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Partnering With Groupon Shown to Hurt a Restaurant’s Reputation

You mean coupon hounds are not always kind?
You mean coupon hounds are not always kind?

More bad news today for Groupon’s now delayed IPO: A study by a group of computer scientists at Cornell who specialize in social media shows that partnering with Groupon results in poorer reviews on Yelp. “This could indicate that a more critical audience is being reached,” they conclude, “or that the [fit] between the merchant and these new customers is more tenuous than with existing customers.” They studied Groupon deals in multiple major cities between January and July, and also analyzed how news of the deals spread via Facebook. As for whether the deals are at all beneficial in the long term, there’s no data on that — only anecdotal evidence of terrorized cupcake shops and the like vowing never to work with Groupon again.

Groupon’s Hidden Influence on Reputation [Technology Review]
Earlier: Is Groupon Circling the Drain?

Partnering With Groupon Shown to Hurt a Restaurant’s Reputation