First, “a one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9 percent increase in revenue.” No surprise, good reviews help restaurants. Second, this mainly affects smaller, independent establishments. A Yelp review has no effect on an individual chain restaurant like Applebee’s, presumably because people already have firm impressions of those places.
From The Washington Post
Not surprised about this. I use Yelp to look for espresso all the time and usually have no trouble finding someplace other than Starbucks. For something with a low commitment like lunch or coffee, Yelp changes the model for making a choice.
