Eye movements on restaurant menus: A revisitation on gaze motion and consumer scanpaths

Menu designers have based design tactics on roughly applied psychological foundations. In particular, attention and memory-based design placement strategies are founded upon assumptions which necessitate a clear idea of consumer eye movement sequences across restaurant menus. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, a review of academic and practitioner literature is presented to frame the current discussion on gaze motion patterns as applied to restaurant menus. Second, the results of an eye-tracker study are presented as an empirical and more quantitatively analyzed replication of past restaurant gaze-motion studies. Results offer an average menu scanpath, show that observed consumer scanpaths differ from those anecdotally espoused by industry, and suggest traditional menu “sweet spots” may not exist.     

Slim by design: Menu strategies for promoting high-margin,healthy foods

In a world of rising obesity, restaurants have become a regulatory target. One profitable but overlooked solution may be for restaurants to focus on menu engineering strategies that could increase sales of relatively healthier, high margin appetizers and entrées and help diners become slim by design. Recent lab and field research in consumer psychology and behavioral economics offer promising solutions that responsible restaurants can use to profitably guide their customers to healthier decisions by using the three-step menu engineering process of (1) shifting attention, (2) enhancing taste expectations, and (3) increasing perception of value. A review of these studies provides key implications that can both increase the healthfulness of what customers order along with the profits of the restaurant.     

A Cross-cultural comparison of customer complaint behavior in restaurants in hotels

This study documented consumer complaint behavior in hotel restaurants in two diverse cosmopolitan cities, Hong Kong, SAR and Houston, USA. It was found that in the area of food and beverage attributes, the Hong Kong group rated tastiness, temperature and freshness less important to make a complaint about the Houston group. As for service, service efficiency, greetings, attentiveness and helpfulness were rated differently, with the Hong Kong group rated “greetings” higher than the Houston counterparts. Regarding atmospherics, the two groups were most alike, though the Hong Kong group would be more likely to complain about the noise level while the Houston group, temperature and décor of hotel restaurants.     

Hotel revenue management and the Internet: The effect of price presentation strategies on customers’ willingness to book

A decision that is intrinsic to the application of hotel best available rate (BAR) pricing is how to present the BARs for individual nights within a multiple-night stay to prospective hotel guests. We discuss two alternative price presentation strategies, a blended and a nonblended rate approach, and examine their effect on customers’ willingness to pay in the context of Internet-based reservation requests. Study findings indicate that a nonblended rate presentation approach generates higher willingness to book ratings than a blended rate presentation approach. Furthermore, when it comes to nonblended rates, familiarity with BAR pricing moderates the effect of rate sequence on customers’ willingness to book.     

Blowing minds with exploding dish names/images: The effect of implied explosion on consumer behavior in a restaurant context

Dish names and dish images can be widely found online, providing consumers with important information. Meanwhile, implied explosion (i.e., the perception of explosion induced by static stimuli) is increasingly utilized by real-world restaurants. The present research thus combines dish names, dish images, and implied explosion to examine the impact of implied explosion on various aspects of consumer behavior within a restaurant context. Three experiments demonstrated that exploding dish names and exploding dish images (i.e., dish names/dish images showing implied explosion) can create a more intense taste perception and a more favorable taste evaluation. Additionally, exploding dish images can enhance perceived dish liking and increase consumers’ willingness to pay. The present research suggests that exploding dish names/dish images are subtle but effective communication tools for the tourism industry, helping to deliver a more stimulating perception and experience to consumers and to generate higher margins. By exploring the effects of implied explosion, we also introduce the implied motion concept to the tourism management literature.