The “holiday effect” in consumer satisfaction: Evidence from review ratings

Abstract

This study explores whether and how a holiday effect exists in consumers’ review rating behavior, which is well explained by expectancy-disconfirmation theory (EDT). After utilizing the secondary data of online restaurant reviews and conducting an online experiment, we find that consumers have the tendency to form high expectations before holidays, thus leading to more negative disconfirmation and bad moods, which finally induce their negative review rating behavior on holidays. The consumer heterogeneity analyses provide evidence that consumers who are tourists, tourists with less travel experience, and male natives are more likely to post lower review ratings on holidays.