"FACTORS INFLUENCING NEGATIVE EWOM INTENTION OF CUSTOMERS FOR RESTAURANTS”

Abstract

There has been a lot of research related to hospitality in regard with electronic word of mouth but there is a lack of empirical indepth study in a restaurant setting. This study has examined the antecedents of negative eWOM intention from customers who visit restaurants for different purposes in Karachi and it would help restaurant owners and marketers understand the factors that influence negative eWOM. Previous researches have proved that there are a lot of reasons for negative eWOM out of which the prominent factors are tested. The independent variables which are tested includes Internet familiarity, prior eWOM experience, food value, brand credibility, self-confidence and email communication preference while the dependent variable is Negative eWOM intention. The sample chosen for the study was through convenience sampling technique while the total number of respondents is 148 which were approached through Google forms. All the variables showed a positive and significant relationship however prior eWOM experience and Food value showed stronger relationship with negative eWOM intention while self-confidence portrayed a weak relationship with negative eWOM. Some of the results of the current research were found to be consistent with Boo & Kim (2013a) as in their research he has also taken these antecedents and conducted descriptive analysis over them. Since every research has some limitation so this research had also some limitations where convenience sampling technique was chosen and a small sample of 148 was accessed while the results were not derived instantaneous rather respondents were asked to recall from their last experience which actually creates a bias. It is recommended in the future researches to survey at the restaurants and asks questions to the customers so that they can exactly share with you which also minimize the error rate. The future researchers are recommended to conduct instant data collection by being at restaurants. This technique can help people easily recall and hence it reduces the errors. Moreover, the sample size should be larger in order to have better results and in-depth study on each of the variables studied in the research would be a great value addition and contribution to the field of eWOM.