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This paper aims to review existing restaurant classifications within the literature in the restaurant management field. The authors discuss intra-industry ramifications of the limited use of recognized typologies and the need to prescriptively guide the description of restaurant context in the literature to communicate the internal and external validity of findings.

Restaurant categories from accepted typologies are used as keywords to collect 345 empirical studies from ten relevant journals serving the global restaurant management discipline. Content analysis of titles, abstracts and methodology sections is used to examine three propositions regarding the standardization, rationalization and efficiency of restaurant classification in imparting restaurant context in published works.

Findings show inconsistent use of existing typologies and limited use of effective restaurant descriptors to inform users about the situational context in which data were gathered or hypotheses were tested. There is a general preference for categories commonly associated with those of the National Restaurant Association.

Researchers should standardize descriptions of restaurants in manuscript titles, abstracts and methods sections, thereby enhancing integration of international research, the ability to conduct macro-level industry studies, and communication of findings to practitioners for operational use.

Recommendations are offered to optimize the use of restaurant classification so that the content of empirical studies may be more effectively accessed, digested and compared, thereby enhancing the communication of advances in the restaurant management body of knowledge to practitioners and other researchers.

This study aims to strengthen implications about hotel cleaning outcomes by comparing guests’ perception of the amount of contact they have with cleanliness of hotel surfaces.

This study used two data-collection methods, a survey and an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) test. Data were collected from recent hotel guests using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Guests were asked to identify hotel surfaces that they touch most frequently. Actual hotel cleanliness was measured using empirical data collected with ATP meters. The two data sets were used to compare guests’ perceptions about the amount of contact they have with actual cleanliness measurements of those hotel surfaces.

This study found that amount of guest contact was related to cleanliness of surfaces in guestrooms. Significant differences were found in guest perception between high- and low-touch areas and between guestrooms and hotel public areas. More high-touch areas and higher ATP readings were found in guestrooms than in hotel public areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge this study is the first to compare guest contact with hotel surfaces to a scientific measure of hotel cleanliness. In addition, this study is unique because it assesses guest contact and cleanliness of public areas to provide a holistic view of hotel-cleaning needs. The study offers industry empirically based results from guest perception and scientifically based data that can be used to improve hotel housekeeping programs.

This paper aims to explore consumer envy in the context of service encounters. Envy-elicited cognitive appraisals, emotions, interpersonal and organizational consequences were examined.

An online survey was used to collect 311 actual episodes of consumer envy. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to answer the research questions.

This research identified five different triggers of consumer envy during service encounters, each associated with distinct cognitive appraisal patterns. Moreover, envious customers might experience three qualitatively different shades of envy labeled as “blue envy”, “red envy” and “green envy”. Actions taken by service providers are found to be a major cause of consumer envy, and they elicit emotions associated with complaining, negative word of mouth, lower encounter satisfaction and lower repurchase intention.

While significant contributions are made, this study relied on self-reported data. Given that envy is considered a private and sensitive emotion, participants may have withheld from sharing some of the more socially undesirable details of their envy episodes.

The results stress the importance for service providers to avoid a perception of unfair preferential treatment. This perception of service unfairness is associated with hostility directed at service employees and negative organizational consequences.

This study is among the first to examine consumer envy in the context of service encounters.

This study aims to empirically assess restaurant surfaces’ cleanliness and compare them to customers’ perceptions about the cleanliness of surfaces when dining in a restaurant.

This study used two methods to collect data. The first was a survey method to gauge customers’ perceptions and an empirical test to measure cleanliness using an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) meter. Two data sets were collected to compare customers’ perceptions and actual cleanliness measurements. One data set surveyed respondents as to their perceptions of high- and low-touch restaurant surfaces among 19 areas of the dining room and 15 surfaces from the restroom, and their perceived cleanliness or dirtiness of those same surfaces. The second one conducted empirical measurements of the cleanliness of these surfaces using an ATP meter, which were then compared to customers’ perceptions.

Although all surfaces had higher ATP readings than a 30 relative light units’ threshold, there were significant differences in ATP readings among surfaces. Results showed a fair amount of consistency between the consumers’ perceptions of cleanliness and the actual results of ATP readings for the cleanest areas, but very little consistency in customers’ perceptions and experimental measurements for the dirtiest areas.

This study empirically demonstrated the need for improved cleaning techniques and the importance of proper training for foodservice employees. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, results of this study suggest an additional responsibility on managers and staff to ensure clean environments and the imperative to address the concerns of their customers.

Based on an extensive literature review, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior studies have compared consumers’ cleanliness perceptions with empirical measurements of cleanliness in restaurant settings using an ATP meter. The results of this study provide restaurant managers a better understanding of customers’ perceptions of cleanliness. It also provides restaurant managers and staff information to develop more effective cleaning procedures. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, perceptions of cleanliness and measures of actual cleanliness are more important than they have been in the past.

This study aims to examine consumers’ preferences among four calorie-reducing approaches – resizing, reformulation, substitution and elimination – and to understand what motivates consumers to order low-calorie food using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a model.

A conceptual model was developed based on the TPB with an additional construct of food choice motives. A total of 467 responses were collected. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression and ANOVA were used in the data analysis.

Consumers have a clear preference for substitution and elimination. The pattern that ingredients with higher calories were modified at a higher priority indicated that consumers might improve food decisions based on calorie information.

Restaurants should allow substitution or elimination of certain ingredients from menu items. Including more low-calorie sides will cost restaurants less than changing the main dish. A menu item on an entrée form is more amenable to modification for decreased calorie content as consumers have high taste expectations for popular traditional foods (e.g. burgers and pizza).

This is the first study to investigate consumers’ preferences among the four popular calorie-reducing approaches. A novel “Build Your Own Meal” approach was used in the questionnaire to allow the participants to choose from more than 150 ingredients, which compensated for personal preferences, thus mitigating possible limitations associated with studies of this kind, and was a good indicator of the participants’ actual ordering behavior.

Off-premise restaurant service has a new addition – food delivery robots. This new technology and off-premise service, in general, has received little research attention, despite continued year-over-year sales growth for both carry-out and delivery. Therefore, this study aims to analyze off-premise service modes, including food delivery robots, for service quality gaps between consumer expectations and actual performance and among the various modes.

Performance of three off-premise restaurant service modes (robot-delivery, human-delivery and carry-out) were evaluated using a mixed-methods approach. Consumer expectations were ascertained about food- and service-related performance factors using a survey, and a field observation study was conducted to obtain actual performance data for these factors. Findings from both approaches were compared to identify gaps and differences.

For food-related performance, consumers reported lower expectations for food safety and food quality from robot- and human-delivered food; however, no differences were observed among the three modes in the field study. Consumers also expected lower service-related performance from robot-delivery for service efficiency and ease of use (than human-delivery and carry-out) and monetary value (than carry-out). Consumers deemed robots the most sustainable and human-delivery the most convenient compared to other modes – however, not all service-related expectations aligned with actual performances.

This study was the first to comparatively examine off-premise restaurant service. Identification of a missing link in service gap analysis was among the theoretical contributions of this study. Managerially, this study provides previously unavailable insights into opportunities for improvement for off-premise service and use of delivery robots.

This paper aims to examine the applicability of fairness concepts as a lens for evaluating services in restaurants addressing service fairness issues within, as well as outside of, the service failure context.

Data are collected from two casual dining restaurants in the USA. In order to identify the underlying structure of perceived service fairness in restaurants, this study proposes and tests the fitness of two competing models – a traditional three‐factor model and an alternative four‐factor model.

A confirmatory factor analysis supports that a four‐factor structure of service fairness, which has integrated a customer benefits and sacrifice perspective with the original fairness theory, would be better for evaluating restaurant services instead of the three‐factor model that has frequently been applied in service failure and recovery contexts.

The data are collected from only casual dining restaurants. Therefore, generalizing the results to other segments of the restaurant industry may not work.

This study offers managers a perspective for how consumers evaluate service from a fairness standpoint. The results also provide the basis for investigating which aspects of service fairness are critical in eliciting favorable emotional and behavioral consequences.

Compared with previous fairness studies, which have focused exclusively on the role of justice after service failure and recovery, this study considers all service delivery contexts (with or without service failure) in order to provide a richer portrait of service fairness. Also, this study contributes to the services marketing and consumer behavior literature by shedding light on the issue of “fairness” as an axiom for evaluating services in restaurants.

The purpose of this research is to examine why and when restaurant consumers use and contribute user-generated reviews. This research is needed to determine the relevance of user-generated restaurant reviews in the current marketplace.

The research methodology is based on a quantitative approach, and focused on current Yelp.com users as its population. Questions focused on the amount of usage, motives for usage, level of trust, users’ tendencies to seek novelty in restaurants and motives for contribution.

Users tend to trust the reviews on Yelp.com and engage in the community aspects of the platform. Yelp.com users also are altruistic in their motivation for contributing reviews to Yelp.com. Yelp.com users who access it tend to act on the information found within the reviews.

Research articles have focused on user-generated reviews in the past; however, few have examined motivations of using and posting restaurant reviews. The value of conducting research comes from being able to understand the importance of user-generated restaurant reviews for customers in a comprehensive manner.

To explore the attributes of wine packaging that are enticing to consumers and the influence of age, gender and income on the wine‐buying decision.

To evaluate how wine packaging interplays with age, gender and income to influence consumers’ decision to purchase. A self‐administered questionnaire with closed‐ended and five‐point Likert‐type scale questions was conducted in the State of Connecticut at two retail shops and five wineries. The questionnaire was pilot‐tested at a local retail wine store in Connecticut to ensure reliability and clarity of the questions.

Results showed that label design and bottle closures were important to respondents and that self‐confidence was a significant factor for age and gender, with females and respondents between 31 and 40 years of age more concerned about making a wine‐buying decision.

The selection of the state of Connecticut and the testing sites may not represent the general US wine consumer, and therefore results may not be generalizable. Future research projects could include: comparing label configurations and bottle‐packaging choices with the situational use and sensory testing of wines to determine if the novice consumer can evaluate a wine characteristic such as “peachy” or “floral” as described on wine labels.

This paper fulfils an identified need by offering practical advice to wine producers on the necessity to understand what packaging characteristics or cues are important to consumers and to focus their marketing efforts towards simple wine packaging and label designs.