Does ethnic affinity affect consumers' posting behavior? Evidence from face recognition and difference-in-differences design

Research findings have shown that consumers' cultural backgrounds affect their evaluations on products or services. We argue that the ethnic affinity between consumers and service providers can affect their evaluations and online engagement after consumption. Using the information of 359,885 consumer reviews and their profile images collected from restaurants in New York City listed on Yelp, we employ face recognition and a difference-in-differences (DID) design. The results suggest that the ethnic affinity between consumers and restaurants induces consumers to post positive reviews with high ratings and sentiments; their engagement in posting reviews is also enhanced with longer texts and more photos. These findings offer direct implications for restaurant managers and online booking platform operators from the perspective of hospitality marketing and management.