In a recent survey of over 500 people of different backgrounds, aged 25-50, performed over 3 weeks, ReviewTrackers asked:
Would you eat a restaurant that had a 3-star rating on a review website?
Surprisingly, they found that 33% of frequent restaurant goers stated that they would never eat at a restaurant with an average 3-star review on an online review site.
The image above uses data from an additional study conducted by Berkeley Researchers on the impact of reviews and a Harvard Business School study by Michael Luca.
If you're averaging less that 4 stars, it's disappointing to realize 1/3 of potential customers won't even give you a chance.
Chris Campbell, founder and CEO of ReviewTrackers, says, "A half-star improvement on Yelp's 5-star rating makes it 30 to 49 percent more likely that a restaurant will sell out seats during peak hours. I can't think of a single restaurant that doesn't want a 30 percent increase in sellouts."
Yelp Review Distribution
Did you know that 67% of all reviews on Yelp are 4 or 5 stars? We were shocked, too. The overwhelming opinion amongst restaurant owners is that the vast majority are negative. But according to this recent factsheet from Yelp, they're wrong. And according to the sheet, only 14% are one-star.
Here's Yelp's distribution:
