Do Digital Traces Reflect Real Demand? A Case Study of a Small Business

Small restaurants often lack sales analytics, so owners and research may use public digital traces including online reviews, social media posts, and search profiles to understand what customers want. This exploratory case study asks how well those traces reflect demand and where they are misleading. The case referenced is a family-owned diner with no available sales data. A manager's account of best and slowest sellers was compared to 148 distinct reviews from 3 platforms, 13 owner posts, a business profile assessment, and a photo sample, using a systematic content analysis and cross verification across sources. Reviews agreed fully with the manager on some items, only partially on others, and did not mention several of the reported best sellers. The quiche and the salad each had 8 review mentions, yet the manager positioned them on opposite ends of sales, suggesting that the quiche is supply limited and the salads are overlooked. Mention counts seem to reflect attention and visibility more accurately than demand. Limitations of this study include a single coder, no sales data, and relatively small samples. This is a preprint of independent research by a high school student, reviewed by a Business and Financial Education Teacher.