Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec 2:12:780863.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.780863. eCollection 2021.

Effect of Online Reviews and Crowd Cues on Restaurant Choice of Customer: Moderating Role of Gender and Perceived Crowding

Muhammad Asghar Ali  1 , Ding Hooi Ting  1 , Muhammad Ahmad-Ur-Rahman  2 , Shoukat Ali  3 , Falik Shear  2 , Muhammad Mazhar  1
Affiliations

Effect of Online Reviews and Crowd Cues on Restaurant Choice of Customer: Moderating Role of Gender and Perceived Crowding

Muhammad Asghar Ali et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

This study is aimed to identify the relative (direct) effect of online review ratings and perceived crowding on purchase intentions of a consumer. Our study also investigated the contingent effect of gender and perceived crowding between the relationship of exogenous and endogenous variables. This study was conducted in the Malaysian restaurant industry. We applied the purposive sampling technique to identify respondents, the mall intercept survey method was used for data collection. Smart PLS software was applied for data analysis (200 respondents). This study demonstrates through its results that online review ratings and perceived crowding have a positive effect on purchase intentions of a consumer. Moreover, if a consumer perceives crowding at a restaurant, this has a positive contingent effect on the relationship between review ratings and purchase intentions. This demonstrates that the consumer is more inclined to choose a restaurant with a high online review rating and has high perceived crowding at some unfamiliar place. Lastly, no evidence is found for the gender difference between review rating and purchase intentions; however, gender shows contingent effect and results confirmed that males preferred more crowded restaurants as compared to females. There are theoretical and practical implications for managers in the findings of this study.

Keywords: crowding; gender; online review; perceived crowdedness; purchase intentions; review rating; situational cues.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Conceptual framework.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Moderation graph.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Moderation graph: IV = perceived crowding.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anderson N. H. (1981). Foundations of Information Integration Theory, Vol. 578. New York, NY: Academic Press.
    1. Arcand M., Nantel J. (2012). Uncovering the nature of information processing of men and women online: the comparison of two models using the think-aloud method. J. Theor. Appl. Electron. Commer. Res. 7, 106–120.
    1. Asch S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychol. Monogr. Gen. Appl. 70, 1–70.
    1. Asghar Ali M., Ting D. H., Salim L., Ahmad-Ur-Rehman M. (2021). Influence of servicescape on behavioural intentions through mediation and moderation effects: a study on Malaysia’s full-service restaurants. Cogent Bus. Manag. 8:1924923. 10.1080/23311975.2021.1924923 - DOI
    1. Baker J., Wakefield K. L. (2012). How consumer shopping orientation influences perceived crowding, excitement, and stress at the mall. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 40 791–806. 10.1007/s11747-011-0284-z - DOI

LinkOut - more resources