Understanding the Impact of Restaurants’ Initial Online Reputation on Subsequent Online Reputation: Focusing on Source and Message Credibilities

When consumers have no previous experience with products or services, they form trust on them based on credible sources and messages. Thus, online review sites have become crucial word-of-mouth channels where customers search for the credible information. Although considerable literature on online reviews has revealed the role of reviewers and review characteristics in forming consumer behaviors, few studies have examined their impact on business reputation building processes. Therefore, we investigate whether the overall tendency of initial source and message credibilities can moderate the impact of the initial online reputation on the subsequent online reputation. We listed up 1,516 newly opened restaurants located in Manhattan of New York City and collected their reviews posted over the first six months. Expected contributions are also discussed