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The USA is culturally and ethnically diverse and becoming more so. This diversity is reflected in the variety of cuisines available both in stores and in restaurants. Trends show a movement towards trying out new and exotic foods, increasing interest in vegetarian items, as well as a growing use of spices, herbs, and hot peppers. Asian foods are getting more popular with cuisines from China, Thailand, and Japan in the lead. Indian cuisine is hot, spicy, flavored with herbs, and offers many vegetarian options. This study examines the perceptions of White Americans, South Asians, and those of other ethnic origins in their perceptions of the food and service in Indian restaurants in the USA. The findings of this study suggest that there are universal likes/dislikes as well as differential perceptions between ethnic groups. Implications for researchers and operators of Indian restaurants are provided.

The aim of this paper is to understand the price‐ending strategies in European restaurants and make practical suggestions to the managers.

Data were collected from restaurant menus in three European countries. Results were compared with those of USA and Taiwan.

The price‐ending strategies of European restaurants are distinctly different from those of the USA and, interestingly, have more in common with those of Taiwan.

The small sample size is a concern. Data were limited to three countries. Inclusion of more European restaurants is highly desired, especially with the Euro as a common currency.

Restaurant companies could have better understanding of the impact of cultural differences, while implementing price‐ending strategies.

This paper presents a case where cultural differences are of significant economic value in setting restaurant menu prices. In Europe, dining out is considered more a cultural activity than a utilitarian participation. The historical roots of the usage of digit zero in a European context are presented here.

Given the rapid development of ethnic‐themed restaurants, this study aims to investigate how authentic atmospherics affects consumer emotions and behavioral intentions in Chinese restaurants in the USA.

A total of 348 usable responses from full table service restaurants in the USA were obtained via self‐administered questionnaires. A proposed model was tested following Anderson and Gerbing's two‐step approach: a measurement model and a subsequent structural model.

Using a structural equation modeling technique, this study found that authentic atmospherics significantly influences consumers' positive and negative emotions, and both types of emotions acted as full mediators between authentic atmospherics and behavioral intentions. Subsequent regression analyses revealed that menu presentation, furnishings, and music were significant predictors of positive emotions whereas menu presentation and music significantly influenced negative emotions.

The data were collected from only full table service restaurants. Therefore, generalizing the results for other segments of the restaurant industry may not be possible.

The findings have important implications for selecting and refining crucial elements of authentic atmospherics in order to enhance customers' favorable emotions, avoid unfavorable emotions, and ultimately heighten positive behavioral consequences.

Different from previous studies on the general aspect of atmospherics, this study exclusively investigates the effect of authentic atmospherics on customer post‐dining behavioral intentions in Chinese restaurants, one of the most popular ethnic restaurant segments in the US foodservice market. This study could also provide directions for improving the perceived authenticity of restaurant atmospherics.

This study was designed to contribute to the extant literature by discovering the perceptions of restaurant employees and managers toward equal opportunities in restaurant labor and working in a diversity-rich restaurant work environment.

A qualitative research approach was utilized. Through in-depth interviews, data were collected purposefully from restaurant workers in different positions (e.g. managers, servers, chefs and cooks) in the USA.

As a result of content analysis, different perspectives emerged on equal employment opportunity and diversity in restaurant labor. While some employees and managers believe that restaurant labor has equal employment opportunities, others think there is a lack of equal employment opportunity and partial equal employment opportunity in the industry. Most participants perceive working in a diversity-rich restaurant work environment as beneficial (an opportunity to learn about different cultures and an opportunity to learn different experiences and approaches).

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to explore employees' and managers' perceptions of equal employment opportunity and diversity in the hospitality labor context, specifically restaurant labor. Therefore, the research findings will create value for scholars to understand the view on equal employment opportunity and diversity in restaurant labor. Further, it will assist practitioners in designing their labor structure regarding equal employment opportunity and diversity management for the future.

In the UK, chain restaurants have grown rapidly and now represent about 14 per cent of the total catering industry. The UK has one of the largest chain restaurant sectors in Europe, but is still well behind the USA in terms of consumer acceptance. Examines the structure of the 1992 UK industry, identifies leading players and trends, and provides comparisons with selected European countries. Bases the information on market research undertaken by Technomic Consultants in 1992 during the compilation of its report on UK chain restaurants.

The importance of the wine involvement construct in explaining consumers’ wine consumption behaviour is widely acknowledged in the literature, as is the social nature of dining out with others. Yet, there is a paucity of research examining the relationships between how this construct interacts with dining group dynamics and wine consumption behavioural aspects in the restaurant environment. This study aims to investigate these aspects in US restaurants.

Utilising an online survey that yielded a sample of 513 respondents from across the USA who frequented all the recognised restaurant categories, respondents are segmented into low and high wine involvement categories using a reliable wine involvement scale. The authors examine differences between various dining group dynamics, dining group composition, main choice factors when ordering wine and method of ordering wine in US restaurants.

The authors find that diners’ level of involvement with wine provides sharp insights into several significant differences between involvement and dining group dynamics, group composition, choice factors when ordering wine and method of ordering wine in restaurants. High involvement diners dine out in larger groups, order more wine, spend more money on wine, are more often the main decision-maker ordering wine for the dining group and use wine menus and wall board displays more often when ordering than low involvement diners. They are also more discerning about the taste of wine, grape variety and wine style in terms of choice factors when ordering.

The nature and dynamics of dining groups are aspects that have profound implications, in various ways, for the restaurant industry. The level of involvement diners have with wine is a strong predictor of various outcomes in terms of dining group behavioural aspects regarding wine. Wine-related restaurant category-specific profile descriptions, such as those developed in this study, can be helpful for restaurants when creating business strategies.

The authors make a substantive contribution by being the first study to examine the relationships between dining group dynamics, dining group composition and behavioural aspects concerning wine consumption and involvement in the restaurant environment. The authors then map this information to derive wine-related profile descriptions for all US restaurant categories.

To examine tipping propensities between the races and genders in restaurant and non‐restaurant service encounters.

Data were collected on tipping in restaurants and in other service encounters outside the restaurant from consumers across races and genders in the USA.

Analyses showed that tipping in restaurants is different from tipping in other service encounters outside the restaurant industry. While tipping in restaurants may be norm driven, tipping in service encounters outside restaurants may be out of appreciation. It was also found that, unlike in restaurants, ethnicity does not matter in tipping in service encounters outside the restaurant. Furthermore, gender was found to make a marginal difference in tipping in service encounters outside the restaurant industry.

The findings are limited to the USA since the samples came from the USA alone. However, kindness and the ability to appreciate good deeds can transcend geographic barriers. Furthermore, the findings are limited by the data being self‐reported.

The results show that there is no difference in tipping propensities in service encounters outside the restaurant industry, regardless of gender or ethnicity. Managers in service businesses outside the restaurant industry should therefore train their workers to be truly committed to delivering customer satisfaction to all customers regardless of ethnicity or gender. By focusing on making the customers happy, the workers also stand a good chance of increasing their tip.

The study fills the current gap in research and in the understanding of tipping in restaurants and in other service encounters outside the restaurant industry.

Craft beer (CB) has gained prominence in the on-premise trade in the USA, which has become the world’s largest market for CB. Academically based research in the hospitality domain examining consumer behavioral psychology-based constructs in the situational consumption context of restaurants has, however, not kept pace with market reality. This study aims to examine how product involvement, knowledge, opinion leadership-seeking, risk perception, information processing and their interactions affect consumption of CB by consumers in the situational context of restaurants in the USA.

A national sample of 697 consumers from across the USA covering all categories of restaurants, including bars, pubs and brewpubs, informs the development of a structural equation model (SEM) of the motivational process to examine these effects. In the process, the authors validate latent construct measurement scales specific to CB consumption in the restaurant environment.

The results support main hypotheses confirming the existence of distinct motivational relationships, thus explicating the processes by which consumers’ CB product involvement, product knowledge, opinion leadership-seeking and risk perception are activated, influence one another and their subsequent information processing-related outcomes. The findings also confirm the unstable nature of the situational involvement construct, the stability of enduring involvement and the pivotal role of psychological risk on opinion leadership and opinion seeking as well as on other antecedents. As far as the interaction effects between the constructs are concerned, the authors confirm five mediating effects and one moderating effect.

Strategies should be developed by hospitality managers to identify consumers with higher enduring involvement with CB. Strategies should also be implemented that mitigate psychological, social and functional risk. The insights into the motivational relationships pertaining to CB consumption in restaurants should be integrated into drinks menu design and be considered in how service staff are trained.

This research provides nuanced insights from a motivational perspective of consumers in the situational context of restaurants from a holistic and consumer-centric behavioral psychology perspective providing deepened insights of focal behavioral psychology constructs and their roles in the hospitality domain.

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the possible existence of a synergistic effect of internationalization and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on a firm’s value performance.

To empirically test the argument, this study analyzed data from 40 US-based publicly traded restaurant companies (251 observations) from 2000 to 2011 by performing a two-way fixed-effects model.

This study’s findings support the hypothesis that when implemented simultaneously, internationalization and CSR have a negative synergistic impact on a restaurant firm’s value performance.

Restaurant managers might need to inquire thoroughly into the timing and content of CSR investment strategies while entering into new international markets. Restaurant executives may additionally need to focus more on effective risk management than other issues (e.g. growth or reputation) when developing both internationalization and CSR strategies simultaneously.

By suggesting and demonstrating a negative synergistic effect of internationalization and CSR on a firm’s value, this study presents new and unique insights into previous research regarding the combined effect of the two strategies.

Dining out is integral to the American lifestyle. Diners want to make informed choices. The purpose of this research is to measure consumers' need for, and attitudes toward, nutritional information (NI) on menus in full‐service restaurants.

Data were collected from 502 participants at a full‐service restaurant on a university campus, through a survey questionnaire. Correlations, ANOVA, and descriptive statistics were utilized for data analysis.

Some market segments would dine out more often in restaurants if NI was made available. Segments concerned about NI are females, those aged 35 to 65, and those belonging to the higher income and college‐educated strata. Consumers eating healthy food at home are more likely to use NI in restaurants, as are those who dine out as a necessity. NI that consumers are most concerned about concerns fat, saturated fat, and trans‐fat.

The current study is limited by a one‐location cross‐sectional design. Future studies should be longitudinal and be conducted in multiple locations.

A deeper understanding of consumers' concern could permit restaurateurs to use NI on menus to their competitive advantage, by effectively deploying a market segmentation strategy.

This research adds new knowledge to the present body of hospitality literature. This paper will assist managers by providing insights into the specifics of the target markets of who needs NI, and the context in which they will use NI on menus.