Halal versus Hipster: the struggle for Sydney road and the culture of complaint

Abstract

Purpose

Sydney road in Melbourne is a multicultural experiment where Hipster youth culture contests the street space with a variety of immigrants from the Middle East and Indian subcontinent who consumer Halal food. This paper explores the relationship between these through an examination of their respective cuisines and negative online restaurant reviews. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of conflict as it expresses itself in this way and to consider the wider political context in passing.

Design/methodology/approach

Google online restaurant reviews for all food outlets in the area were tabulated and then the percentage of negative reviews was calculated. Restaurants were split into categories by area and by ethnicity. The results were then discussed with reference to other research in this area.

Findings

Hipster, Middle Eastern Halal and pubs enjoyed the lowest levels of negative online reviews. Indian, Pakistani and chain restaurants had the highest levels of negative online reviews. This could be due to many undetermined causes.

Research limitations/implications

More powerful analytical tools were not used. Also, the text of the reviews was not examined or discussed.

Practical implications

Restaurants who attract larger percentages of negative reviews should try to improve their service offerings. This can be achieved by the standardisation of market offering.

Social implications

The local municipality, which is Moreland council should consider focussing on promoting and expanding this precinct and encouraging the emergence of several zones so that Islamic tourism and way of life can be facilitated.

Originality/value

This is a simple and interesting approach, which encapsulates the paradoxes and dynamics of the Australian attitude to multiculturalism by focusing on a single aspect of customer response in a consumption setting. As such it is an antidote to excessive theorising and empiricism. Readers will enjoy this study and may use the approach to guide their own choice of dining venues.

Citation

Shaw, M. (2020), "Halal versus Hipster: the struggle for Sydney road and the culture of complaint", Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 6, pp. 1485-1496. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-03-2019-0045