How online reviews are crucial to a restaurant's takings

American economists found that when the dimension Restaurant improved with only half of a star that was much more likely to be full to eat sometimes advanced

is something that every restaurateur and hotel owner knows good reviews increase revenue while tyrants can be closed. And at a time when everyone can be a critic of online qualifications has never been more important. But nobody could be sure of the importance online is the classification system used by sites like Tripadvisor stars Toptable and fortune could be for a business.

work by two economists at the University of California, Berkeley, Professors Michael Anderson and Jeremy Magruder, published in this month's edition of the

Economic Journal

, represents the first attempt to measure the relationship between star ratings and decisions online buying customers. The couple has focused on the effects of positive feedback on line 300 restaurants in San Francisco that have been grouped together to form a star system in Yelp.com, popular in the United States qualifications.

found a restaurant with a score improved by only half a star - on a scale of 1-5 -. It was much more likely to be full during peak dining

In fact, another way of stars caused a restaurant reservation from 19:00 to sell from 30% to 49% of the nights it was open for business.

Significantly, the two economists found that increased trade was adopted without any change in price or quality of food and service, confirming that it is the criticism that led to new clients.

economists write: "The results of this study demonstrate that - despite the fact that social networking sites and forums can not generate financial returns for investors long - play an increasing role in larger how consumers judge the quality of goods and services. "

Economists

recognized that while restaurants with excellent reviews on this site was slightly better restaurant business opinion, cause and effect property was difficult.

"After all, the restaurants that receive good reviews are the ones that appeal to consumers and would probably do well, even in the absence of any review," the pair write. Nevertheless, we hope that research is robust. They point out that, when calculating the average score of a business Yelp.com (ranging from 1 to 5 stars), rounded to the nearest star half.

• Thus, two restaurants with the same average degree can actually appear to be of very different quality of online viewers. For example, a restaurant with an average score of 3.74 shows an average rating of 3.5 stars, while a restaurant with an average score of 3.76 shows an average rating of 4 stars.
This, economists say, allows them to make important comparisons between restaurants that have different skills - for example, from 4 stars 3.5 stars - but they are almost identical quality ( for example, an average of 3.76 compared to 3.74 in average). Its conclusion? Than half of a star that makes the difference.

economists write:

The study collected views and subject to daily availability of 328 restaurants in San Francisco. We found that the passage of more than 3 stars 3.5 stars likely to sell a restaurant during meal times first from 13% to 34%. From 3.5 to 4 stars raised the possibility of selling upscale restaurants at the time of 19 percentage points.

both concluded that changes in consumer preferences "occur even if the quality of the restaurant remains constant. This study demonstrates that these tests have become a factor in the decisions of the consumers."

Significantly, they found that the effect was even more profound when the information is difficult to obtain alternative, opening the possibility that fortune could reach examinations invented.

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