Statistics don’t lie: bad weather, bad review
You’ve eaten somewhere, made an online reservation, and after your meal you receive a request to write a review. Do you? And what do you write? Extensive research has now shown that people who ate somewhere when the weather was bad are more likely to leave a negative review. Strange? Perhaps not after all.
The research is a dizzying collection of figures and percentages, but broadly speaking, it comes down to this: at Ohio State University, Milos Bujisic and his colleagues conducted research into restaurant reviews written by guests. They compared the weather forecast with the reviews of hundreds of people. The clear conclusion: bad weather, bad review. Two follow-up studies confirmed this finding.
The same food every day
To make the comparison as fair as possible, Bujisic and his fellow researchers examined only reviews of a restaurant chain with locations throughout America. You can assume that the food at such a restaurant tastes the same day in, day out, at every location. Guests who had written a bad review were examined more closely. They honestly indicated that they had not been in a good mood when they went out to eat. So when it’s gray and gloomy outside, you’re less positive about the service and food you receive in a restaurant. People also gave the restaurant lower ratings when temperatures were absurdly high and air pressure was high.
Is the staff in a bad mood too?
Bujisic does honestly point out that it doesn’t necessarily have to be the guests’ fault. ‘A rainy day can also cause a restaurant’s staff to be in a foul mood, resulting in poorer service.’
Also read:
- Waitstaff reveal: these are the most bizarre orders ever
- 11 times orders didn’t come through quite right (and it’s hilarious)
- The most bizarre restaurant review
Source: Vice
