Factors influencing the effectiveness of online group buying in the restaurant industry

Group buying, which provides daily discounts for various services and products, is a new form of marketing that has attracted the attention of both practitioners and academic researchers. However, it is unclear what factors influence the effectiveness of a group buying promotion. This study presents an analysis of 862 restaurant group buying deals based on the secondary data collected from a restaurant guide website. The results indicate that group buying effectiveness – namely, the number of coupons sold, satisfaction improvement, and return intention of group buying customers – can be affected by the discount depth of a deal as well as the service quality and popularity of a restaurant. These findings provide useful insights regarding the elements that are necessary to make a group buying promotion work.