Analysis of the effects of the online keyword review system

Abstract

Online review services have helped consumers visit offline businesses and given business owners an opportunity for marketing as well as feedback. Most of the main online services today use the traditional star rating review system where reviewers express their experience satisfaction with stars. However, problems such as business owners’ stress inducement and lack of discernment have been raised. Recently, a specific online platform service company in Korea introduced a new system called the “keyword review system” to compensate for the limitations of star reviews. In this study, the effect of the newly introduced review system when applied to offline restaurants was analyzed. According to the results, the keyword review system has shown to be more helpful than the traditional star rating review system in finding high-quality restaurants. The star ratings failed to effectively distinguish high-quality restaurants while the keyword reviews provided detailed and diverse information to users. Furthermore, the keyword review system showed that the aspects impacting future visits differ depending on the category of restaurants. Such results can assist restaurant owners in managing their investment strategies and understanding their customers’ feedback.