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This study aims to examine the perceived value of service digitalization in fine-dining restaurants in France. No study exists on this topic, and its aim is to address this research gap. To do so, a conceptual framework of the perceived benefits and costs of the service digitalization was developed. This study also provides actionable recommendations for fine-dining restaurant managers to create and manage an optimized fine-dining experience for their customers.

To obtain in-depth information, the authors opted for a qualitative research approach. The authors interviewed 24 fine-dining restaurant managers (listed in the Michelin Guide) and 29 customers of fine-dining restaurants using a video titled “The Restaurant of the Future.”

The findings underline the perceived benefits and costs of service digitalization for both restaurant managers and their customers. This study highlights that fine-dining restaurants are highly experience-centric compared to other types of restaurants and recommends which services should be digitalized and which should not be to create and manage experiences throughout the customer journey.

This research provides restaurants with actionable recommendations in terms of service digitalization to enhance customers’ fine-dining experiences.

This research fills a gap by proposing a conceptual framework to examine the digitalization of services in fine-dining restaurants.

This study identifies an effective communication strategy for promoting restaurants’ green efforts to customers by using different types of green advertisement messages. This study aims to investigate the relative persuasiveness of attribute-based versus benefit-based appeal messages in green restaurant advertisements and their matching effect with different types of green practices in the restaurant (environment-focused green practices vs food-focused green practices) and with different types of restaurants (fine dining vs fast casual dining) on customers’ attitude and visiting intention toward green restaurants. Furthermore, the study examines a moderating effect of restaurant types to assess whether the matching effects between types of messages and types of green practices work differently within the different types of restaurants.

A 2 (attribute-based vs benefit-based messages) × 2 (food-focused vs environment-focused green practices) × 2 (fast casual vs fine dining restaurants) between-subject experimental design was used to test the proposed hypotheses. An online scenario-based survey was developed and distributed to online panel members in the USA. Ultimately, 363 responses were used for data analyses. ANOVA and t-test were conducted to analyze the data.

The results indicate that benefit-based messages are generally more persuasive than attribute-based messages in green restaurant advertisements. For restaurants with food-focused green practices, an advertising message emphasizing the benefit of food-focused green practices (benefit-based message) would be more effective than an advertising message describing their tangible efforts to show the greenness of the restaurant (attribute-based message). For fine dining restaurants, a green advertisement with benefit-based information would be more persuasive than attribute-based information. This study further showed that the aforementioned interaction effect between types of green practices and types of messages was salient for fine dining restaurants.

This research is one of the few studies in restaurant management to examine the green communication effectiveness in terms of the types of green practices and the types of advertising message framing. By comparing the relative persuasiveness of green advertisements on consumers’ attitudes and behavior intentions, this study provides suggestions for restaurant professionals to make effective green communication strategies based on the type of green practices the restaurant primarily uses and the type of restaurant the manager is operating.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between restaurant key attributes, customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The mediating role of customer satisfaction is assessed between restaurants’ key attributes of service quality and behavioral intentions.

Data were collected from a sample of 296 customers dining in the fine dining restaurants of Pakistan through a self-administered questionnaire. The data were then analyzed through regression analysis and gap analysis. Model fitness was checked in SPSS AMOS through CFA.

The findings suggest that the key restaurant attributes have a significant positive effect on behavioral intentions. Customer satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between key restaurant attributes and behavioral intentions. The findings also suggest that there is a significant gap between the perceptions of customers regarding the importance and performance of key restaurant attributes.

The result indicates that food taste and environmental cleanliness are the cornerstones of fine dining restaurants’ success in Pakistan and are among the strongest predictor of customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions; while improvement efforts should be made in four key areas, i.e., healthy food option, food freshness, food safety and fair price.

No comparative study has been directed in fine dining restaurants of Pakistan with respect to the key restaurants attributes, i.e., food quality attributes, service quality attributes, atmospheric quality attributes, and other attributes which have been analyzed in the current study. This research was conducted to investigate the perceptions of customers toward the fine dining restaurants of Pakistan to measure the key restaurants’ attributes that influence customers’ satisfaction and their post-dining behavioral intentions. This study will facilitate restaurants’ managers to understand the stronger and as well as the weaker aspects of service quality and permit them to investigate the factors which contribute toward customers’ satisfaction and their post-dining behavioral intentions in order to build and maintain long-term relationship between restaurants and customers.

Restaurants typically have small profit margins and with the pressure of increasing food and labor costs, management is looking to revenue as a way to maintain and drive profits. One technique to increase revenue is through revenue management practices, but management needs to be aware of their customers’ reactions to these practices prior to implementation. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This study utilizes linear regression to determine the impact of select restaurant revenue management practices, customers’ familiarity with revenue management in general and in restaurants specifically, and customers’ demographics on perceived fairness of revenue management practices in casual and fine-dining restaurants.

Results indicate that customers find certain restaurant revenue management practices, such as charging premium prices on certain days of the week, fair in both casual and fine-dining restaurants, while others are not in either. Non-refundable reservation fees were found to be fair for fine-dining establishments only. Increased familiarity with restaurant revenue management was associated with higher perceptions of fairness for both casual and fine dining. Age was the only demographic studied that affected perceived fairness.

This study is the only known study to simultaneously evaluate the impact of price and duration restaurant revenue management techniques in combination with customer demographics and revenue management familiarity on consumer perceptions of fairness.

This study aims to compare customers’ perceived importance of various post-COVID-19 recovery strategies (i.e. sanitary practices, discounts, menu modification and marketing strategies) adopted by independent full-service restaurants (casual dining versus upscale/fine dining) using the salience theory. It also assesses the associations between customers’ perceptions and their restaurant spending patterns.

An online survey was administered to assess 657 US adult participants’ restaurant spending behaviors at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic using recall questions. Higher-spending versus lower-spending participants’ perceived importance of restaurant recovery strategies were compared in the casual dining versus upscale/fine dining contexts.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, sanitary practices were the most important factor in participants’ restaurant choices, and it was more important for independent casual dining restaurants than for upscale/fine dining restaurants. No significant difference was found in participants’ perceived importance of sanitary practices across different geographic regions. Higher-spending diners (HSD) perceived almost every restaurant recovery strategy as important. Lower-spending diners (LSD) only considered sanitary practices as important.

This study identified important strategies that restaurant operators and public health officials can adopt to help full-service restaurants recover from pandemic losses.

This study differs from previous consumer choice studies; in that it compared HSD with LSD regarding their perceived importance of various restaurant recovery strategies. This study also provides new insights for understanding the salience theory of choice under the impact of COVID-19.

The purpose of this study is to identify consumer‐dining values for each restaurant segment (fast food restaurants, casual restaurants, and fine dining restaurants) using a means‐end approach and to suggest useful information for restaurant operators to develop differential marketing strategies for each segment.

This study applied a means‐end chain approach to identify underlying consumer values across three different restaurant segments. The participants responded to questions in a one‐on‐one interview procedure regarding attributes of restaurants, consequences, and values. Based on the responses, hierarchical value maps were developed to better understand consumer value patterns across the three restaurant segments.

The results suggested that attributes of fast food restaurants were largely associated with convenience, success, and economic values; attributes of casual dining restaurants were related to emotional and belonging values; and attributes provided by fine dining restaurants were linked to emotion and quality life values.

This research suggested what customers really want from the dining experience so that restaurant operators in each restaurant segment can develop effective marketing strategies, such as advertisements or promotions, which are distinguished from other competitive restaurants.

By using a means‐end chain approach, this study showed a holistic picture of the consumer dining values customers desire when they visit each restaurant segment, which is a unique contribution of this study.

The purpose of this study is to examine the consumer-side effects of “under new management” (UNM) signs. The authors integrate cue-utilization theory and relevance theory to guide hypotheses about the conditions under which these signs are and are not beneficial.

Two consumer-based experiments were used to examine the quality and reputation effects of restaurants signaling a management change on potential and existing customers.

The results suggest that positive and negative effects are possible. The direction of these effects is contingent upon consumers’ prior experience, type of service (i.e. search/experience) and the relevance of the signal.

The study is limited to one industry (i.e. restaurants) and examines the effects of market signals on perceived quality and reputation. In addition, this research brought forth the notion of “signal relevance” and suggested that it may be explicitly tied to attributions. However, this assertion must examine multiple signals (relevant/irrelevant) and their contingent effects on consumer perceptions.

The findings advise businesses to use caution when using signals such as an “UNM” sign, as they appear to have different effects depending on the experience of the consumer with the service and the relevance of the signal.

This research contributes to the literature on cue utilization theory to understand the effects of marketplace cues on consumer perceptions. It contributes to marketing theory and practice by proposing a model of cue effects based on prior customer experience, type of service and cue relevance.

This study aims to investigate consumers’ intention to use onsite restaurant interactive self-service technology (ORISST) using a modified value attitude-behavior model. To extend the understanding of how consumers’ dining value focus could influence their intention to use ORISST, this study examines the conditional indirect effects of restaurant type (quick-service vs fine-dining) within the proposed model.

An online survey was developed and distributed to randomly selected respondents in the USA. A total of 588 (quick-service: 295; fine-dining: 293) responses were used for the data analysis. Structural equation modeling with a robust maximum likelihood method was used to examine the proposed model. To investigate the moderated effects of restaurant type, a latent moderated mediation model was used.

The results showed that consumers’ value perceptions toward technology use in restaurants influenced their intention to use ORISST via both hedonic and utilitarian expectations. Latent moderated mediation analyzes revealed that the mediation effect of hedonic expectation between perceived value and the intention was stronger in fine-dining than in quick-service restaurants.

This study extends the understanding of consumer intentions to use interactive self-service technology in restaurants by building on a model that is customer-oriented instead of tech-specific. Furthermore, the conditional effects of restaurant type are investigated using the latent moderated structural equation method. The findings of this study provide guidelines for managers of quick-service and fine-dining restaurants to better incorporate ORISST in their restaurants, to boost customer experiences and to increase operational efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of perceived risk and implementation of risk‐reduction strategies (RRS) regarding the consumer wine purchase decision in the fine dining restaurant environment. The study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of elements within the control, or influence of the restaurant (staff, reputation, previous visitation and previous consumption) on reducing the perceived risk of consumers.

Data are collected through the use of a self‐administered, highly structured questionnaire in a well established fine dining restaurant in central Adelaide, South Australia over a three week period in April and May 2008. The sample consists of restaurant consumers who made a wine purchase decision at the restaurant during the collection period. A response rate of 85 per cent is achieved resulting in 105 useable questionnaires.

A low overall level of perceived risk is noted in the wine purchase decision‐making process in the fine dining environment. The restaurant's reputation and advice from staff are found to be important RRS with a high incidence of utilisation. The reputation of the restaurant, incidence of previous visitation and previous consumption of the wine ordered in the restaurant, are all found to reduce the level of perceived consumer risk. A significant incidence of customers engaging in risk‐seeking behaviour through selecting wines with which they are unfamiliar, is also noted.

The findings of this research suggest that the overall level of risk associated with the consumer wine purchase decision may be lower than previously observed and can be reduced through measures within the restaurant management's control. Although tentative due to the exploratory nature of this study, these findings may provide useful insights to the wine and restaurant industries and would benefit from further investigation on a larger scale.

This study is of value to academic researchers, restaurant managers/sommeliers and the wine industry as it highlights important aspects of consumer behaviour with regard to wine purchases in a growing and lucrative sector of the on‐premise trade.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how sommeliers influence wine sales in US restaurants and to understand how US restaurant sommeliers sell wine to customers, select for the wine list, and keep current on wines.

Data from 250 telephone interviews among people at fine restaurants who were in charge of the selection and recommendation of wines for customers was reviewed. Fine restaurants were selected from wine spectator's “Gold Medal Winners” list and supplemented by Zagat's top 2,000 restaurants. The interviews averaged 29 minutes in length.

On an average, customers ask a sommelier to provide wine recommendations 38 per cent of the time and sommeliers volunteer wine recommendations 42 per cent of the time. While wine is becoming increasingly popular and consumers are more knowledgeable, sommeliers play an important role in identifying best products available to meet restaurant customers' expectations.

Sommeliers play an important role in influencing the sale of wine in restaurants, in particular, in smaller restaurants and in fine dining restaurants. Focusing on value for money, winery reputation, type of variety and tracking customer preference are all critical factors that respondents considered when selecting wines and when recommending wines to customers.

This paper addresses the advantage of employing a sommelier in fine dining restaurants, given that when there is a designated sommelier more parties order wine (an average 76 per cent vs an average 70 per cent), the average check is higher ($62 vs $55) and the wine list is updated more frequently. Fine dining restaurant managers, owners and sommeliers will find value in this paper.