Despite increasing attention to influencer marketing in the food industry, research on influencer marketing in the restaurant segment is limited. Drawing on social comparison theory, this study aims to investigate how customers’ social comparison orientation (SCO) affects the effectiveness of influencer marketing for restaurants via influencer–follower relationship dynamics. Specifically, this study explores how customers' ability-based SCO and opinion-based SCO lead to distinct motives that facilitate the influencer defense, which in turn fosters customers' visit intentions toward restaurants endorsed by social media influencers. The proposed framework is tested using a sample of 308 respondents who completed a survey questionnaire distributed on Douyin. Partial least squares structural equation modeling is used for statistical analysis. The results demonstrate that ability-based SCO has a positive effect on the self-improvement motive but has no influence on the social identification motive. Opinion-based SCO is positively related to the self-improvement motive and the social identification motive. While self-improvement and social identification motives are the drivers of restaurant visit intentions, only the social identification motive has a significantly positive effect on influencer defense. Additionally, influencer defense is the driver of restaurant visit intentions. These findings provide practical insights for restaurant managers.

中文翻译：

---

榜样还是竞争对手？从顾客的社交比较取向的角度了解餐厅的网红营销


尽管食品行业对影响者营销的关注度越来越高，但对餐饮领域影响者营销的研究是有限的。借鉴社会比较理论，本研究旨在调查顾客的社交比较取向 （SCO） 如何通过影响者-追随者关系动态影响餐厅影响者营销的有效性。具体来说，本研究探讨了顾客基于能力的 SCO 和基于意见的 SCO 如何导致不同的动机，从而促进影响者防御，从而促进顾客对社交媒体影响者认可的餐厅的访问意向。拟议的框架使用 308 名受访者的样本进行了测试，这些受访者完成了在抖音上分发的调查问卷。偏最小二乘结构方程建模用于统计分析。结果表明，基于能力的 SCO 对自我提升动机有积极影响，但对社会认同动机没有影响。基于意见的 SCO 与自我提升动机和社会认同动机呈正相关。虽然自我提升和社会认同动机是餐厅访问意向的驱动因素，但只有社会认同动机对影响者的防御有显著的积极影响。此外，影响者防御是餐厅访问意图的驱动因素。这些发现为餐厅经理提供了实用的见解。