Abstract:
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of word of mouth on restaurant industry. It
also studies the impact of negative and positive word of mouth on social media in food
industry. A gap was being identified where restaurateurs were not focusing much on social
media reviews. So this study has been conducted to fill that gap.
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Methodology & Design
In order to cany out this study, survey method has been used. Questionnaires were being
distributed among the food consumers of Karachi. Convenience sampling technique has been
used and the sample size taken is 401. For further analysis, correlation, regression analysis,
simple mediation and reliability analysis have been employed via Jamovi.
Findings
The results showed that p value is less than 0.05 which shows that there is a significant and
positive relationship among variables. All hypotheses were accepted after the statistical
analysis which shows that there is significantly positive relationship among Impulsiveness
and Urge to Buy, Hedonic & Utilitarian Shopping values and Urge to buy, Urge to buy and
Word of Mouth mediated through Customer Satisfaction. Findings exhibit that word of
mouth has positive impact on restaurant industry.
Limitations
While conducting this study, few limitations were being observed. First of all, due to the
shortage of time, this research was completed in only four months. The biggest weakness of
this research is the non-probability convenience sampling. The research only focused the
Karachi region and even in Karachi, the sample was almost homogeneous. Sample size that
was being chosen was small since researcher was unable to target large sample due to the
shortage of time.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this research, few recommendations are given to the market. A
restaurateur should be responsive to changing consumer’s need. Front end staff like waiters
should be trained to be courteous. They must focus on digital marketing and should be
vigilant to online reviews. A restaurant should maintain the same standards in all its branches
and franchises. They should focus on crises management and should train their staff too for
that. They should also know what customers are thinking about them.
