The impact of social media reviews on millennial customers’ willingness to pay price premiums for restaurant services

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of content quality, expertise and perceived vlogger popularity on social media trust, which subsequently predicted willingness to pay a price premium (WPPp) at a restaurant from a millennial consumer’s perspective. Design/methodology/approach A total of 323 valid responses from millennial consumers were used to test the proposed hypothesis using the structural equation modelling. Findings Millennial consumers’ social media trust is driven by content quality, expertise and perceived vlogger popularity. A high level of these consumers’ social media trust influences their WPPp towards a restaurant. Social media trust has a mediating effect on the relationship between WPPp and content quality, expertise and perceived vlogger popularity. Originality/value The application of consumer socialisation theory and information adoption model provides an explanation of the stimulating effect of content quality, expertise and perceived vlogger popularity on consumers’ social media trust in planning a choice of restaurant, which, in turn, contributes to the building of WPPp in the restaurant context.