Your Food Review also Talks About Your Psychology

A research at Stanford University has revealed that food reviews do not only talk about food but they also say a lot about the psychology of the person who is reviewing the food. The research was conducted to understand the psychology and the mind of the person who reviewed the food at restaurants. Researchers said a lot of meaning is hidden in the way words and connotations are used during the food review.

“Our goal was to examine online reviews not for what they tell us about restaurants, but rather for what they tell us about people, about the psychology of the person who wrote the review,” said Dan Jurafsky, a Stanford professor of linguistics and one of the co-authors.

As part of the study, researchers covered almost 900,000 reviews of 6,548 restaurants - from fast food to luxury restaurants - on Yelp.com using a software. Restaurants in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, DC, were taken up.

Positive reviews revealed that the language used denoted sex and sensual pleasure. The positive experience at luxury hotels were expressed in long and fancy sentences.

Language linked to drugs or addiction often gave positive reviews of cheap restaurants and foods. The language which reflected personal trauma and poor customer service talked about the negativity of the food.

“Bad reviews seem to be caused by bad customer service rather than just bad food or atmosphere. The bottom line is that it’s all about the personal interactions. When people are rude or mean to you, it goes straight to your sense of self,” said Jurafsky.

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The research was published in journal First Monday.

Source-Medindia