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sustainability
Article
The Impact of Social Media Use on Consumers’ Restaurant
Consumption Experiences: A Qualitative Study
Jooyoung Hwang 1, *, Anita Eves 2and Jason L. Stienmetz 3
Citation: Hwang, J.; Eves, A.;
Stienmetz, J.L. The Impact of Social
Media Use on Consumers’ Restaurant
Consumption Experiences: A
Qualitative Study. Sustainability 2021,
13, 6581. https://doi.org/10.3390/
su13126581
Academic Editor: Jose Ramon Saura
Received: 7 April 2021
Accepted: 31 May 2021
Published: 9 June 2021
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Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
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4.0/).
1Department of Tourism and Convention, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea
2School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK;
a.eves@surrey.ac.uk
3Department of Tourism and Service Management, MODUL University, Vienna 1190, Austria;
jason.stienmetz@modul.ac.at
*Correspondence: love82jy@naver.com
Abstract:
Travellers have high standards and regard restaurants as important travel attributes. In the
tourism and hospitality industry, the use of developed tools (e.g., smartphones and location-based
tablets) has been popularised as a way for travellers to easily search for information and to book
venues. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews based on the face-to-face approach
was adopted for this study to examine how consumers’ restaurant selection processes are performed
with the utilisation of social media on smartphones. Then, thematic analysis was adopted. The
findings of this research show that the adoption of social media on smartphones is positively related
with consumers’ gratification. More specifically, when consumers regard that process, content and
social gratification are satisfied, their intention to adopt social media is fulfilled. It is suggested by
this study that consumers’ restaurant decision-making process needs to be understood, as each stage
of the decision-making process is not independent; all the stages of the restaurant selection process
are organically connected and influence one another.
Keywords:
restaurants; decision-making process; smart phones; social media; consumer behaviours
1. Introduction
The consumer decision-making process has been studied by a large number of previ-
ous researchers [
1
,
2
]. However, there are few studies that examine consumers’ decision-
making process when selecting a restaurant. Most literature reports on the factors in-
fluencing consumers’ decisions; food quality, service quality, price and food provenance
have been identified as important determinants in these studies [
3
–
7
]. However, previous
studies were conducted using a quantitative research approach, and deeper insights into
consumers’ restaurant decision processes and consumption experiences are still needed,
particularly as mobile technology and social media becomes increasingly engrained into
modern society. For example, a survey conducted by Restaurant Insights [
8
] found that
68% of restaurant-goers in the US visited a restaurant they had never been to before based
entirely on positive reviews on social media. Nielson [
9
] reported that the number of
people who use mobile phones to search for information about restaurants is double that of
individuals searching for travel and that people tend to perform mobile restaurant-related
searches across all consumption stages (at home, on the go and in restaurants). Clearly,
consumers’ IT tool usage will continue to have an increasing role in dining choice processes
(e.g., information searching, sharing content, communicating with others, etc.). The current
environment is constantly changing, and the representative issues surrounding the tourism
and hospitality industries are technological development and environmental change [
10
].
It is now well known that destination setting and decision-making by tourists and con-
sumers cannot easily occur without the use of interactive media such as smartphones and
social media [
11
,
12
]. It seems that smart tourism also plays a clear role in determining
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126581 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 2 of 33
the sustainability of the tourism industry by setting destinations, examining other guests
0
reviews and making decisions based on these influences. As an area of smart tourism, the
process of using smartphones and social media to determine restaurants to visit is not just
a one-off experience but a valuable study that directs development in the ever-growing
smart tourism, hospitality and restaurant industries.
Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact of social media use of smartphones
on consumers’ restaurant experiences. The specific research questions of this study are to
(1) examine the key factors related to adopting social media on smartphones for restaurant
decision making and the usefulness of social media use on smartphones for restaurant
selection and (2) investigate how consumers utilise social media on smartphones for
their restaurant experience in accordance with the different consumption stages (before,
during and after visiting a restaurant). Through answering these research questions, it
is expected that the findings of the current research will offer practical implications for
stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industry to develop effective social media
marketing. In addition, restaurant practitioners can be advised how to manage consumer
comments about their restaurant experiences.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Consumer’s Decision-Making Process
Consumers’ decision-making processes normally start by recognising a problem or a
need for a product, service or experience and then searching for information to inform their
purchase [
13
]. According to Crotts (1999), consumers have to make many decisions when
purchasing products during their lifetime [
14
]. Hence, consumer decision making has
been of great interest to researchers for more than 50 years [
15
–
17
]. In terms of consumers’
decision-making processes in the service sector, most of the previous literature has focused
on identifying unique characteristics of services (i.e., intangibility, inseparability, hetero-
geneity and perishability) compared to the features of goods [
18
]. It has been suggested
that attention should be paid to consumers’ information search behaviours in order to fully
understand and anticipate consumers’ decision-making processes in the service sector, be-
cause the atmosphere in which consumers make a decision in the service sector is different
from the product sectors [
19
,
20
]. That is, consumers’ information search behaviours are
more important in the service sector (including the restaurant sector) than in the product
sector because of the characteristic uncertainty and intangibility of services [
21
,
22
]. Based
upon this notion, consumers’ decision-making processes in the restaurant industry should
be examined with an approach that is different from the product sector so as to correctly
understand how consumers behave when selecting a restaurant.
2.2. Consumers’ Restaurant Decision Making and Experiences
Previous researchers investigating consumer decision making in the restaurant sector
have explored various aspects in recent decades (e.g., factors affecting consumers’ restau-
rant selection [
3
,
6
,
23
–
25
], motivational factors affecting consumers’ beverage and food
choice [
5
,
26
,
27
] and the effect of ICT on the selection of restaurants [
28
,
29
]). A wide range of
attributes have been identified, such as pricing strategy [
23
], the location of a restaurant [
24
],
food type and food quality [
3
] and service and/or product quality [
28
]. Kim et al. (2009)
examined the motivational factors affecting travellers’ consumption of local beverages and
food [
26
]. Mozeik et al. (2009) examined consumers’ acceptance of restaurant e-services
(e.g., booking online, online menu) across two types of computing devices: conventional
laptop/desktop devices and mobile handheld devices [
29
]. Previous research has shown
that travellers perceive restaurant decisions as the most flexible task within various travel
facets [
30
]. This suggests restaurant decisions may be more easily affected by information
acquired through the search process as well as other factors. In comparison with other
service/product decisions in the hospitality industry (i.e., accommodation and travel desti-
nations), restaurant decisions are deemed less risky in terms of time and distance; normally,
decisions regarding a restaurant are limited to a one-off occasion, which implies that the
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 3 of 33
consumers’ mindset may be different from other decisions within the hospitality sector [
30
].
In other words, it can be argued that restaurant decision makers have a smaller decision
opportunity cost than a consumer who has to decide on a more costly travel destination
or accommodation.
On the other hand, regarding restaurant choice processes, there have been limited
studies examining group decision-making processes, though group restaurant decision
making is regarded as a common phenomenon these days. Most previous research re-
garding group decision making in the restaurant industry has investigated the factors
that influence family/group restaurant decision-making; a relatively limited number of
studies have examined restaurant decision making among non-family group members,
which is regarded as a research gap. For instance, Labrecque and Ricard (2001) tried to
measure children’s and parents’ perceptions of children’s influence on the decision-making
process for a family dining-out occasion and identified that children tend to underestimate
their influence on dining-out decisions [
31
]. In addition, Seo and Yoon (2011) focused
on identifying the influence of family type on family dining decisions between fast food
and casual dining restaurants [
32
]. The results of the study indicated that family type is a
significant factor in choosing a restaurant, but a child’s age is more influential than family
type. Also, child gender is the discriminating determinant for fast-food restaurants but not
for casual dining restaurants. Chen et al. (2013) also investigated the influence of children
in the selection of family group dining-out decisions and identified that children are an
influential factor in the decision-making stages when deciding on the type of restaurant,
the specific restaurant and the ordering of food [
33
]. However, there are many chances to
study group restaurant decision-making processes in reality, especially in the digitalised
environment in which restaurant decision makers can acquire a lot of information from
technologically developed platforms. Thus, more studies are needed to examine restaurant
decision-making processes among non-family group members.
Based upon previous studies, a number of researchers have explored a consumer’s
restaurant choice and their experiences. However, most previous studies are associated
with certain research subjects (e.g., determinants of restaurant choice and family’s dining-
out decisions) and are based on a quantitative research approach, which shows that there
is still a theoretical gap regarding consumers’ restaurant decision-making processes. In
addition, previous research is more focused on which factors influence consumers’ dining
experiences rather than observing what comprises consumers’ decision-making process.
Thus, more specifically, there is a need to explore in depth how and why consumers’
restaurant-related decisions are performed, in accordance with their different consumption
stages; this is a part of the research questions of this study. In addition, how the digital
era could affect consumers’ decision-making processes and restaurant dining experiences
should be explored with the wide expansion of technology-based tools. Along with
characteristics of restaurant choices (e.g., more flexible task and less complex decision),
consumers have relatively high levels of uncertainty in their choices regarding restaurants
compared to purchasing products. Therefore, consumers are more likely to be involved in
searching for information to reduce the perceived risk of their decisions; they keep open
the option to change their decisions according to the context they face, such as information
obtained from external sources, rather than adhering to the initial planned decision [
34
,
35
].
In addition, current consumers can freely share and upload their restaurant consuming
experiences with others, utilising developed mobile tools [
36
–
38
]. Accordingly, this study
asserts that consumers’ restaurant decision-making processes can be flexibly changed and
affected by what they utilise for selecting a restaurant (e.g., information technology and
developed mobile tools).
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 4 of 33
2.3. The Impact of Using Social Media on Smartphones on Consumers’ Restaurant
Decision Making
The popularity of the Internet has reshaped the way consumers search for, collect and
exchange information as well as purchase products and services [
39
]. Internet applications
have reduced the cost and time for information research [
40
], and within the tourism and
hospitality industry, consumers now tend to use the Internet for their decision making
rather than using traditional booking methods (e.g., making phone calls, visiting venues to
make a reservation) [
41
], because they can easily acquire travel-related information and use
online transaction opportunities [
42
]. For instance, according to the research by BRP Con-
sulting (2019), 39% of respondents replied that their dining experiences involve smartphone
or mobile devices (from making initial restaurant decisions to sharing restaurant experi-
ences), which shows that smartphones, as one tool that enables people to utilise information
technology regardless of time and place, comprise a large proportion of some consumers’
information search behaviours [
43
]. Utilising a smartphone anywhere and at any time
can change consumers’ decision-making processes when choosing a restaurant, and a
restaurant choice may be changed depending on information obtained during the whole
purchasing process via a technology platform. In the tourism and hospitality industry,
social media has been adopted by travellers to search for information, organise travel, share
experiences and annotate their travel stories and their own experiences through various
channels: blogs, online communities, media sharing sites, social knowledge sharing sites
and other tools [
44
]. Many previous researchers have examined consumers’ use of social
media in the tourism and hospitality sectors [
44
–
49
]. For instance, Wang and Fesenmaier
(2004) proposed that social media is useful for managing consumer relations because it can
attract consumers through unique features such as detailed, attentive and user-generated
content [
46
]. With the features that social media provides, practitioners in the industry
can engage with consumers through social interactions and also maintain consumers by
building relations with other members. Thus, this study implies that it is essential for
the tourism and hospitality industry to use social media to manage the relationship with
consumers. Moreover, Dellarocas (2003) illustrated that utilising social media can provide
tourism companies and practitioners with chances to understand what current consumers
want and to respond to customer preferences [
45
]. For instance, by analysing comments
on online communities such as TripAdvisor, hotels and other travel-related companies,
businesses can gain a better understanding of consumers’ real thoughts regarding their
product. Furthermore, social media helps to engage potential guests, increase the online
presence of tourism and hospitality companies, and improve online revenues through
utilising user-generated content [44].
For consumers, social media is a matchless platform on which users can share their
own experiences and thoughts online in various forms, such as text, photographs and
videos via social networking sites, online review sites, blogs and media sharing sites [
48
].
In addition, social media enables consumers to share their decisions and give/receive
instant reactions and acknowledgement [
50
]. Moreover, numerous hotels and tourism
companies have exploited social media applications to enhance customer convenience in
the search for travel information [
47
]. For instance, consumers can refer to realistic reviews
about various kinds of hotels on social media applications. Moreover, hotel practitioners
can leave comments, which can be helpful for them to deal with consumer inquiries in
real time. With these features, social media has a strong potential to affect consumers’
decision-making processes, especially in the tourism and hospitality sector. Researchers
have found that consumers’ decision making when selecting a restaurant commonly relies
on online reviews provided by actual customers for acquiring information [
51
]. Given
the above, there have been a large number of studies on the adoption of IT tools in the
tourism and hospitality sector. However, there are still few studies regarding consumers’
utilisation of IT tools/applications for their dining selection, regardless of their wide
utilisation in consumers’ everyday lives. It has been identified that social media is regarded
as the top channel in which US restaurateurs have invested in marketing [
52
], which
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 5 of 33
shows the importance of social media to the restaurant industry. Therefore, this study
aims to explore the impact of social media use on smartphones for consumers’ restaurant
decision-making processes.
Consumers in the tourism and hospitality sector show different patterns of using IT
and/or social media according to the stage of product/service consumption. The con-
sumption of consumers in the hospitality and tourism industry can be organized into
three categories: pre-consumption, during consumption and post-consumption [
53
]. How-
ever, consumers’ behaviours cannot be exactly divided into a specific stage, because some
decision-making behaviours when using IT/social media can occur not just at one stage
but also at two or three stages of consumption simultaneously. In addition, the impact of
IT/social media use according to different consumption stages may be different. In ac-
cordance with the pre-consumption stage, consumers’ information search could be the
first stage in the online decision-making process, as people who identify their needs are
more likely to start searching for information [
54
]. Current customers who make a deci-
sion online have easy access to other users’ opinions and experiences on the web (e.g.,
online forums, online review sites), which can influence consumers’ entire decision-making
process. With the characteristics of services in the tourism and hospitality industry (i.e.,
intangibility and perishability), it is not easy for consumers to assume the quality and
perceived benefits of the services before they actually consume the selected services [
44
,
55
].
Technology can create new opportunities for social interaction of consumers who are at
the during-consumption stage [
56
]. In terms of travellers who are in tourist destinations,
technology may allow them to be more actively engaged with content that is personalised
according to their needs. That is, there is a good chance that consumers who have de-
cided on a restaurant are more likely to change their mind based on what information
they acquired on social media during consumption, which means that consumers can
still be affected by other consumers’ reviews and might order different food even if they
had already decided what to order. Therefore, this study involves a different concep-
tion; the during-consumption stage means that real consumption is made in the tourism
and hospitality industry, but this study defines it as the ‘stage during a visit to a restau-
rant’. Several previous researchers have examined consumers’ social media usage at the
post-consumption stage, as they believed that the post-consumption stage could provide
different impacts of utilising social media compared to the stages of pre-consumption and
during consumption. For instance, Fotis et al. (2011) identified that travellers who gained
travel- related information through the Internet predominantly utilised social media after
their holidays in order to share experiences and thoughts about their holiday destinations,
accommodation or restaurants [
57
]. In addition, it has been identified that consumers
post content related to their real experiences on social media in order to share their life
experiences with others through social media and acquire social interaction through their
behaviours of utilising social media [58].
Based on the previous literature regarding consumers’ social media usage, it is as-
sumed that individuals utilise social media with different purposes, and its impact is also
affected according to the stage of consumption. As seen above, a number of studies have
focused on finding the impact and role of user-generated content in travel-related decisions.
It is expected that consumers’ different activities across the different stages can be applied
to the situation in which consumers make a restaurant decision. However, it is regarded
that less research has explored consumers’ social media use when deciding on a restaurant,
and this can be considered as a research gap. Therefore, the research questions of this study
are fixed as follows:
RQ1: What are the key factors related to adopting social media and the usefulness of
social media on smartphones for restaurant selection?
RQ2: What is the deep insight about experiences regarding restaurant decision-making
processes across all consumption stages?
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 6 of 33
2.4. Uses and Gratification Theory
Although there have been many previous studies explaining why consumers adopt
various forms of technology for consumers’ decision-making behaviours (e.g., [
59
–
62
]),
there is a need to find a theory that explains why consumers adopt social media for
decision-making processes. The current study decided to adopt the uses and gratification
theory [
63
], as the U&G theory provides three dimensions of gratification—process gratifi-
cation, content gratification and social gratification—that could be suitable for explaining
consumers’ social media adoption for their restaurant decision-making process based on
the following reasons. First, recent restaurant consumers are regarded as more powerful
and goal-directed about their decision-making behaviours, especially in the online environ-
ment [
64
,
65
]; thus, this study requires a theory satisfying both decision-makers’ social and
psychological purposes for examining the key factors related to consumers’ social media
adoption. Second, consumers’ restaurant decisions are not just associated with consuming
food but also related to consumers’ total restaurant experiences across the three stages of
visiting a restaurant.
Kayahara and Wellman (2007), who studied U&G theory previously, have categorised
media gratifications into two groups: process and content [
66
]. On the one hand, process
gratifications are based on the performance of the activity, including Web browsing or
making content on one’s profile section. In their study of process gratification, Papacharissi
and Rubin (2000) found that social media adoption and usage can provide convenience
and usefulness to individuals [
67
]. The speedy exchange of information between social
media users has been regarded as one of the useful features of adopting social media [
68
].
In addition, Shao (2009) mentioned that two factors, including “ease of use” and “let users
control”, can be regarded as usability attributes of user-generated media [
69
]. Lastly, Brown
and Chalmers (2003) identified that consumers can easily access information that they need
through developed technology, such as the Internet, smartphones and tablets [
70
]. Thus,
the factors suggested by previous researchers can be regarded as attributes affecting pro-
cess gratification. Unlike process gratification, content gratification arises from acquiring
information [
66
]. For example, Kim et al. (2013) found that consumers are satisfied with the
use of social media, as detailed and exact information can be provided by social media for
their communication process [
71
]. As another attribute affecting content gratification with
regard to the use of social media, Wang and Fesenmaier (2004) identified that trustwor-
thiness between the individuals who want to contribute interesting information can be as
useful as the knowledge obtained from each user or creator of information [
46
]. In addition,
Baran and Davis (1995) asserted that media users follow their interests and choose media
content in accordance with their needs; furthermore, they combine the content to satisfy
those needs [
72
]. For example, Sigala (2012) found that current consumers utilise social
media to identify new market trends, as they regard that social media can be helpful for
satisfying their needs regarding finding out trendy and popular information [
73
]. Further-
more, Ramanathan et al. (2017) insisted that the role and usage of social media are related
to enhancing consumer satisfaction, and it was identified by their study that online reviews
on social media could positively affect customer satisfaction [
74
]. Therefore, it can be
assumed that media users’ selection and usage of media are goal-directed, purposive and
inspired behaviours [
75
]. Based on the above literature, various previous researchers have
applied the U&G theory (Figure 1) to many kinds of non-traditional media, such as e-mail,
mobile phones and the Internet (e.g., [
76
–
78
]), which implies the importance of consumers’
media use. In addition, the U&G theory supposes that the active audience is selecting and
making their own choices [
79
]. Furthermore, Quan-Haase and Young (2010) employed
the U&G theory for their study to explain why university students utilise Facebook, as
one example of social media, showing that users of the Internet, smartphones and social
media can be assumed to be active audiences [
80
]. Consequently, these gratifications can
be considered usual motives for consumers’ various activities on social media. Based
on previous studies’ adoption and explanation as to why uses and gratification theory is
appropriate, the current research considers that adoption of U&G theory could be suitable
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 7 of 33
for explaining consumers’ social media adoption for their restaurant decision-making
process on the following grounds. First, current restaurant consumers are regarded as more
goal-directed and active in what they are deciding; thus, the selection of the media they
adopt is also related to their purposes, which are both psychological and social. Thus, the
adoption of the uses and gratification theory can be appropriate for understanding current
consumers’ media selection and its usefulness. Second, there are many kinds of media
that consumers can choose for their decision-making process in the changing environment.
Last, it is regarded that restaurant decisions are not just associated with consuming food
but related with total restaurant experience across the three different stages. Therefore,
a theory explaining restaurant consumers’ multiple motivations to adopt social media
for decision-making is needed for the current study, and U&G theory can fulfill this job
with the three dimensions of gratification (i.e., process, content and social gratification).
Despite the strengths of U&G theory, it has some limitations. For instance, this theory only
takes into account the individual gratification derived from individual media use [
81
]. In
addition, there is a possibility that consumers’ media motivation/usefulness of adopting
media cannot be fully explained by the three categorisations.
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 35
adoption of U&G theory could be suitable for explaining consumers’ social media adop-
tion for their restaurant decision-making process on the following grounds. First, current
restaurant consumers are regarded as more goal-directed and active in what they are de-
ciding; thus, the selection of the media they adopt is also related to their purposes, which
are both psychological and social. Thus, the adoption of the uses and gratification theory
can be appropriate for understanding current consumers’ media selection and its useful-
ness. Second, there are many kinds of media that consumers can choose for their decision-
making process in the changing environment. Last, it is regarded that restaurant decisions
are not just associated with consuming food but related with total restaurant experience
across the three different stages. Therefore, a theory explaining restaurant consumers’
multiple motivations to adopt social media for decision-making is needed for the current
study, and U&G theory can fulfill this job with the three dimensions of gratification (i.e.,
process, content and social gratification). Despite the strengths of U&G theory, it has some
limitations. For instance, this theory only takes into account the individual gratification
derived from individual media use [81]. In addition, there is a possibility that consumers’
media motivation/usefulness of adopting media cannot be fully explained by the three
categorisations.
Therefore, the U&G theory, which provides the three dimensions of gratification—
process gratification, content gratification and social gratification—is regarded as appro-
priate for the current study (see Figure 1). In this study, it is regarded that process gratifi-
cation refers to users’ satisfaction with the experience of the actual use of the medium
itself, and content gratification refers to users’ satisfaction with the ability of a medium to
convey messages [82]. In addition, social gratification refers to the ability to communicate
with other users by utilising the medium and is related to the fulfillment of social expec-
tation [63]. Moreover, this study regards that the uses and gratification theory was devel-
oped based on the notion that consumers intentionally select certain media to fulfill their
needs, which can justify the adoption of the theory for this study, as current restaurant
consumers are expected to choose and utilise a type of media for their decision-making
process in accordance with their purposes and motivations.
Figure 1. Determinants of the uses and gratifications of the Internet. Source: Adapted from Staf-
ford, Stafford and Schkade (2004, p. 273).
Through reviewing the previous literature, it was identified that less research has
focused on how consumers are utilising social media in their restaurant decision-making
Figure 1.
Determinants of the uses and gratifications of the Internet. Source: Adapted from Stafford,
Stafford and Schkade (2004, p. 273).
Therefore, the U&G theory, which provides the three dimensions of
gratification—process
gratification, content gratification and social gratification—is regarded as appropriate for
the current study (see Figure 1). In this study, it is regarded that process gratification
refers to users’ satisfaction with the experience of the actual use of the medium itself, and
content gratification refers to users’ satisfaction with the ability of a medium to convey
messages [
82
]. In addition, social gratification refers to the ability to communicate with
other users by utilising the medium and is related to the fulfillment of social expectation [
63
].
Moreover, this study regards that the uses and gratification theory was developed based
on the notion that consumers intentionally select certain media to fulfill their needs, which
can justify the adoption of the theory for this study, as current restaurant consumers
are expected to choose and utilise a type of media for their decision-making process in
accordance with their purposes and motivations.
Through reviewing the previous literature, it was identified that less research has
focused on how consumers are utilising social media in their restaurant decision-making
processes, and there is a theoretical gap in understanding the underlying usage behaviours
of advanced technology and its usefulness for restaurant decision-making processes. In
addition, there are still a limited number of studies regarding consumers’ utilisation of
IT tools/applications for their dining selection, regardless of their wide utilisation in
consumers’ everyday lives. Moreover, there is still no adequate academic research on the
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 8 of 33
role and impact of social media as a whole throughout the restaurant decision-making
process. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to fill the research gap by exploring the
impact and role of social media use on consumers’ restaurant decision-making processes
and understanding how this is manifested in the restaurant sector. There have been
numerous studies on understanding restaurant decision-making behaviours that have
focused on identifying the factors influencing restaurant choice in terms of individual
and restaurant-related attributes [
83
]. Current consumers, however, are more likely to use
information technology when choosing a restaurant. The consumers’ restaurant choice can
change depending on the information obtained during the purchasing process, implying
increased chances of affecting consumer behaviours by offering personalised information
via the proper technology platform. Consequently, this research is expected to offer deeper
insight into the tourism and hospitality sector with regard to mobile information searches
and restaurant decision-making behaviours.
3. Methodology
3.1. Sampling Technique for the Current Study
It has been reported that 84% of the South Korean population are active social media
users; this is the highest number of monthly active social media users in the Asia Pacific
region [
84
]. For this study, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were employed. The
interview questions for this study were developed through the several processes and
contents and themes that the researchers acquired. That is, after conducting the preliminary
and pilot studies, the researcher of this current study had a list of themes and prepared
questions to be covered. All initials themes and questions were adopted and developed
from previous related studies (e.g., [
36
,
63
,
85
–
88
]). Details of interview question design
for the study is provided in Table 1. It is natural for the content of the interviews to
vary from interview to interview; some questions can be skipped in accordance with the
researchers’ intentions. Based on individuals’ in-depth interviews, the interview guide
was developed and revised to be used in the main part of the interviews. In addition to
this, additional questions that the researcher would like to ask were flexibly added to the
main interview in order to help explore the research questions and objectives. Moreover,
this study aims to adjust the research strategy and data collection processes and analysis
as recommended by Creswell [
89
]. The pilot study was carried out before conducting the
main study. The initial respondent, who used to frequently visit cafés and restaurants and
seemed to enjoy providing information about what she had experienced on social media
pages (e.g., Instagram, Facebook and blogs), was selected and contacted by DM (direct
message), which is one of the functions provided by Instagram.
Table 1. Interview question design for the current study.
Research Objectives Initial Themes Interview Questions
1. To explore the key factors related to
adopting social media on smartphones for
interviewees’ decision-making process about
selecting a restaurant
(Key references: [36,63,85–88])
1. The understanding of why consumers
utilise social media on smartphones for their
restaurant decision-making process
1.1 What features of smartphones attract
consumers to use them for restaurant
decision-making processes
1.2 What features of social media attract
consumers to utilise them for their
restaurant decision-making process
1.1 Can you explain why you utilised a
smartphone when you selected a restaurant?
1.2. Can you explain what features of the
smartphone made you utilise it for the restaurant
decision-making process? (e.g., mobility,
internet connectivity)
1.3 Can you explain why you utilised social media
when you selected a restaurant for dining?
1.4 Can you explain what features of social media
on the smartphone made you utilise it for the
restaurant decision-making process?
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 9 of 33
Table 1. Cont.
Research Objectives Initial Themes Interview Questions
2. To investigate how respondents utilise
social media on smartphones for the
restaurant decision-making process in
accordance with the different consumption
stages (i.e., pre-, during, and post-visitation
of a restaurant)
(Key references: [46,56,87,88])
2. The understanding of what kinds of
activities using social media on smartphones
are performed in accordance with the
different stages of the
decision-making process
2.1 Before visiting a restaurant, which
activities are performed by interviewees
2.2 During visiting a restaurant, which
activities are performed by interviewees
2.3 After visiting a restaurant, which
activities are performed by interviewees
2.1 What kind of social media did you use for the
restaurant decision-making process the last time?
Did you utilise different social media in accordance
with the stage of the decision-making process?
2.2 Could you explain your experience of utilising
social media on a smartphone for the restaurant
decision-making process?
2.2.1 Before visiting a restaurant, how do you
utilise social media on a smartphone for restaurant
selection? Could you describe your experience
in detail?
For example, please explain your decision-making
process very specifically. While going to a
restaurant, have you ever changed your mind? Or
do you always go to the restaurant that you
intended to visit?
2.2.2 During your visit to a restaurant, do you
utilise social media? If you do, how do you utilise
social media on a smartphone? And why do you
use social media for doing that activity?
If not, could you explain why you did not use
social media on a smartphone after selecting
a restaurant?
2.2.3 After visiting a restaurant, how do you utilise
social media on a smartphone? And why do you
use social media for doing that activity?
If not, could you explain why you did not use
social media on a smartphone after selecting a
restaurant? Was there any different media or tool
that you utilised? Can you explain what kind of
activities you did?
3. To identify the impact of interviewees’
social media use on smartphones on their
restaurant selection
(Key references: [46,48,83,88,90])
3. Achieving deep insights into utilising
social media on smartphones for the
restaurant selection process
3.1 What do you think about using social media on
a smartphone for the whole process of selecting
a restaurant?
3.2 Do you think that the use of social media on a
smartphone influences the process of selecting
a restaurant?
3.2.1 If so, could you describe how your restaurant
decision-making process has been changed
(affected) by utilising social media on
a smartphone?
3.2.2 Could you explain how the use of social
media on a smartphone will affect your next
restaurant decision-making process?
3.2.3 Could you explain how your experience of
using social media for selecting a restaurant will
affect other people who make a decision about
a restaurant?
3.3 Are you willing to utilise social media to decide
on a restaurant in the near future?
3.3.1 If so, why do you intend to utilise social
media again for your next restaurant selection?
3.3.2 Among a variety of characteristics of social
media on a smartphone, what do you consider to
be the most useful feature?
3.3.3 If not, why you are not going to utilise social
media on a smartphone to decide a restaurant for
your next visit?
3.3.4 Was there a specific feature or experience that
made you not intend to use social media for
restaurant selection?
4. Demographic information 4. To understand respondents’ background
issues with regards to the research
Such as gender, age, education, occupation and
marital status
5. Information about the restaurant an
interviewee visited
5. To connect restaurant types the
respondents visited and the usefulness of
social media
Restaurant type (fine dining, casual, quick service),
price per person, restaurant name, visited
date, location
restaurant visit pattern, preferred restaurants
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 10 of 33
A snowball sampling technique was adopted to recruit respondents who had expe-
rienced restaurant decision making using social media on smartphones. The sampling
criteria of selecting participants was limited to people who had utilised social media plat-
forms on smartphones for restaurant selection at least twice in the past three months.
In addition, the interviewees were limited to Koreans who use smartphones, as smart-
phone user penetration rate in Korea is 95%, ranking the country first in the world in
2019 [
91
]. Based on this, Koreans were regarded as relevant participants for the current
study. There was no limitation in terms of respondents’ ages. According to Saunders et al.
(2010), snowball sampling is employed when researchers have difficulty in identifying
suitable members of the required population [
92
], as this technique relies on referrals from
initial subjects to generate additional subjects [
93
]. After conducting the pilot study on
15–20 March 2015 for the current research, it was identified that recruiting interviewees
who utilised social media for their restaurant dining experiences at all stages (pre, during
and post stages) is more difficult than the author of this study expected. While Korean
people are reported as one of the nationalities that utilise smartphones frequently, fewer
social media users utilise smartphones during every stage of the restaurant experience. In
other words, the current study needed respondents who actively utilise social media on
their smartphones not only for the pre-visiting stage but also during the visit and after
visiting, if possible. Thus, respondents who utilised social media at every stage of the
restaurant decision-making process were needed for this study. Based on this, snowball
sampling was chosen and adopted. Once participants are interviewed, they are asked if
they know any other people who have experienced similar decision-making processes.
In particular, people who utilise social media actively are likely to know others who are
familiar with the use of social media, as there is a strong possibility that they are in the same
group. The sampling criteria of selecting participants was limited to a person who had
actively used social media for their restaurant decision making. Therefore, the participants
were limited to people who had utilised social media platforms on smartphones for restau-
rant selection at least twice in the past three months; this study requires descriptive and
in-depth explanations regarding consumers’ decision-making processes, and the author
believed that this criterion encouraged informants to recall their own experiences about
selecting a restaurant using social media. When performing the preliminary study, the
respondents who had at least one experience of using social media on smartphones for their
restaurant selection within the past month were selected as relevant respondents; however,
the researcher found that many respondents had not uploaded or shared their dining
experiences on social media pages, as had been expected from the preliminary study. Thus,
the author changed the criteria to overcome the limitation of study sampling by increasing
the time period of utilising social media for restaurant selection from the past one month
to the past three months. It was possible that the respondents who were referred by other
respondents could provide more relevant data that might satisfy the research objectives
of this study. Therefore, initial interviewees were identified from among 550 followers
of the researcher’s Instagram account at the time of data collection based on what they
posted on their Instagram pages (e.g., uploading photos of restaurants and cafés). The main
interviews took place in South Korea, and the initial interviewees were contacted by text
messages. The initial interviewees were selected from among the researcher’s Instagram
followers who were interested in visiting cafés and restaurants and also enjoyed uploading
accounts of their experiences to social media pages. Afterwards, the agreement to cooperate
in the research was followed up by phone calls and text messages to establish dates and
times. The location of the interviews varied from respondent to respondent. Cafés, offices
and restaurants were chosen for the interview locations because of their convenience. All
interviews were conducted on a face-to-face basis and were in-depth. Once respondents’
interviews were conducted, their referrals played an important role for this study, as the
researcher needed to recruit participants who could describe their detailed experiences,
including during and after visiting a restaurant, which is regarded as an information-rich
case. As a result, a total of 30 interviews were conducted, at which point data saturation
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 11 of 33
was considered to be achieved. Each interview was recorded and transcribed for analysis.
The study’s sample consisted of 21 females and 9 males, aged 25–44 years old. Thematic
analysis was adopted for analysing this study [
94
]. During the coding and searching for
themes stages, the researcher moved backwards and forwards repeatedly so as to confirm
that the themes generated were correct.
3.2. Interview Question Design for the Current Study
The purposes of the interviews were as follows:
•
To examine the key factors related to adopting social media on smartphones for
interviewees’ decision-making process for selecting a restaurant.
•
To investigate in depth how respondents utilise social media on smartphones for their
restaurant decision-making process in accordance with the different consumption
stages (i.e., pre-, during, and post-visitation of a restaurant).
•
To evaluate the usefulness of interviewees’ social media use on smartphones for their
restaurant selection.
•
To obtain deep insight into respondents’ experiences regarding the restaurant decision-
making process in their own vivid words.
For an example of transcribed interviews, see Appendix A.
4. Findings and Discussion
Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed that the factors influencing con-
sumers’ adoption of social media for restaurant decision making are consistent with the
U&G theory. That is, consumers intend to adopt social media for their dining-out decision-
making process when the three dimensions of gratifications are satisfied. Accordingly,
consumers’ social media adoption on smartphones is made based on the condition in which
they are satisfied with process gratification concerning the information via social media on
a smartphone and focusing on the actual use of social media itself. In addition, consumers’
gratification regarding the content provided by the medium (i.e., social media in this study)
needs to be satisfied for adopting the selected medium.
4.1. Research Question 1
“What are the key factors related to adopting social media and the usefulness of social
media on smartphones for restaurant selection?”
The current study decided to adopt the uses and gratification theory [
63
] in order to
explain why consumers adopt social media for decision-making processes, as it is regarded
that the U&G theory could be suitable for explaining consumers’ social media adoption
for their restaurant decision-making process based on the following reasons. First, recent
restaurant consumers are regarded as more powerful and goal-directed about their decision-
making behaviours, especially in the online environment [
64
,
65
]; thus, this study requires
a theory satisfying both decision-makers’ social and psychological purposes for examining
the key factors related to consumers’ social media adoption. Second, consumers’ restaurant
decisions are not just associated with consuming food but with consumers’ total restaurant
experience across the three stages of visiting a restaurant. Therefore, the U&G theory,
providing the three dimensions of gratification—process gratification, content gratification
and social gratification—is regarded as appropriate for the current study. In this study,
it is regarded that process gratification refers to users’ satisfaction with the experience of
the actual use of the medium itself, and content gratification refers to users’ satisfaction
with the ability of a medium to convey messages [
82
]. In addition, social gratification
refers to the ability to communicate with other users by utilising the medium and is related
to the fulfillment of social expectation [
63
]. Moreover, this study regarded that the uses
and gratification theory was developed based on the notion that consumers intentionally
select certain media to fulfill their needs, which can justify the adoption of the theory for
this study, as current restaurant consumers are expected to choose and utilise a type of
media for their decision-making process in accordance with their purposes and motivations.
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 12 of 33
Based on the theoretical notions above, it was identified through this study that consumers
intend to adopt social media for their dining-out decision-making process when the three
dimensions of gratification were satisfied. Accordingly, consumers’ social media adoption
on smartphones is made based on the condition in which they are satisfied with process
gratification concerning the information via social media on a smartphone and focusing
on the actual use of social media itself. In addition, consumers’ gratification regarding
the content provided by the medium (i.e., social media in this study) needs to be satisfied
for adopting the selected medium. More specifically, content gratification is derived from
the utilisation of messages that are more related to intrinsic value, compared to process
gratification, which focuses more on extrinsic value. As a result, it can be regarded that
the research question regarding key factors to adopt social media on smartphones was
successfully examined and identified, as summarised in Figure 2.
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 13 of 35
Figure 2. Key factors in adopting social media on smartphones for consumers’ restaurant decision-
making process. Source: Author’s development from research findings.
According to the findings of the current study, it was identified that the adoption of
social media on smartphones is positively related with consumers’ three dimensions of
gratification (process, content and social gratification). Above all, consumers’ social media
adoption could not be performed without the environment where individuals are ready
to utilise technology-based tools. Therefore, it was found that process usefulness was
mostly associated with its extrinsic factors: that is, convenience, speedy decision making,
GPS, portability, ease of use and accessibility. Regarding content usefulness, restaurant
consumers expect to obtain appropriate information about choosing a restaurant by
adopting social media. According to the findings, it was identified that specific infor-
mation, popular dish/place and trustworthiness were the factors satisfying consumers’
content usefulness. Lastly, it was examined that social usefulness can be satisfied when
consumers’ expectation regarding social media adoption meets the following factors:
trendiness, essential, success and satisfaction. As such, social usefulness is more related to
consumers’ psychological and motivational expectations of adopting social media. Based
on data obtained from the 30 interviewees of this study, six themes related to the perfor-
mance of the activity using social media emerged: convenience, speedy decision making,
GPS, portability, ease of use, accessibility, and time and place. Respondent 24 also empha-
sised convenience, giving examples of sending a link or sending captured images to others
and getting a rapid reaction. She reported that the function of screen capture helped her
to conveniently decide on a restaurant, especially when a group was trying to make a
decision.
“It is really convenient to send a link to a friend on messenger through using a
smartphone and to recognise a friend’s immediate reaction after I send a friend restau-
rant reviews on blogs. If I used a laptop for communicating and selecting a restaurant
with a friend, it would be difficult to send captured images to a friend. Screen capture of
what I found from websites is also a convenient feature of smartphones, I think. There-
fore, in my case, I utilised a smartphone, as I was able to send immediately links and
screen captures of pages to others.” (Respondent 24, female, aged 25–34)
Speed was found to be one of the central areas of usefulness for utilising social media
when deciding on a restaurant. One of the phrases that participants frequently used in the
interviews was “speedy decision making was possible” based on the use of social media
on smartphones. Respondent 1 mentioned that she would utilise social media the next
time, as she considered its aspect of speed to be really helpful when searching for infor-
mation on a restaurant that she had not previously visited:
Figure 2.
Key factors in adopting social media on smartphones for consumers’ restaurant decision-making process. Source:
Author’s development from research findings.
According to the findings of the current study, it was identified that the adoption of
social media on smartphones is positively related with consumers’ three dimensions of
gratification (process, content and social gratification). Above all, consumers’ social media
adoption could not be performed without the environment where individuals are ready to
utilise technology-based tools. Therefore, it was found that process usefulness was mostly
associated with its extrinsic factors: that is, convenience, speedy decision making, GPS,
portability, ease of use and accessibility. Regarding content usefulness, restaurant con-
sumers expect to obtain appropriate information about choosing a restaurant by adopting
social media. According to the findings, it was identified that specific information, popular
dish/place and trustworthiness were the factors satisfying consumers’ content usefulness.
Lastly, it was examined that social usefulness can be satisfied when consumers’ expectation
regarding social media adoption meets the following factors: trendiness, essential, success
and satisfaction. As such, social usefulness is more related to consumers’ psychological
and motivational expectations of adopting social media. Based on data obtained from
the 30 interviewees of this study, six themes related to the performance of the activity
using social media emerged: convenience, speedy decision making, GPS, portability, ease
of use, accessibility, and time and place. Respondent 24 also emphasised convenience,
giving examples of sending a link or sending captured images to others and getting a rapid
reaction. She reported that the function of screen capture helped her to conveniently decide
on a restaurant, especially when a group was trying to make a decision.
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 13 of 33
“It is really convenient to send a link to a friend on messenger through using a smartphone
and to recognise a friend’s immediate reaction after I send a friend restaurant reviews on
blogs. If I used a laptop for communicating and selecting a restaurant with a friend, it
would be difficult to send captured images to a friend. Screen capture of what I found
from websites is also a convenient feature of smartphones, I think. Therefore, in my case,
I utilised a smartphone, as I was able to send immediately links and screen captures of
pages to others.”
(Respondent 24, female, aged 25–34)
Speed was found to be one of the central areas of usefulness for utilising social media
when deciding on a restaurant. One of the phrases that participants frequently used in the
interviews was “speedy decision making was possible” based on the use of social media on
smartphones. Respondent 1 mentioned that she would utilise social media the next time,
as she considered its aspect of speed to be really helpful when searching for information
on a restaurant that she had not previously visited:
“I will definitely utilise social media for my next restaurant selection process, because
I am able to get speedy information by using social media, which I regard as a really
important aspect for selecting a restaurant. Therefore, I believe that using social media is
really helpful for searching for relevant information when visiting a new restaurant that
I have never visited before.”
(Respondent 1, female, aged 25–34)
Some interviewees mentioned that the GPS function on smartphones helped them
to conveniently and easily decide on a restaurant, based on the fact that GPS signals
influenced participants to search for a list of restaurants nearby and also to find the exact
location of a restaurant. In this regard, Respondent 22 reported that
“Among the many features provided by smartphones, I checked where I was at the moment
through GPS signal and easily found a delicious restaurant with good reviews based on
the location. In addition, I was able to achieve new and trendy information of restaurants
nearby.”
(Respondent 22, male, aged 35–44)
Many of the interviewees stated that utilising social media on smartphones is con-
venient because of portability while they were en route and when they needed to decide
on a restaurant. In addition, some respondents utilised social media for their restaurant
selection process, as they regarded that social media use based on smartphones did not
interrupt their media use activities, regardless of time and place. For instance, Respon-
dent 1 emphasised the smartphone’s portability, as she could utilise it in accordance with
her needs.
“What I regard about using a smartphone is that
. . .
a smartphone can be utilised
regardless of place and time because of its portability, and I believe that my smartphone
helps me to search for information I need fast.”
(Respondent 1, female, aged 25–34)
Respondent 30 mentioned that she utilised social media when she needed to find other
people’s reviews, and she easily conducted the search process, as what she needed could
be found using just one finger. She emphasised the smartphone’s ease of use whenever she
needed to find information:
“Through using social media, it is easy to refer to many reviews. Namely, ease of use of
social media for searching others’ reviews was why I used it. With the use of just one
finger, I can see detailed photos and reviews at the same time, and it can become a tool
comparing many people’s photos and content.”
(Respondent 30, female, aged 25–34)
One useful aspect that participants mentioned throughout the interviews was smart-
phones’ accessibility. Interviewees regarded that the use of social media on smartphones
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 14 of 33
was more accessible for them compared to other information sources. For example, Re-
spondent 18 stated that she could immediately check and search for information regarding
restaurants, as she felt accessibility was good:
“Among many kinds of features provided by smartphones, for me, accessibility and ease
of using it were important factors. And I was able to check and see food photos on a social
media application immediately. Also, searching for location was very convenient through
using a smartphone because it was easily connected to the map application.”
(Respondent 18, female, aged 35–44)
Content gratification is derived from the utilisation of messages that are more related
to intrinsic value, as compared to process gratification, which focuses more on extrinsic
value. According to the results of this study, four themes were identified that could help
consumers to be motivated to adopt social media for their restaurant selection process:
specific information, popular dish/place, trustworthiness and amount of information.
Above all, specific information provided by online review sites was found to be one of
the reasons for utilising social media on smartphones to decide on a restaurant. Many
recent researchers have found that online reviews from social media influence consumers’
purchasing decision-making processes (e.g., [
95
,
96
]). Participants regarded that they could
collect the specific and detailed information they were looking for when deciding on a
restaurant. Respondent 4 mentioned that specific and detailed information provided by
social media was regarded as an important factor in the usefulness of social media:
“
. . .
I utilised Instagram, Facebook, blogs and Kakaostory. At first, I happened to know
a restaurant through Instagram and Facebook, then I looked for specific and detailed
information through blogs, as I wanted to visit the restaurant I heard about from social
media . . . ”
(Respondent 4, female, aged 25–34)
Participants considered social media to be useful for their restaurant decision-making
processes because it could help them find popular restaurants and dishes. One of the
interviewees described utilising social media for restaurant decisions in order “to find
which restaurants are popular and whether a restaurant is in line with my taste and
preference” (Respondent 2). The interviewees used social media on smartphones in order
to find and then visit popular restaurants and to receive recommendations regarding
popular dishes.
“I will utilise social media. I think that the biggest reason why I will adopt social media
for my restaurant decision-making process is to conveniently collect information and
to grasp the hot trends. Nowadays, it might be important to find which restaurants
are popular and whether a restaurant is in line with my taste and preference, because
restaurants are very sensitive to trends.”
(Respondent 2, Female, aged 25–34)
Several participants expressed their feeling of expectation in utilising social media for
their restaurant decision-making process, as they trusted the content compared to other
information sources. Respondents’ feelings about honest content on social media can be
important, as this can be a fundamental factor in using social media. Dickinger mentioned
that honesty and sincerity have a high influence on the feeling toward an information
source [
64
]. In terms of trustworthiness, there have been prior studies that have highlighted
“trust” between users. Wang and Fesenmaier (2004) indicated that trust is between all the
people who contribute or want to contribute some interesting information and is as useful
as the knowledge gained by each user or creator of information from other people in the
past [46].
Respondent 20 mentioned that she felt she could rely on a blogger’s restaurant review
and chose a restaurant to celebrate a memorable date, as there was trust between her and
the blogger. Compared to other marketing communication regarding restaurant choice,
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 15 of 33
she believed that reviews on blogs were honest enough to help her decide on a restaurant
for her important occasion:
“At first, I found a restaurant called ‘Palais de Gaumont’ through a blog that I had been
following. I thought that a blogger who posted a review regarding ‘Palais de Gaumont’
restaurant had the same taste about many things, and I remembered she suggested a
restaurant and spoke of it as delicious to other people, which influences me to positively
consider it when she uploaded a posting about that restaurant. In my case, performed
trust between her and myself influenced my restaurant selection. In addition, the reason
to use social media is that there are relatively honest judgments and detailed information
such as location and telephone number.”
(Respondent 20, female, aged 35–44)
Lastly, in addition to process and content gratification, social gratification was identi-
fied to help consumers adopt social media on smartphones for consumers’ restaurant selec-
tion process. According to Stafford and Stafford (2001), social gratification more concerns
users’ mutual communication with other people through the medium [97]. Williams et al.
(1988) also asserted that social gratification is related to users’ interaction with other people
via the media that the users chose and adopted for their decision-making process [98].
Participants related their reasons for utilising social media to their preference for
visiting a trendy restaurant and/or feeling that they are trendy in choosing a restaurant.
Regarding trendiness, one of the researchers who studied consumer behaviours regarding
restaurant selection, Mills (2000), identified that the kind of attributes that may cause
consumers to visit a restaurant are “innovative” and “trendy”, which may imply that
innovative and trendy attitudes are relatively strong factors working as a booster to visit
a restaurant, even though there could be many different factors affecting consumers’
motivation [
99
]. Based on this finding, the respondents considered being trendy as a good
thing when deciding on a restaurant, and they mentioned that the use of social media
for visiting a trendy restaurant is helpful. According to Sigala’s study (2012), consumers
tend to utilise social media to identify new market trends, as social media is regarded as
a helpful source for them to find trends [
73
]. Thus, the respondents of this study utilised
social media to find out about popular and trendy restaurants and felt that social media
was useful.
One of the participants in the current research, Respondent 14, reported that she was
the kind of person who tended to visit popular restaurants, and the postings regarding
new and trendy restaurants on social media pages influenced her to select one:
“Yes, I will definitely use social media for the next time. I think I am a kind of person who
would like to visit popular and trendy restaurants now because I am easily influenced by
postings of new trendy restaurants on social media. I would like to experience and visit
those places by myself and want to share my story with others.”
(Respondent 14, female, aged 25–34)
Some participants regarded the usefulness of social media on smartphones for their
restaurant decision-making processes as essential. According to several respondents in
this study, it is natural that they always utilise social media on smartphones to search
for information regarding a restaurant, as they would like to choose a restaurant serving
delicious dishes. One of the respondents mentioned that there was no option but the
utilisation of social media to access knowledge about a restaurant in an unfamiliar place,
as the usage of social media through a smartphone could help him to collect relevant
information based on his location.
“I think that using social media for deciding on a restaurant is not optional but essential!
If I visit an unfamiliar location, I have no choice but to utilise social media for collect-
ing information about delicious restaurants. Otherwise, the information I have about
restaurants would be only in my area.”
(Respondent 7, male, aged 25–34)
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 16 of 33
Another useful aspect mentioned by participants for their social gratification when
utilising social media on smartphones was identified as “success”. Several interviewees
reported that the reason why they utilised social media for their restaurant decision-making
processes was to avoid being unsuccessful in choosing a restaurant. Namely, they were
desirous of being successful in choosing a restaurant, and this can be seen from what they
expressed in the interviews. For example, Respondent 9 mentioned that she tended to
utilise social media to decide on a restaurant providing good and delicious food. This
tendency to use social media on smartphones for choosing a restaurant was based on her
repeated experiences of selecting bad restaurants.
“If I decide on a restaurant without using social media, I tend to choose a restaurant that
I just discover by chance, which often brings a high possibility of failure. For example,
taste of food is not so good or atmosphere is bad
. . .
. However, I think that the probability
of successfully visiting a restaurant is more than 80% based on reviews through utilising
social media, which is a relatively high probability.”
(Respondent 9, female, aged 25–34)
Another motivational factor for using social media to decide on a restaurant was “sat-
isfaction”. Consumer satisfaction can be regarded as one of the most frequently researched
subjects for those studying consumer behaviours. According to previous studies on con-
sumers’ purchasing decision-making processes, consumers tend to make their purchasing
decisions based on what they hear and see through opinions of other people’s experi-
ence [
100
]. There are many researchers who have studied the relationship between the use
of social media reviews and customer satisfaction, though there is little study regarding the
relationship between the utilisation of social media and consumers’ restaurant selection.
For example, Ramanathan et al. (2017) examined the role of social media in marketing to
enhance customer satisfaction and identified that users’ reviews on social media positively
affect customer satisfaction [74].
Some interviewees in this study reported that the feeling of satisfaction regarding
restaurant choice based on using social media was important for them. For example,
Respondent 17 said that she tends to utilise social media when deciding on a restaurant, as
she had a bad experience of visiting a restaurant without enough prior information. More
specifically, her restaurant choice when travelling to Japan was unsatisfying because of her
lack of prior information, which affected her use of social media to choose a restaurant. In
other words, she would like to be satisfied with her restaurant choice, and the use of social
media on a smartphone could help her to be satisfied.
“I think that there is a big difference between conditions where I have enough information
and I do not have enough information when visiting a restaurant. For example, not long
ago I travelled to Japan without enough information, because I was too busy to properly
search and I was not able to speak Japanese, which influenced my satisfaction with the
restaurant visit. In other words, whenever visiting a restaurant it was risky and I felt
less satisfied. Through these experiences, I was determined to search information and
choose a restaurant in advance for next time.”
(Respondent 17, female, aged 25–34)
Accordingly, consumers’ adoption of social media on smartphones does not just mean
that it necessarily fulfills consumers’ information searches regarding restaurant selection,
but it could explain consumers’ complex decision-making behaviours. Although current
consumers’ adoption of social media for their decision-making process has been regarded
as an essential procedure, we should be aware that adopting social media could not be done
without satisfying consumers’ different dimensions of usefulness, which is investigated
by this research. Thus, the scope of explaining consumers’ social media adoption can be
expanded according to the results of this study. Figure 3summarises the usefulness of
restaurant consumers’ social media use.
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 17 of 33
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 17 of 35
the use of social media reviews and customer satisfaction, though there is little study re-
garding the relationship between the utilisation of social media and consumers’ restaurant
selection. For example, Ramanathan et al. (2017) examined the role of social media in mar-
keting to enhance customer satisfaction and identified that users’ reviews on social media
positively affect customer satisfaction [74].
Some interviewees in this study reported that the feeling of satisfaction regarding
restaurant choice based on using social media was important for them. For example, Re-
spondent 17 said that she tends to utilise social media when deciding on a restaurant, as
she had a bad experience of visiting a restaurant without enough prior information. More
specifically, her restaurant choice when travelling to Japan was unsatisfying because of
her lack of prior information, which affected her use of social media to choose a restaurant.
In other words, she would like to be satisfied with her restaurant choice, and the use of
social media on a smartphone could help her to be satisfied.
“I think that there is a big difference between conditions where I have enough infor-
mation and I do not have enough information when visiting a restaurant. For example,
not long ago I travelled to Japan without enough information, because I was too busy to
properly search and I was not able to speak Japanese, which influenced my satisfaction
with the restaurant visit. In other words, whenever visiting a restaurant it was risky
and I felt less satisfied. Through these experiences, I was determined to search infor-
mation and choose a restaurant in advance for next time.” (Respondent 17, female,
aged 25–34)
Accordingly, consumers’ adoption of social media on smartphones does not just
mean that it necessarily fulfills consumers’ information searches regarding restaurant se-
lection, but it could explain consumers’ complex decision-making behaviours. Although
current consumers’ adoption of social media for their decision-making process has been
regarded as an essential procedure, we should be aware that adopting social media could
not be done without satisfying consumers’ different dimensions of usefulness, which is
investigated by this research. Thus, the scope of explaining consumers’ social media adop-
tion can be expanded according to the results of this study. Figure 3 summarises the use-
fulness of restaurant consumers’ social media use.
Figure 3. The usefulness of social media use for restaurant decision-making processes. Source:
developed from the findings of this study.
Figure 3.
The usefulness of social media use for restaurant decision-making processes. Source:
developed from the findings of this study.
4.2. Research Question 2
“What is the deep insight into experiences regarding restaurant decision-making
processes across all consumption stages?”
4.2.1. Before Visiting a Restaurant
This section focuses on what kind of actions respondents performed before they
visited a restaurant through using social media. As a result of thematic analysis, three
themes of consumer activities emerged: searching for information, minimising risk and
group decision making (see Table 2).
Table 2. Thematic coding of data for the use of social media on smartphones before visiting a restaurant.
Activities Detailed Activities Sample Quotes
Searching for information
(Xiang and Gretzel, 2010, support the
findings of searching for information
before visiting a restaurant [48])
Deciding on a dish
“I already decided on a menu to some degree before visiting a
restaurant, which caused me not to utilise social media again
while I was visiting a restaurant” (Respondent 10)
Deciding on a restaurant
“Among many reviews, I especially took a closer look at
postings including description of taste in detail and
documenting a kind of food. In the last process, I finally
decided on a restaurant through narrowly observing photos
uploaded by bloggers” (Respondent 12)
Looking at photos/images
“Looking for photos on Yelp pages, I checked on menus by
looking over photos uploaded by bloggers, I can read detailed
photos” (Respondent 10)
Making lists of restaurants
“Narrowing down restaurant lists into three or four, there is a
list providing limited restaurants from Naver blogs”
(Respondent 15)
Checking whether many people have
visited the restaurant or not
“When I was examining reviews provided by previous visitors
on blogs, I focused on checking whether many people had
already visited or not. Through the process of examining
reviews, I discovered there was a popular burger chosen by
many people, which influenced me to decide on the menu
before visiting a restaurant” (Respondent 11)
Checking on description of taste
“In the case of Instagram, there are generally photos with short
descriptions rather than reviews or detailed explanations about
a place, which influenced me to utilise blogs at that time. Then,
I visited Facebook pages of Alex, the coffee, and I read what
people thought. It is difficult to check others’ thoughts from
Instagram” (Respondent 23)
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 18 of 33
Table 2. Cont.
Activities Detailed Activities Sample Quotes
Minimising risk
(Quintal et al., 2010, support the
finding of having indirect
experiences [101])
Having indirect experiences
“In my case, I used social media for restaurant selection as it
helped me to have indirect experiences. Through the reviews
written by previous visitors, I was able to predict the taste of
foods, the price and atmosphere as well. For me, these features
of social media were quite useful” (Respondent 7)
Group decision making
(Power and Phillips-Wren, 2011,
support the findings of group
decision making before visiting a
restaurant [102])
Sending information to friends
“While deciding on a restaurant where all close friends can
gather together after a long time and having a good
atmosphere, Bover Lounge immediately came to mind because
I have heard about it many times through Instagram. I saw
photos of the menu and atmosphere through using the function
of hashtag on Instagram, and I utilised Naver blogs to look for
price, opening hours and break times as well. After searching
information through blogs, I shared the links of blog pages and
photos of food captured by myself with friends through a
Kakaotalk messenger. As a result, my friends and I decided to
visit Bover Lounge, as we all felt that other consumers’ reviews
regarding stylish interior design and new and delicious food
were credible” (Respondent 2)
Checking suitability
“At first, I found a place called Bober Lounge from the feed on
Instagram, and when I had a lunch appointment with friends,
my friends and I decided to visit Bober Lounge as a place to
meet. After a promised place was decided, I checked photos
provided by users and examined specifically the menu and
food through using the function of hashtags. Even before
visiting a restaurant, I wanted to examine which menu was
served at a restaurant, and I utilised blogs through typing in
‘Bober Lounge’ in the search engine. Through these processes, I
found out which menu was popular and roughly decided what
to order” (Respondent 21)
Activities using social media conducted by the respondents were mostly related
to deciding the most appropriate restaurant for themselves or the group among many
available options on social media pages. More specifically, consumers’ utilisation of social
media on smartphones was associated with searching for information, minimising risk
and group restaurant decision-making processes. First, consumers’ social media utilisation
was related to searching for information; specific activities, such as deciding on a dish,
deciding on a restaurant, looking at photos, making lists of possible restaurants, checking
whether many people had visited the restaurant and other people’s description of taste
were identified. Second, consumers’ activities to reduce risk emerged as another theme
before visiting a restaurant, which supported the findings of Quintal et al. (2010) that
consumers’ information search process predominantly relates to perception of risk and
uncertainty before purchasing [
101
]. It was found that consumers utilised social media, as
they believed that the utilisation of social media was useful to have indirect experiences
through checking others’ reviews, which is believed to minimise the risk of choosing a
restaurant. Third, consumers’ social media use on smart phones was related to group
decision-making processes. Based on the findings of this study, two kinds of activities were
identified: sending information to friends and checking the suitability of a restaurant for
members of the group. As such, with the aid of technology development, consumers could
easily communicate with their peers about choosing a restaurant, and they could share the
content achieved from a social media platform with others before visiting a restaurant.
The utilisation of social media, especially on smartphones, helped respondents to
more easily and conveniently make a decision for group dining, as utilising social media
on smartphones could provide users with useful information, and its developed functions
were appropriate for consumers’ group decision-making processes. Conversely, members
involved in group decision-making processes using social media can face conformity
pressure when they make decisions (Aronson et al., 2007), which can be regarded as a
negative impact of social media use for group restaurant decision-making processes [
103
].
Accordingly, the specific and detailed activities based on the respondents’ utilisation of
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 19 of 33
social media were determined. According to the findings of the current study, it can be
regarded that a large number of activities performed by the respondents (i.e., searching
for information and minimising risk) were mostly related to efforts that could help them
to choose the most appropriate and favourable restaurant through the processes of using
social media. In addition, consumers’ restaurant decision-making processes could be
performed even with a group with whom they wanted to dine, something that is possible
with the aid of smart devices and the useful functions provided by applications. Thus,
it may be predicted through this finding that consumers’ restaurant decision-making
processes are more developed and specifically modified in accordance with their needs
through the use of IT devices.
4.2.2. During Visitation of a Restaurant
This section focuses on what kind of actions respondents perform when visiting a
restaurant when using social media. With smartphones, consumers can now use social
media during all stages of their decision-making process [
73
], which is very different
compared to the time when social media and information technologies were not utilised.
Namely, there is no limitation of using the developed tools for obtaining what consumers
really want. All the names of labels are based on what respondents expressed through
their words during the interview procedure. As a result of the analysis, five themes of
consumers’ activities emerged: doing instant activities, sharing, searching, showing off
and did not use (see Table 3).
Now consumers can utilise social media during all stages of their restaurant decision-
making process, based on the expansion of smartphone adoption and functionality [
73
].
There are no more obstructions to utilising the developed tools for what consumers want
to achieve regarding restaurant selection or dining experiences. According to the findings
of the study, four activities conducted by the respondents were identified: doing instant
activities, sharing, searching and showing off. Above all, consumers can utilise social media
to check in on their own social media account, which is regarded as an instant activity
while visiting a restaurant. Regarding checking-in behaviour, Kietzmann et al. (2011)
asserted that checking in on social media is regarded as real-time updates on location-
specific information; this action of consumers was mainly related to consumers’ emotional
motivations rather than connecting functional reasons. Second, sharing information with
others emerged as another activity through the findings [
107
]. Consumers can send photos
to others, share opinions with other people, and update photos or their current status on
social media pages. It was found through the results of the current research that consumers
are now able to create and share what they are experiencing (real-time experiences) with
other users online with the aid of the expansion of new media and mobile technologies [
104
].
Third, searching activities were identified as well for the stage of visiting a restaurant. It
was found that consumers could search for information at a restaurant and utilise social
media again for comparing what other consumers ate at the restaurant. Fourth, the results
of this study showed that consumers utilised social media for showing off to others; thus,
activities such as tagging people on social media and adding hashtags to photos were
done by consumers during visits to a restaurant. Based on the opportunities to share
and upload consumers’ opinions and experiences online, consumers do not wait until
their restaurant visit is finished; they freely show off what they are experiencing from a
restaurant. Thus, it can be said that the use of social media and smartphones has increased
the chances of sharing consumers’ real-time experiences with others, and others’ restaurant
decision-making processes can also be influenced and affected through these activities
conducted by restaurant visitors.
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 20 of 33
Table 3. Thematic coding data for the use of social media on smartphones while visiting a restaurant.
Activities Detailed Activities Sample Quotes
Doing instant activities
(Tussyadiah, 2012, supports the findings
of consumers’ instant activities based on
the use of social media [50])
Checking in on social media
“I took a picture with friends with whom I visited a
restaurant while visiting the restaurant and checked in on
social media” (Respondent 29)
Sharing
(Bødker and Browning, 2012; Litvin
et al., 2008, support the findings of
consumers’ sharing activities through
the use of social media [104,105])
Sending photos to others to recommend
a restaurant
“When the food that we ordered was served, I took a
picture of it and sent it to my wife through smartphone
messenger, as I wanted show her and suggest coming
together next time” (Respondent 19)
Sharing opinions with others via
social media
“I left my thoughts about the restaurant I visited on
Facebook and shared it with other followers. I did not
upload a picture, because there was no photo that suited
my taste” (Respondent 13)
Uploading photos on my social media
“In addition to this, I uploaded another food photo through
utilising Instagram, as I wanted to show and recommend a
restaurant to other followers. When I was visiting a
restaurant with friends, it was not easy to upload a photo
because I was normally busy chatting with them, but at
that time I visited a restaurant with my family, which
influenced me to upload a photo” (Respondent 18)
Updating my status to let others know
“Since I have a baby, I tend to search information or utilise
social media when there is a strong need. In the old days, I
used to update my status with the ‘check-in’ function in
social media and usually left reviews regarding my feeling
or taste of food, but it has not been easy to do that kind of
activity after I had a baby.” (Respondent 26)
Searching
(Xiang and Gretzel, 2010, support the
findings related to searching activities
identified through the current
study [48])
Searching for information
before ordering
“During visiting a restaurant, I had to order food, but there
was no picture on the menu, which led me to utilise blogs
again because I wanted to have a look at real photos of
food on the menu. So, my curiosity about the real
appearance of food can be satisfied because of using social
media. Nowadays, it is a kind of habit to search photos
before ordering in a restaurant, I think” (Respondent 6)
Using social media to compare what
other people ate
“I checked through blogs whether there was other food on
the menu except cold buckwheat noodles, but there was
only cold noodles on the menu when I visited a restaurant.
So, I utilised my smartphone to search blogs again to check
what other menu was available while I was visiting a
restaurant. Then, I asked a server about it and he said that
there was no ‘Seolung tang’ anymore. Therefore, I utilised
blogs again to search menu” (Respondent 27)
Using social media to get a discount
“Before ordering, I utilised social media because I achieved
information such as a discount for the drinks menu, and it
was helpful to choose a menu that was good value for
money or a delicious menu based on information”
(Respondent 22)
Showing off
(Jacobsen and Munar, 2012, support the
findings of showing off identified
through the current study [106])
Tagging people on social media
“After ordering, I tagged friends who were with me on
Instagram because we were all doing Instagram. And I felt
that they wanted me to tag them on my Instagram. Frankly
I think why I was tagging people on Instagram is kind of
showing off or habit” (Respondent 21)
Adding hashtags to photos
“I uploaded a photo on Instagram with the hashtag of the
restaurant name after dining was finished, because I
wanted to keep a good memory and seem cool to others. I
did not provide full information about what I visited on my
page, which means that if others want to know about more
. . . ” (Respondent 15)
Did not use
(supported by the data collected through
the current study)
Did not use social media
“I already decide the menu to some degree before visiting a
restaurant, which allows me not to utilise social media
again while I am visiting a restaurant. Rather than using
social media, I look around at the surroundings and
examine what other people were eating” (Respondent 10)
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 21 of 33
4.2.3. After Visiting a Restaurant
This section focuses on what kind of actions respondents performed through us-
ing social media after visiting a restaurant. After the process of analysing, four main
themes of consumers’ activities emerged: sharing, searching, remembering and not sharing
(see
Table 4
). In addition to the main themes of consumer activities, detailed activities
performed by the respondents are explained and discussed.
Table 4. Thematic coding data for the use of social media on smartphones after visiting a restaurant.
Activities Detailed Activities Sample Quotes
Sharing
(Pudliner, 2007, supports the
findings of sharing activities
through the use of social
media [108])
Leaving comments about the taste
of food
“Before eating the food, I could not leave a comment regarding the
taste of the food, but I was able to share my feeling and honest
opinion through social media after I visited a restaurant”
(Respondent 14)
Leaving a positive comment
“Because I was satisfied with the restaurant I visited, I shared my
photos with friends and followers on Kakaostory and messenger as
well. With uploading photos, I also left positive comments based on
my personal experience to recommend the restaurant to others”
(Respondent 6)
“After visiting a restaurant, I usually utilise social media to share
my experiences and opinions regarding the restaurant I visited. If I
was satisfied with the restaurant, I would recommend the
restaurant to my followers. So, I upload a picture of what I ate and
the atmosphere of the place as well, and l post honestly the reviews
about my experience” (Respondent 5)
Posting reviews on blogs
“Till now, I did not utilise social media after visiting a restaurant,
but I will upload my experience about ‘Oh!Tongyoung’ restaurant
through using my blog page soon because I usually have a pattern
of uploading reviews and photos after several restaurant
experiences I have. The reason why I would like to share my
experiences with other people is that I also discover a new
restaurant through utilising social media, and satisfaction about
restaurants is relatively high” (Respondent 18)
Sharing negative experiences
“If I was unsatisfied with the restaurant, I would also utilise social
media to let other people know how the restaurant was not good
enough. A main job of utilising social media is, I believe, to share
accurate and honest information with others” (Respondent 5)
Adding hashtags to uploaded
photos
“After visiting a restaurant, I added some hashtags to uploaded
postings in order to provide the fact that the food I had was
delicious . . . ” (Respondent 14)
Searching
(Kang and Namkung, 2015, support
the findings of searching related
activities through the use of social
media [109])
Utilising social media to check
others’ thoughts
“After visiting a restaurant, I searched again about the restaurant I
visited, as I was wondering why other people felt the pizza was
delicious and their thoughts and feelings. But I did not share or
upload my experiences with others through social media”
(Respondent 30)
Remembering
(Supported by the current study)
Utilising social media to remember
a place
“After I visited a restaurant, I also utilised Kakaoplace. There is a
function on Kakaoplace that users can bookmark places where they
visited, which lets other users know the place as well through
utilising Kakaoplace. It also allows me to visit the same restaurant
more easily” (Respondent 7)
Not sharing
(Supported by the current study)
Not sharing experiences
“After visiting a restaurant, I normally utilise Kakaotalk to
recommend the restaurant I visited by sharing pictures of the food
and restaurant and sharing my opinion about the restaurant.
However, I seldom leave reviews on social media such as
Instagram, Facebook or Kakaostory, as I usually utilise social media
mainly for hearing news from other friends” (Respondent 4)
Not utilising social media Not sharing experiences
“After having a meal, I kept thinking about the taste of the food,
but I did not upload it. I admit that I am not kind of a person to
share what I experience with others even if really helpful for other
people’s specific information searching. I am tied up at that stage
that I just collect information from others” (Respondent 30)
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 22 of 33
The utilisation of social media after visiting a restaurant is associated with sharing,
searching and remembering. Although sharing and searching activities were identified at
the stage during visitation of a restaurant, different objectives and conditions regarding
these activities were investigated. While restaurant consumers’ searching activities at the
stages before and during visitation of a restaurant were mainly connected with choosing
a restaurant and/or a dish, consumers’ searching activities were changed to checking
other consumers’ opinions about restaurant service after visiting a restaurant. In addition,
consumers’ sharing activities showed different purposes compared to during visitation
of a restaurant. Namely, consumers’ sharing activities were changed to be more accurate
and elaborate as their restaurant visit was finished. In addition, activities associated with
remembering were identified in consumers’ social media utilisation. Consumers utilised
their social media to remember a restaurant they had visited after the restaurant visit was
finished. Therefore, it can be said that consumers’ restaurant selection processes do not
finish right after they visit a restaurant. However, consumers still have a chance to search
for other people’s opinions or communicate with others using social media, which may
affect other potential consumers’ decision-making processes. Accordingly, all the stages of
the restaurant selection process are organically connected and influence one another.
Moreover, there have been meaningful insights and implications regarding consumers’
experiences of their restaurant decision-making process. Above all, it is identified that
consumers’ social media utilisation on smartphones does not stop after deciding on a
restaurant but continues to the moments during consuming restaurant experiences. This
is clearly different from the previous consumer decision-making models [
110
] in the hos-
pitality and tourism industry, as most of the previous decision-making models did not
cover the stage during which consumers are consuming experiences regarding the pur-
chase. Therefore, it can be regarded that the findings of this study provide deep insight
into restaurant consumers’ total experiences. Second, according to the findings of this
study, consumers’ utilisation of social media on smartphones at every stage is organically
connected, with each stage influencing the others. Furthermore, other potential consumers’
restaurant choice processes could also be affected, as there is no limitation of time and
place to utilise social media, and consumers are exposed to the content provided by other
users. Third, current consumers’ social media utilisation regarding restaurant choice can be
more elaborated and developed with accumulated experiences of the restaurant selection
process. Furthermore, consumers’ social media usage could be more accurate according to
their motivation and purposes regarding restaurant choice.
5. Conclusions
The framework of the current study can be viewed as a theoretical foundation for un-
derstanding how the restaurant decision-making process is performed and the relationship
between the use of social media and its impact on dining choice behaviours. Therefore, the
findings of this study will contribute to broadening the literature on consumers’ restaurant
decision-making process and their related behaviours while utilising social media.
5.1. Theoretical Contribution
The current research attempts to provide a comprehensive picture of the impact of
restaurant consumers’ social media use as a whole, throughout the restaurant decision-
making process. The findings show consumers’ distinctively different usages of social
media in both behavioural and motivational aspects across the different stages of the
decision-making process. Social media is utilised during all stages of the restaurant
decision-making process (before, during and after visiting a restaurant), which can answer
RQ1 and RQ2 of this study:
“What are the key factors related to adopting social media and the usefulness of social
media on smartphones for restaurant selection?”
“What is the deep insight into experiences regarding restaurant decision-making
processes across all consumption stages?”
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 23 of 33
Above all, it has been recognised by many previous researchers that social media plays
an important role before visiting a restaurant for individuals searching for travel-related
information [
38
,
111
]. Deciding on a restaurant is a process of consumer decision making.
Therefore, the information search is one of the most important steps for individuals to reach
their final decision [
54
,
112
]. Accordingly, online reviews, descriptions and/or comments
provided by actual users could satisfy what consumers want to know, especially before
visiting a restaurant. Moreover, it was found that searching for information with regard to
restaurant selection using social media creates more results than typing in other keywords,
which can imply that consumers’ restaurant decision-making needs are based on a lot of
information, as restaurant choice has much uncertainty compared to other purchasing
decisions. Therefore, consumers’ activities of information searching and minimising risk
before visiting a restaurant could be regarded as an essential procedure.
During a visit to a restaurant, smartphones can be utilized, regardless of time and
place. This affects the restaurant selection process as well, as consumer utilisation of social
media through smartphones continues even while they are visiting a restaurant. Regarding
this, Tussyadiah (2012) asserted that consumers are now able to share their decisions and
instantly receive reactions and acknowledgement through the adoption and utilisation
of social media [
50
]. Chung and Koo (2015) also revealed that individuals are able to
share and upload real-time information on social media [
113
]. Furthermore, the chances of
sharing real-time experiences with others have been increased based on the expansion of
new media and mobile technologies [104,105,114].
Lastly, at the stage after visiting a restaurant, it was shown that consumers tend to
create online reviews through social media pages, which can provide helpful information
for potential customers who are considering consuming intangible products, including
restaurant visits. According to the study done by Liu and Park (2015), consumer reviews
can be especially important in buying experiential goods (e.g., hotels and restaurants), as
consumers usually find it difficult to assess the quality of such intangible products before
they actually consume them [
115
]. Therefore, consumers’ activities related to leaving com-
ments about the taste of the food they had eaten when their restaurant visit was finished;
this information could be valuable for others. To support this idea, Zhang et al. (2010)
found that consumer-generated reviews about the quality of food, environment and service
of restaurants are positively related with the online popularity of restaurants [
116
]. Namely,
positive online reviews provided by real previous visitors could affect other potential
consumers’ intentions to visit the same restaurant. In this sense, Kang and Namkung
(2015) proved that the utilisation of social media can be influential for potential restaurant
consumers and can affect their decision-making process [
109
]. In addition, there could
be consumers who want to leave negative reviews after their restaurant visit. Through
expressing their negative feelings based on their restaurant experiences, consumers’ need to
share accurate information with other consumers is satisfied. In addition, it can be regarded
that consumers’ ways of using and exploiting social media are also developed and varied
according to the wide expansion of mobile technology. According to Harmon-Jones and
Harmon-Jones (2012), this kind of activity performed by consumers can be explained by
the cognitive dissonance theory [
117
]. It is identified through cognitive dissonance theory
that when a consumer faces an unsatisfactory consumption experience (conflicting with
their beliefs), an individual is more likely to present their negative feelings in a variety of
ways (e.g., leaving negative online reviews).
Accordingly, now consumers’ restaurant decision-making processes do not finish right
after they have had a meal, because they could still search for and find others’ thoughts
regarding the same restaurant after visiting a restaurant. Furthermore, it could be regarded
that consumers’ social media usage after visiting a restaurant is associated with mutual
communication with other followers, and there is a possibility that this kind of activity
may influence social media users’ next decision-making processes as well. Based on
this reasoning, it is suggested by this study that consumers’ restaurant decision-making
processes need to be understood in that each stage of the decision-making process is not
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 24 of 33
independent; all the stages of the restaurant selection process are organically connected
and influence one another.
Furthermore, based on the findings of the current study, current consumers’ restaurant
decision-making processes can be explained and compared through applying Teare’s
decision process model (1998); this model provides the process of the during-purchase
stage, which examines how service consumption delivery is conducted [
110
]. Different from
what Teare’s decision model explained, it was found that consumers’ restaurant decision-
making process is not simply influenced by the level of involvement regarding information
searching time on decisions; current restaurant selection is more affected by other factors.
With regard to consumers’ involvement in a restaurant choice, previous studies categorised
types of restaurant decisions as high involvement or low involvement [
118
]. According
to this categorisation, consumers may be highly involved in restaurant decision-making
when they need to decide on a full-service restaurant, but consumers are not very involved
in decision making when deciding on a fast-food restaurant. Although the current study
does not look at type of restaurant, it was found that current consumers’ involvement in
restaurant decision-making processes is not predominantly decided by a restaurant type
but is more affected by other factors, such as dining purposes, occasions and motivations.
In addition, according to the previous literature, restaurant decision making is re-
garded as a more flexible and uncertain task than product purchasing [
30
]; however, it was
found that current consumers’ restaurant selection is influenced by what they are exposed
to with the use of social media. When consumers were affected by vivid and favourable
images about a restaurant uploaded on online review sites, they could decide on a restau-
rant in a short time. This shows that consumers’ restaurant decision-making processes can
combine or overlap some stages of the decision-making process rather than following every
stage of the decision-making process, as proposed by previous researchers [
15
,
111
]. Accord-
ingly, based on this reasoning, consumers’ dining selection process cannot be understood as
a single simple strategy, as there are various information sources that consumers can utilise
for their choice process, especially in the current technological environment. Moreover, the
flexibility of a restaurant decision maker is acknowledged in this study; thus, consumers’
restaurant decision-making processes can still be understood and explained through the
previous studies examining the possibility of flexibility in consumers’ decision-making
behaviours (i.e., adaptive decision making and heuristic decision making).
The findings of the current research could broaden the literature in the restaurant
industry by providing information on how group dining decision processes are conducted,
especially before visiting a restaurant. It was identified by this study that current con-
sumers’ restaurant decision-making processes can be easily performed with members of a
group, as there is the aid of smart devices and useful functions provided by applications.
Power and Phillips-Wren (2011) revealed that information technologies have continued to
provide opportunities to change the decision-making behaviours of individuals, groups
and organisations [
102
]. According to the respondents of this study, their group decision-
making process could be conducted effectively with the aid of smart devices and effective
IT applications. In this context, social media and Web 2.0 technologies can both posi-
tively and negatively impact the effectiveness and rationality of decision-making processes.
More specifically, compared to the individual restaurant decision-making processes, group
decision-making processes can be more complex, as there is a need to satisfy all decision
makers and to effectively communicate with all group members, which can be regarded
as “peer influence” [
87
]. According to conformity theory, informational conformity can
have an impact on decision making, as the decision maker turns to the members of his or
her social network to achieve accurate information [
103
,
119
]. Normative conformity may
also lead to biased decisions, as the decision maker conforms in an attempt to be accepted
by the members of one or more social networks based on peers’ expectations. Therefore,
it can be asserted based on the discussion above that social media on smartphones can
be used for consumers’ group decision making, but it demands decision makers’ sensible
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 25 of 33
utilisation, as there is a possibility of negative issues arising among group members (i.e.,
conformity and peer influence issues).
Based on utilising social media through their smartphones, consumers could easily
communicate with their peers to decide on a restaurant where they would like to dine
together and share content that each member might regard as important to reach a mutual
decision. Therefore, the expansion of developed IT devices can play a central role in
consumers’ restaurant selection processes. Thus, we find that consumers’ restaurant
decision-making processes are more developed and specifically modified in accordance
with the development of IT devices. Interestingly, it is suggested by this research that
the boundary between during consumption and post-consumption is blurred with regard
to information search behaviours, which implies that current consumers are now able to
freely express their experiences of products/services while simultaneously consuming
them. That is, people do not have to wait to indicate their feelings and thoughts until
they can access a certain device and remind themselves of previous experiences. Rather,
consumers can provide instant and concurrent information during the purchase of products,
which improves the reliability of information quality (see Figure 4).
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 27 of 35
on smartphones can be used for consumers’ group decision making, but it demands deci-
sion makers’ sensible utilisation, as there is a possibility of negative issues arising among
group members (i.e., conformity and peer influence issues).
Based on utilising social media through their smartphones, consumers could easily
communicate with their peers to decide on a restaurant where they would like to dine
together and share content that each member might regard as important to reach a mutual
decision. Therefore, the expansion of developed IT devices can play a central role in con-
sumers’ restaurant selection processes. Thus, we find that consumers’ restaurant decision-
making processes are more developed and specifically modified in accordance with the
development of IT devices. Interestingly, it is suggested by this research that the boundary
between during consumption and post-consumption is blurred with regard to infor-
mation search behaviours, which implies that current consumers are now able to freely
express their experiences of products/services while simultaneously consuming them.
That is, people do not have to wait to indicate their feelings and thoughts until they can
access a certain device and remind themselves of previous experiences. Rather, consumers
can provide instant and concurrent information during the purchase of products, which
improves the reliability of information quality (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. The findings of this study.
5.2. Practical Contribution
From the practical contribution perspective, based on the findings of this study, mar-
keters in the tourism and hospitality field can actively and dynamically utilise social me-
dia to meet the diverse needs of their consumers relevant to information search and com-
munication during the entire consumption process. Thus, the recognition of different con-
sumption stages could be a critical element to make social media marketing successful in
association with technology-based marketing.
More specifically, marketers in the restaurant industry are currently expected to
more actively perform marketing strategies based on the aid of GPS, which informs con-
sumers’ social media utilisation points. For instance, restaurant practitioners may high-
light real consumers’ positive reviews regarding restaurants, to be easily exposed when
consumers approach an area in which the restaurants are located. In addition, it is advised
that restaurant practitioners regularly manage consumers’ positive/negative comments
Figure 4. The findings of this study.
5.2. Practical Contribution
From the practical contribution perspective, based on the findings of this study,
marketers in the tourism and hospitality field can actively and dynamically utilise social
media to meet the diverse needs of their consumers relevant to information search and
communication during the entire consumption process. Thus, the recognition of different
consumption stages could be a critical element to make social media marketing successful
in association with technology-based marketing.
More specifically, marketers in the restaurant industry are currently expected to more
actively perform marketing strategies based on the aid of GPS, which informs consumers’
social media utilisation points. For instance, restaurant practitioners may highlight real
consumers’ positive reviews regarding restaurants, to be easily exposed when consumers
approach an area in which the restaurants are located. In addition, it is advised that
restaurant practitioners regularly manage consumers’ positive/negative comments about
their restaurant experiences. Based on the findings of this study, it was identified that
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 26 of 33
restaurant customers would change their mind even after going to a restaurant. Therefore,
this study shows that more efforts are needed by practitioners to immediately manage and
respond to negative reviews.
In addition, the findings of this study can be beneficial for restaurateurs who plan to
develop and employ restaurant apps/social media for attracting more potential consumers,
as now they have knowledge of which activities are performed by consumers in accordance
with the different stages of restaurant choice. The findings of the current research show
that consumers’ social media usage does not stop, even while they are eating food at a
restaurant; consumers’ experiences regarding a restaurant visit can be uploaded and shared
with other followers on social media platforms and/or their acquaintances with the aid of
technology in the digital era. Therefore, restaurant practitioners need to carry out dining
service with care at all points of providing service to consumers. This also suggests that an
application/social media on smartphones that users can utilise to identify information in
real time would be more useful for potential consumers [120,121].
5.3. Limitations and Future Study
While the current research identified interesting findings, there were a few limita-
tions. First, although the purpose of the current research is to achieve deep insights into
consumers’ social media usage for their restaurant selection and dining experiences from
information-rich informants, it should be noted that generalising the findings of this study
to all consumers of restaurants could be limited, as this research adopted the qualitative
research method, with a limited number of informants and based on a geographically
particular location (in South Korea). Second, the age group of the respondents was limited
to people in their between 20 s and 40 s, and this could affect the results of this study.
According to the survey conducted by Independent (2017), people who are aged 18–35 tend
to spend five whole days a year browsing food images on Instagram, and the respondents
of this study show similar tendencies [
121
,
122
]. Moreover, this limited age group can
be viewed in light of the findings suggested by Bolton et al. (2013) that the millennial
generation can be more involved with social media and have a higher motivation to decide
travel-related decisions online [
123
]. Above all, as the current research was limited to
consumers in South Korea, it is suggested for future research to consider additional factors
to better understand the usage and impact of social media on decision-making behaviours.
Second, different types of restaurant can be considered for future studies. Third, if future
researchers obtain restaurants’ characteristics for research, this would bring different re-
sults, which could widen the scope of relevant studies in the restaurant industry. Last,
rather than focusing mainly on individuals’ restaurant decision-making processes, research
regarding group restaurant decision-making processes with the aid of social media and
smartphones can provide broad and practical implications and broaden the literature in
the restaurant industry.
Author Contributions:
J.H., writing of original draft; A.E., review, editing and supervision; J.L.S.
review and supervision. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding:
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the
National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020S1A5B5A17091830).
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 27 of 33
Appendix A
A sample of a transcribed interview: Transcripts from Interview 26.
The author: Could you tell me about the restaurant you visited and the range of price
per person as well?
Respondent: The name of restaurant I visited was ‘Seven springs’ at Hong Ik university
branch. The price per a person was around 15 pounds.
The author: Can you explain why you utilised a smartphone when you made a
decision about selecting a restaurant?
Respondent: Above all, my family and I wanted to eat out because it was weekend.
While we were deciding restaurant type and menu, there was an opinion of wanting fresh
vegetables and salads, which influenced us to choose ‘Seven springs’. Although there was
a near branch, which is called ‘Jamwon’, I knew that ‘Jamwon’ branch did not serve very
fresh food based on my prior experience. So, I utilized my smartphone to search other
customers’ reviews according to different branches, because I wanted to find out which
branch provided delicious and fresh food. I found out that there were delicate differences
between the branches, for example, in the freshness of prepared vegetables and taste of
the menu, even though the same menu was provided. Through these search processes
using my smartphone, I found out Hong Ik university branch was better than the others.
In my case, I decided first the restaurant where I would visit, but I utilized a smartphone
for finding out which branch was better in terms of taste of food and quality of amenities.
For example, I looked through reviews provided by consumers to find out whether there
was a baby chair.
The author: Could you explain what features of the smartphone made you utilise it
for the restaurant decision-making process?
Respondent: With using a smartphone, it is really convenient to search information
at any time, but if I use other tools, for example, a laptop, I have to move to turn it on,
which takes a longer time. Therefore, I utilized my smartphone, as it was simple to search
and find information. Also, transportability and Internet connectivity are good when I am
using my smartphone.
The author: Can you explain why you utilised social media when you selected a
restaurant to dine? And could you explain what features of social media on the smartphone
made you utilise it for the restaurant decision-making process?
Respondent: Frankly speaking, I do not believe what restaurateurs advertise regarding
their restaurants. In terms of selecting a restaurant, I think that reviews provided by other
people who already visited the restaurants are more trustworthy than advertisements.
Through others’ reviews, I can have indirect experiences in advance, and referring to
others’ reviews is really helpful for choosing a restaurant. Personally, I have not uploaded
reviews on social media after I visit a restaurant, but there have been many cases that I felt
that reviews I looked through regarding a certain restaurant were right. Therefore, now I
believe in utilization of social media for restaurant choice.
The author: What kind of social media did you use for the restaurant decision-making
process last time? Did you utilise different social media in accordance with the stage of the
decision-making process?
Respondent: I utilised mostly blogs at that time and usually
. . .
I utilise Kakaostory
as well for restaurant selection.
The author: Before visiting a restaurant, how do you utilise social media on a smart-
phone for restaurant selection? Could you describe your experience in detail?
Respondent: Naver provides a bookmark application where consumers can leave
reviews for finding a restaurant; therefore, I usually refer to those reviews provided by
consumers. Those reviews are based on five stars, and reviews can judge restaurants
by leaving short comments. In my case, I tend to choose a restaurant based on their
comments like ‘It was just okay’, ‘Waiting time was so long’ or ‘Service level was quite low’.
Furthermore, I do not usually choose a restaurant if the atmosphere shown on the photos is
not good of if I find that photos on social media are uploaded by people who have a similar
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 28 of 33
situation to me, I tend to prefer the reviews provided by them. For example, if people
who have a child visited a certain restaurant, I am able to check whether the restaurant is
recommended to visit with having a buggy. So, I can check detailed situations by using
social media. Once, my husband and I decided on a restaurant and performed a Naver
map application in order to type in the address of the restaurant. In that case, we found
negative reviews regarding the restaurant where we were heading. Sometimes, we change
our decision regarding a restaurant while we are on our way to a certain restaurant. In that
case, I can change the destination after searching for new restaurant in the car. I assume
that this kind of situation is caused by social media usage on a smartphone. Moreover, as a
housewife, I frequently use Kakaostory. Based on what I looked at from Kakaostory, for
instance photos, I am able to find a nice place to visit. Then, I search more information from
blogs to achieve related information regarding restaurants, and I can decide on the menu.
The author: During a visit to a restaurant, do you utilise social media? If you do, how
do you utilise social media on smartphone? And why do you use social media for doing
that activity? If you do not utilise social media, could you explain why you do not use
social media on a smartphone after selecting a restaurant?
Respondent: While I was visiting a restaurant at that time, I did not utilize social media
for that special occasion, as the restaurant I visited was a kind of buffet restaurant, which
made me not search more about menu. Since I have a baby, I tend to search information or
utilize social media when there is a strong need. In the old days, I used to update my status
with the ‘check-in’ function on social media and usually left reviews regarding my feelings
or the taste of the food, but it has not been easy to do that kind of activity after I had a
baby. On the contrary, if my child is in a good mood on that day, I tend to take a picture
and update social media because I want to boast of beautiful memories with my child.
Also, there is a tendency to focus on uploading photos of my child, as my family can visit
and see my social media page to see their granddaughter. But at that time, I beautifully
arranged dishes before eating them and took a picture. Then, I started eating.
The author: After visiting a restaurant, how do you utilise social media on a smart-
phone? And why do you use social media for doing that activity? If you do not utilise
social media, could you explain why you do not use social media on a smartphone after
selecting a restaurant? Was there any different media or tool that you utilised? Can you
explain what kind of activities you did?
Respondent: If I visit a restaurant that I am really satisfied with, I usually upload
photos taken while I was visiting the restaurant; however, there is the case that I had to
refrain from uploading my status on social media, as that kind of activity can be seen as
showing off to others who visit my page. In addition to this, my parents might think that I
go out too frequently, as they can see my status and photos from my social media. This
situation happens more frequently since my parents and I became friends on social media.
The author: What do you think about using social media on a smartphone for the
whole process of selecting a restaurant?
Respondent: As advantages of using social media
. . .
I assume that most people have
worries about what to eat today
. . .
After using social media, people may visit a restaurant
having detailed information, which influences people to have a feeling of relief. Also,
they may have more expectation of having a delicious meal because they utilized social
media in advance. Therefore, if their meal was satisfactory, they could feel like it was more
delicious and might feel great with using social media and searching information. On the
contrary, if the restaurant selection was a failure, I would shirk responsibility of choosing
an unsatisfactory restaurant, and the level of disappointment can be higher. So, I feel like
. . . I am diligently trying to searching information from blogs.
The author: Do you think that the use of social media on a smartphone influences the
process of selecting a restaurant?
Respondent: I think when I am using social media for restaurant selection, the level
of satisfaction can be high, but the level of disappointment can be much higher. So, if I
visit a restaurant and I am satisfied with the taste of the food at a restaurant when passing
Sustainability 2021,13, 6581 29 of 33
though, I would just feel grateful for my choice and I would react like ‘it can happen’.
However, after I search and gather information regarding a restaurant through social media
in advance, if a restaurant is not that satisfactory, I would feel more disappointed.
The author: Are you willing to utilise social media to decide on a restaurant in
the near future? If so, why do you intend to utilize social media again for your next
restaurant selection?
Respondent: There can be bloggers who find delicious restaurants by themselves and
leave reviews based on their real experiences. In the past, I did not save them on blog
list or add them as a friend, but now I can say that I have skills for how I act after I find
trustworthy bloggers or reviewers on social media; these are developed through repeated
searching and selection processes. For example, I have the ability to classify whether this
is an advertisement type of review or not. After I visit a restaurant based on a blogger’s
recommendation, and if I am satisfied with restaurant selection, I tend to add the blogger as
a friend on social media for searching information next time. In addition, I can have a look
at what the blogger newly uploads and I can even visit a place where I have not thought
about before. So, the range of restaurant selection can be wider, as I can have more trust
in the content provided by a certain blogger. In the past, when social media and reviews
were not like now, there was a popular site called “menupan.com” that I used to visit and
gather information from. Now, the trends have changed a lot. But in the past, there was the
same need to gain information like now, so review formats and social media tools are more
professional as consumers’ needs and experiences are detailed and collected. Therefore,
I will continuously utilize social media for selecting a restaurant, and when my child is
grown and I have more time in the future, I would like to share my experiences through
revitalizing my blog, because I also want to be a helpful reviewer for people who need
information for their decision. Clearly I have an intention to share reviews and experiences
through using social media.
The author: Could you explain how your experience of using social media for selecting
a restaurant will affect other people who make a decision about a restaurant?
Respondent: It is really important to have the ability to distinguish which contents are
advertisements and which ones are real reviews provided by consumers. In addition, if a
blogger updated and shared real and experienced reviews on a blog, it would be helpful to
save separately for restaurant decision-making next time.
The author: How many times do you go to restaurants per a month?
Respondent: Four to five times a month.
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