What Influences Online Coupon Sales in Chinese Catering Industry? - Evidence from Empirical Study with Micro-data in Chinese Catering Industry

摘要

Online coupons are digital coupons that people could purchase at a lower price than its face value. The use of online coupons to attract consumers is very popular among restaurants. This research is to find out the influential factors of the coupon sales. Fourteen factors are chosen from three perspectives - restaurant characteristics, coupon characteristics, and customer characteristics. I propose a model of restaurant coupon sales that contains data of real customer behavior. Five factors are found to reduce the coupon sales as they increase. The factors include the price of the coupon, the discount offered by the coupon, the coupon's issuing duration, the occidental restaurant (one restaurant type) and service level. The other five factors increase the coupon sales as they increase. The factors include the quantity of the commentary, the location of the restaurant, the quantity of the restaurant's branch chain stores, the Chinese restaurant (one restaurant type), the Korean restaurant (one restaurant type), the Japanese restaurant (one restaurant type), the average consumption in the restaurant, the dish quality level and the environment level of the restaurant. The extended model also provides insights into the effects of the online commentary quantity of the restaurants on other factors and the coupon sales. This paper helps people know better about customer behavior and helps restaurants develop more effective coupon promotion strategies.