{"287711":{"#nid":"287711","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Rainy Day Can Ruin an Online Restaurant Review","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAfter looking at 1.1 million online reviews for 840,000 restaurants in more than 32,000 cities across the country, Georgia Tech and Yahoo Labs researchers have found that the weather outside can be just as significant a factor for reviews as what happens inside a restaurant. Their study shows evaluations written on rainy or snowy days, or very cold or hot days, are more negative than those written on nice days.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPeople love to describe themselves as foodies. But in the end, it looks like we\u2019re all weather people, whether we realize it or not,\u201d said Saeideh Bakhshi, a Georgia Tech College of Computing Ph.D. candidate who led the study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/labs.yahoo.com\/external_publication\/2014\/02\/27\/32842\/\u0022\u003EThe study\u003C\/a\u003E also found a nationwide spike in the number of reviews written during the summer, but July and August were the worst months of the year for ratings. November was the best.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe best reviews are written on sunny days between 70 and 100 degrees,\u201d said Bakhshi. \u201cScience has shown that weather impacts our mood, so a nice day can lead to a nice review. A rainy day can mean a miserable one.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study covered a period of 10 years of reviews on sites that included Foursquare, Citysearch and TripAdvisor. It also found that demographic factors such as neighborhood diversity, education levels and population density have a significant impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, areas with a high percentage of people with college degrees (more than 50 percent) average nearly three times more reviews than places where fewer than 10 percent have diplomas. However, higher education levels don\u2019t have much of an effect on ratings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study shows that population density of cities is closely tied to the expectations of service options. Based on reviews in busy cities, people are more patient with wait times and expect restaurants to have delivery options. In smaller cities, carryout service was rated more positively than places with delivery, but reviewers were harsher on pace of service.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe also found that restaurants in the Northeast and Pacific get more reviews than places in the South and Midwest,\u201d Bakhshi added. \u201cI think the difference between the South and Pacific comes mostly from the differences in education, diversity and liberal versus conservative. Blue states such as California, Washington and Oregon have a higher number of reviews per restaurant.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team also included \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/comp.social.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EEric Gilbert\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing, and Partha Kanuparthy, a Yahoo Labs research scientist and 2012 Ph.D. Georgia Tech graduate in computer science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur findings could help consumers better understand online reviews and ratings and help review sites calibrate recommendations,\u201d said Gilbert. \u201cOutside factors apparently introduce bias in online ratings of a highly reviewed restaurant in big cities compared to a similar place in a rural area.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs for the ultimate \u201coutside factor,\u201d Kanuparthy says restaurants face the same challenge as everyone else.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can plan the best wedding or birthday party. Restaurants can serve great food and provide spectacular service,\u201d he notes. \u201cBut no one can control the weather. In the end, you can\u2019t beat Mother Nature.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBakhshi will present the findings on April 10 during the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www2014.kr\/\u0022\u003E23rd \u003Csup\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/sup\u003EInternational World Wide Web Conference\u003C\/a\u003E in Seoul, South Korea.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Weather helps determine whether a review will be positive or negative"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOnline restaurant reviews written on rainy or snowy days, or very cold or hot days, are more negative than those written on nice days. The new study also shows that restaurants in the Pacific and Northeast have more reviews than those in the South and Midwest.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Weather conditions can affect the positivity or negativity of an online restaurant review."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-04-02 07:53:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:11","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"287721":{"id":"287721","type":"image","title":"Restaurant photo","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Restaurant photo","file":{"fid":"199142","name":"happy_folks.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/happy_folks_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/happy_folks_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":88636,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/happy_folks_0.jpg?itok=Uj4XkAy8"}}},"media_ids":["287721"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/comp.social.gatech.edu\/","title":"More Eric Gilbert Research"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"13342","name":"Eric Gilbert"},{"id":"114601","name":"Press Release"},{"id":"1375","name":"Restaurant"},{"id":"3432","name":"weather"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}