• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.275-291
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• 2014

The focus of this study was to investigate the relationships of blog's reliability, perceived benefit, perceived risk and words of mouth by online readers. Data were collected by a total of 228 persons reading actively gourmet blogs. The survey was carried out from August 1 to 15, 2014. Total 228 questionnaires were used for final analysis. Frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and reliability analysis were conducted through SPSS 18.0 for final analysis, and regression analysis was conducted through AMOS 18.0 for verification of hypothesis. The hypothesized relationships among the models were tested simultaneously by using a structure equation model(SEM). The study results are like below. First, The reliability of the Gourmet blog could be confirmed again very important variable in the fields of food industry like the previous studies. Second, The reliability of the Gourmet blogs affected on the positive (+)relationship to the perceived benefits, and the negative (-)relationship to the perceived risk. Third, Reliability and perceived benefits in relation to the impact on the online word-of-mouth was positive(+). However, perceived risk was found not to affect on it. Finally, perceived benefits for the reliability of the blog have been identified as the key parameters on the online word-of-mouth. The theoretical contributions of this study and the practical implications are discussed and future research directions are detailed.