Reading and Reaching the Client

We’ve all been there. Hungry and looking for a new dining experience, we head online to check the options. There’s one new place in town everyone’s been talking up, raving about the food and the service and as you find it, you see that it has…a two star rating?

What gives? 

Dig a little deeper and the issue becomes more clear: after consistent five star, ten-out-of-ten ratings, two weeks ago, the reviews on key review sites dropped to a single star, then one after another, causing the rating score to plummet. After a little further digging, it looks as though it negative reviews began after a well known influencer had a less-than-optimal experience and, based on a single negative review and the encouragement of one person to continue the negativity, the scores began to drop.   

In the past, restaurants relied heavily on location, advertising, and traditional word-of-mouth to build their customer bases. But consumers today increasingly make dining decisions based on peer-generated ratings and reviews on platforms such as Google Reviews and Yelp. A 2026 restaurant industry survey conducted by Toast found that 46% of diners check Google Reviews first when evaluating restaurants while 23% check Yelp. The study also found that 43% of consumers would not consider visiting a restaurant if its rating fell below 3–3.5 stars. 

(Kudos to you for looking more deeply into that new place; here’s hoping you went and loved it.)

The changing face of consumer choice

Gone are the days when finding ways to appeal to the client fell solidly and solely into the purview of the marketing team. While they’re still an integral part of customer outreach, corporate boards are now realizing that the shift in customer behaviour has grown more complex, and that boards’ involvement in the process of client attraction and retention is critical.

Over the past decade, one of the biggest changes in how consumers connect to a brand  is the fundamental shift away from simply being receivers of marketing messages. “Consumers now actively shape brand narratives through social media, reviews, influencers, online communities, and peer-generated content,” explains Dr. Jihnee Huh, PhD. “Information spreads faster, trust is formed differently, and loyalty has become much more conditional and fluid than before.” 

Huh, an assistant professor of marketing in the Haskayne School of Business, says many organizations are still operating under assumptions that what worked in more traditional market environments hasn’t changed. And she says that’s one reason some firms have been caught off guard.

“One issue is that companies can become overly focused on short-term metrics while missing broader signals about evolving customer sentiment and trust,” she explains. “Truly customer-centric organizations tend to build cultures where evidence, experimentation, and continuous learning matter more than assumptions or legacy practices.”

Huh’s research primarily focuses on consumer behavior, influencer marketing, digital platforms, and marketing analytics. Much of her work examines how online content, social influence, and data affect consumer attitudes and decision-making.

Ultimately, she says, “this topic connects strongly to leadership development. Current and future senior leaders increasingly need to understand not only finance and operations, but also customer psychology, digital ecosystems, analytics, and how influence spreads online. 

“Marketing leadership today is becoming much more strategic and cross-functional than in the past.”

Authentic engagement is not an option 

Because of this behavioral shift, businesses that fail to actively manage their online reputation become disadvantaged, even if the quality of their products or service hasn’t fundamentally changed. 

“Many boards are increasingly aware that customer behavior is changing rapidly, but some still underestimate how fundamentally consumer expectations around transparency, authenticity, responsiveness, and personalization have shifted.” she says. “In many cases, organizations collect enormous amounts of data, but the challenge is not simply having data—it’s knowing how to interpret it meaningfully and translate it into strategic decisions.”

Huh says businesses who avoid the broader transformation in consumer decision-making do so at their peril. “Consumers increasingly rely on peer evaluations and digital reputation systems rather than solely on firm-controlled information. As a result, businesses must invest heavily in review management, online engagement, and digital reputation monitoring.”