Word of mouth: a systematic review of restaurants and cafés / Raja Iskandar Putera Raja Mustapha and Nadia Hanin Nazlan

Word of Mouth (WOM) refers to the organic dissemination of consumer experiences with products and services, distinguished from official business communications. Initially confined within consumercommunity relationships, WOM typically involves verbal or textual messages. This systematic literature review examines WOM within the context of restaurants and cafés, exploring three primary research inquiries: 1) the recent development of WOM research in the restaurant and café settings, 2) the common methods used in these studies, 3) the variables commonly examined together with WOM in these studies. Using PRISMA method, this study retrieved 49 publications on WOM from Elsevier's Scopus database, with eligibility conditions such 1) WOM as a variable of interest, 2) only empirical studies is included, 3) studies must be conducted in restaurant or café settings and, 4) consumers as unit of analysis. The data suggests that WOM continues to be significant, as evidenced by a steady flow of scholarly publications spanning the period from 2013 to 2023. The field of research mostly use quantitative methodologies, such as surveys and experiments. In the literature, cultural discrepancies are evident in the preferences of Western customers, who tend to prioritize individualistic reasons, and Asian consumers, who place greater emphasis on supporting others and businesses through word-of-mouth (WOM) communication. There are also numerous studies that highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation within the realm of word-of-mouth communication pertaining to restaurants and cafes.