Is Your Restaurant Worth the Risk? A Motivational Perspective on Reviews’ Rating Distribution and Volume

This research aims to understand diners’ risk-taking tendencies when referring to online reviews to make restaurant decisions as a function of dining motivations (i.e., intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivations). Two experiments jointly reveal that given a positive valence, restaurants with a centralized rating distribution are preferred over those with a polarized rating distribution, and such a preference is accounted for by perceived risk. The preference for restaurants with a centralized (vs. polarized) rating distribution is more pronounced among customers exhibiting extrinsic motivation compared with those exhibiting intrinsic motivation. In addition, a high rating volume can temper the negative effects of polarized reviews on dining decisions among intrinsically motivated consumers but not extrinsically motivated consumers. Consistent with our theorization, the dining motivation– and rating volume–conditioned effects of rating distribution on restaurant visit intention are also mediated by perceived risk. These findings provide important insights for academic researchers and managerial practitioners.