TripAdvisor, a web-based customer opinion platform. A total of 250 on-site surveys and 212 eWOMs were analyzed. A Kruskal Wallis analysis revealed a significant difference between on-site customers and those who engage in eWOM activity rank service quality (chi2 = 5.292 & p = 0.021). A Pearson correlation analysis showed that overall satisfaction of the on-site restaurant sample was most strongly correlated to value, while overall satisfaction rating based on eWOM sample was most strongly correlated to food quality. This was supported by the eWOM content analysis that showed food quality as the most commonly discussed dining element. The multiple regression model also showed that the value is the best predictor of overall satisfaction rating for on-site participants, while the food quality is the best predictor of overall satisfaction ratings for eWOM participants. Results of the study indicated that the impact of food quality lasts much longer in the customer's mind than value. Overall, differences in rankings of dining elements among ethnic restaurant types and across review or survey types suggests a need for further study that determines the cause of these differences.