Customer to Customer Information Production: The Evaluation of Customer Reviews in Tripadvisor on Food and Beverage Service Providers in Adıyaman

Özet

The research aims to evaluate customers’ reviews in the social communication networks who received food and beverage services and to examine the information they produce. In this context, customer reviews on food and beverage businesses in Adıyaman were analyzed on the TripAdvisor website that has a wide global user network in social communication. A total of 731 reviews for 52 businesses that provide food and beverage services were determined at search in TripAdvisor website. Descriptive and content analysis, which are widely used in qualitative research, was employed in analyzing obtained data. The results of the research show that customer’s evaluations of food and beverage services in the region are clustered into two main categories as satisfaction and dissatisfaction. On this axis, it was determined that customers within the main categories of satisfaction and dissatisfaction made evaluations regarding (i) food and beverages, (ii) service, (iii) staff, (iv) location, (v) venue atmosphere, (vi) physical structure and (vii) price. The information provided by the customers will help business managers and marketers in their efforts to improve their production, while at the same time it will be a focus for researchers on the evolving information-producing role of customers. As a result, this study revealed that the information presented by customers on social networks could help business managers and marketers in their efforts to improve and develop services. Besides, we believe that social networks will serve as a basis for researchers who work on the developments on the role of individuals in information production.