Food-influencer vs peer voices: understanding E-reputation and repurchase intentions through social influence

Purpose A single positive review from a food influencer might attract hundreds of new customers, yet a single negative review can turn them off just as swiftly. This research uses social influence theory (SIT) to examine how electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) from food influencers and customers affects fast-food customers’ repurchase intentions via e-reputation management and whether informational social influence changes those pathways. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 360 customers from Egyptian fast-food restaurants was surveyed, and the results were analyzed using SPSS (e.g. descriptive statistics) and Smart-PLS (e.g. structural equation modeling). Findings Both influencer e-WOM and customer e-WOM significantly enhance e-reputation management, leading to higher repurchase intentions. Customers’ e-WOM has more than double the effect on reputation as influencer e-WOM. However, both impacts are only partly passed on via e-reputation (around 44% of their overall effects). Informational social influence does not moderate the influencer’s e-WOM in the e-reputation relationship. However, it negatively moderates the customer e-WOM pathway, indicating diminishing returns once social-information cues are saturated. Research limitations/implications The study’s framework, which promotes a comprehensive approach to managing online interactions, provides restaurant managers with helpful guidance in creating strategies that maximize customer reviews, use influencer marketing and consider the crucial role of social influence. Originality/value This is the first hospitality research to combine influencer and peer e-WOM, e-reputation and informational social influence into a single mediation-moderation framework, revealing asymmetric social-proof mechanisms and a ceiling effect for peer reviews.