#wheretoeat : The impact of electronic word-of-mouth in social network media on millennials’ purchase intention in the restaurant setting

Abstract: Social media has been growing constantly during the past years and social networking is one of the most popular online activities. This development has changed how individuals communicate with each other as it enabled valuable improvements for electronic word-of-mouth. Individuals share experiences, evaluations or opinions regarding products or services within their network, which has driven marketers’ attention towards this tool. Here, millennials are active users of social media, they have a high purchasing power and enjoy spending money on eating out. This study investigated how different determinants of electronic word-of-mouth in social network media impact millennials’ purchase intentions within the restaurant setting. A snowball sampling with 162 respondents was used in order to test seven hypotheses. Results indicated that attitude towards information usefulness and subjective norm are influencing millennials purchase intention. However, this was not the case for perceived risk. Managers within the restaurant setting are advised to consider that the quality and the source of a post generate a positive attitude. Posts with a high awareness increase social pressure to visit a certain restaurant. This will in turn lead towards a positive impact on millennials’ final purchase intention and managers need to focus on these strategies when targeting this generation.