“Word of Mouth” in the Chain Restaurant Industry

• Published in: 동아시아식생활학회지 Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 606 - 618
• Main Authors: Sunghyup Hyun(현성협), Cindy Yoonjoung Heo(허윤정)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 동아시아식생활학회 01.08.2010
• Subjects: 생활과학; perceived value; service quality; relationship quality; Word of mouth; chain restaurant; satisfaction
• ISSN: 1225-6781; 2288-8802

The study investigated how 'word of mouth' originates in the chain restaurant industry. It has long been acknowledged that 'word of mouth' is a critical factor for the success of a restaurant business due to its targetability and cost effectiveness. A review of the literature revealed four antecedents of 'word of mouth': service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and relationship quality. Based on the theoretical/empirical relationships between those constructs, a structural model composed of the hypotheses was proposed. The structural model was tested with data collected from 471 chain restaurant patrons. The structural equation modeling analysis revealed that five constructs in the proposed model are interrelated, and during this process, word of mouth is formed in the chain restaurant industry. A positive relationship between service quality and satisfaction (0.265, p<0.05), service quality and perceived value (0.831, p<0.05), service quality and relationship quality (0.465, p< 0.05), and service quality and WOM (0.263, p< 0.05) were found, indicating that service quality is a key prerequisite for word of mouth and other constructs proposed in the model. It was revealed that perceived value doe not have a direct impact on WOM formation (t=1.275, p=0.202), but a positive relationship between perceived value and satisfaction (0.293, p<0.05) and between satisfaction and WOM (0.627, p< 0.05) were found. Therefore, it was concluded that patrons' perceived value influences word of mouth formation, but that impact is mediated by satisfaction. During this process, relationship quality also plays a mediating role in generating word of mouth. Based on data analysis, eoretical/managerial implications are discussed. KCI Citation Count: 0