An analysis of online reviews of upscale Iberian restaurants

Abstract

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has gained importance with the emergence of new online tools and the hospitality sector is at the core of this phenomenon. In this study, we use a data set of client reviews for Michelin starred restaurants located in Portugal and Spain to analyze the reviews in terms of overall satisfaction and four specific attributes. By employing statistical tests and regression analysis we find that the "food" and "service" attributes show a greater correlation with overall satisfaction than other criteria, and those attributes are common across restaurant segments and countries. These results have implications for the restaurant industry, highlighting the most important determinants of overall satisfaction. Some areas would benefit from small improvements and investments, which could make a difference in terms of rating and might bring a competitive advantage. Keywords:Restaurants; electronic word-of-mouth; online review platforms; Michelin Guide. ResumoO boca-em-boca eletrónico (eWOM) ganhou importância com o surgimento de novas ferramentas online e o setor hoteleiro encontra-se no centro desse fenómeno. O presente artigo utiliza um conjunto de dados secundários de avaliações de clientes de restaurantes com estrelas Michelin localizados em Portugal e em Espanha. São analisadas as avaliações em termos de satisfação geral e quatro atributos específicos. Utilizando testes estatísticos e análise de regressão, evidencia-se que os atributos "comida" e "serviço" mostram uma maior correlação com a satisfação geral do que outros critérios, sendo esses atributos comuns em diferentes segmentos de restaurantes e países. Estes resultados têm implicações para o setor de restauração, pois destacam os determinantes mais importantes da satisfação geral. Algumas áreas são identificadas onde pequenas melhorias e investimentos podem fazer diferença em termos de classificação e trazer uma vantagem competitiva. Palavras-chave:Restaurantes; boca-em-boca eletrónico; plataformas de avaliação online; guia Michelin.

A reflection on the story, current positioning, offerings and the darker side of the luxury gastronomy book, theMichelin Guide

“…michelin-starred restaurants have always been associated with "fine dining" as opposed to convenience dining and regular restaurants (miklós, 2019). It represents expensive and hedonic consumption (Pacheco, 2018). In the specific case of starred restaurants, access is limited to an exclusive pool of customers who expect high standards of food service in which a single meal is transformed into a unique "experience".…”

“…However, the luxury status of the "Red Guide" can be debated. Firstly, the guide has a dualistic structure: on one hand, the high-end gastronomic segment, and on the other hand, a wide group of more regular restaurants, not eligible for evaluation (Pacheco, 2018). At the end of the day, it could be argued that the guide is specifically a marketing tool, used to promote hotels and restaurants but more importantly the company of michelin and their products and services.…”

A sentiment analysis of Michelin-starred restaurants

“…Michelin-starred restaurants are often regarded as fine-dining establishments (Chiang and Guo, 2021), positioned in the high-end or luxury segment (Pacheco, 2018) and characterized as haute cuisine that is driven by excellence (Svejenova et al, 2007). On a rating system from zero to three stars, Michelin stars are awarded to restaurants based on five criteria: "quality of the ingredients used, mastery of flavor and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in his/her cuisine, value for money and consistency between visits," in which one star is given to restaurants with "high-quality cooking", two stars represents "excellent cooking", while three stars means "exceptional cooking" (Michelin Guide, n.d.-b).…”

“…In recent years, the prevalent use of online social media or review platforms in consumers' restaurant decision-making process has attracted hospitality and tourism scholars to move toward the adoption of analytical methods in their studies. For example, the performance of sentiment analysis to identify attributes that affect restaurant star ratings (Gan et al, 2017), the analysis of TripAdvisor reviews on Michelin-starred restaurants to investigate the relationship between overall satisfaction and the four commonly accepted attributes that explain restaurant experience (food, service, ambience and price) (Pacheco, 2018), the use of online restaurant reviews and text analytics to provide insights into tourists' dining preferences (Vu et al, 2019) and the adoption of the text mining approach to identify what drives customers to write explicit online reviews (Guerreiro and Rita, 2020). Nevertheless, studies that apply data-driven approaches like social media analytics in the context of Michelinstarred restaurants remain scarce.…”

Memória Afetiva Alimentar: Um Conceito para o Desenvolvimento de Experiências para o Turismo Gastronômico

“…A noção de satisfação não é somente alimentar, mas também da forma como o serviço é prestado nas etapas dentro do restaurante. Esse cenário está se tornando mais sofisticado a cada dia, devido aos avanços e valorização da gastronomia em nível mundial, auxiliado pelas tecnologias de comunicação que possibilitam ao consumidor ter informações detalhadas na área da restauração (Pacheco, 2018). Esta facilidade ao acesso do conhecimento pelo consumidor, seja turista ou residente, demanda maior planejamento e investimentos, afim de ofertar produtos e serviços a um mercado cada vez mais exigente: saber o que, a quem e como vender se tornou necessário na área da restauração (Torres-Rodríguez, Álvarez-Ojeda & Véléz-Cedeño, 2017).…”