VISUAL PROMISE AND ELECTRONIC WORD-OF-MOUTH CONGRUENCE IN INDONESIAN CAFÉS

Abstract

Digital café marketing increasingly relies on visual content and public reviews, yet aesthetic appeal alone does not establish whether a brand promise is credible. This study examines congruence between visual promises and electronic word of mouth in Indonesian café marketing and identifies how review language reflects visit-related signals. A qualitative-dominant comparative multiple-case design was applied to 60 digital traces, comprising 40 firm-generated units and 20 public reviews from Giyanti Coffee Roastery, One Eighty Coffee & Music, Kudos Cafe, and KYND Community Seminyak. The data were analyzed through multimodal content analysis, within-case interpretation, negative-case analysis, and cross-case pattern matching. The findings show that ambience and experiential promises were consistently confirmed, product quality was largely confirmed with one qualification, and symbolic claims concerning authenticity, lifestyle, price, and ethics often lacked sufficient consumer-generated evidence. Review language mainly reflected realized repeat visitation, explicit revisit intention, and recommendation, indicating that review platforms capture loyalty and advocacy more directly than first-visit planning. The study develops a dimension-specific congruence framework that extends signaling theory and digital customer value research. For café managers, the framework provides a practical basis for aligning visual communication with verified customer experience and identifying under-communicated strengths or credibility gaps.