Marketing Intelligence & Planning Article 2022

Marketing Intelligence & Planning
Diners’ loyalty toward luxury restaurants: the moderating role of product
knowledge
Norman Peng Annie Huiling Chen
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Norman Peng Annie Huiling Chen , (2015),"Diners’ loyalty toward luxury restaurants: the moderating
role of product knowledge", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 33 Iss 2 pp. 179 - 196
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Annie Chen, Norman Peng, Kuang-peng Hung, (2015),"The effects of luxury restaurant environments
on diners’ emotions and loyalty: Incorporating diner expectations into an extended Mehrabian-Russell
model", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 27 Iss 2 pp. 236-260
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2013-0280
Kisang Ryu, Hye-Rin Lee, Woo Gon Kim, (2012),"The influence of the quality of the physical
environment, food, and service on restaurant image, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction,
and behavioral intentions", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 24 Iss
2 pp. 200-223 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596111211206141
Milos Bujisic, Joe Hutchinson, H.G. Parsa, (2014),"The effects of restaurant quality attributes on
customer behavioral intentions", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol.
26 Iss 8 pp. 1270-1291 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2013-0162
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Diners’ loyalty toward luxury
restaurants: the moderating
role of product knowledge
Norman Peng
University of Westminster, London, UK, and
Annie Huiling Chen
Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose – Consumers dine at luxury restaurants for reasons beyond fulfilling basic needs;
however, little is known about the factors that contribute to diners’ loyalty. The purpose of this paper
is to examine diners’ luxury restaurant consumption behavior by incorporating product knowledge
into a modified Mehrabian-Russell model.
Design/methodology/approach – Following exploratory qualitative research, 238 consumers who
have dined at Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred luxury restaurants were recruited for the main study.
The data were analyzed through structural equation modeling.
Findings – The results show that luxury restaurants’ stimuli (i.e. food quality, service quality, and
atmospherics) influence diners’ emotions, which in turn affect their brand loyalty. Furthermore,
food quality can directly influence diners’ loyalty toward the restaurant. Third, diners’ product
knowledge can moderate the relationships between restaurant stimuli and diners’ emotion.
Research limitations/implications – This study offers new empirical support for the proposition
that product knowledge has a role in building brand loyalty and thereby shades both theoretical and
managerial understanding of the luxury restaurant consumption process.
Originality/value – This study is one of the first to conceptualize diners’ loyalty toward luxury
restaurants by examining the influences of restaurants’ stimuli and diners’ knowledge toward
luxury restaurants. In addition, this study puts forth some managerial implications for practitioners.
Keywords Emotion, Luxury restaurant, Product knowledge, Stimuli
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This paper’s purpose is to examine Michelin-starred luxury restaurant diners’ consumption
behavior by incorporating product knowledge into a modified Mehrabian-Russell
model. The Mehrabian and Russell (1974) model studies environment stimuli’s effects
on individuals’ emotions and subsequent behaviors. The value of the luxury goods
market was close to US$302[1] billion worldwide in 2012, which is more than five
times the value of the industry in 1997 (Nueno and Quelch, 1998; Roberts, 2012).
Scholars have consistently been interested in exploring the luxury goods market and
its consumers (e.g. Berthon et al., 2009; Chadha and Husband, 2006; Gardyn, 2002;
Jolson et al., 1981; Nueno and Quelch, 1998). This interest has been further driven
by observing the robustness of this issue, given the recent and ongoing global
recession (Sullivan, 2009; Wood, 2009). To date, scholars have suggested that the
appeal of luxury goods can be a result of their ability to signify luxury value to users
and others (Chadha and Husband, 2006; Gardyn, 2002; Jolson et al., 1981; Nueno
and Quelch, 1998). This ability is mainly due to luxury goods’ perceived premium
quality, recognizable style, reputation, and/or limited accessibility (Berthon et al., 2009;
Hung et al., 2011).
Marketing Intelligence & Planning
Vol. 33 No. 2, 2015
pp. 179-196
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-4503
DOI 10.1108/MIP-03-2014-0049
Received 16 March 2014
Revised 16 March 2014
Accepted 9 January 2015
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-4503.htm
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Although progress has been made, Berthon et al. (2009) note that luxury goods
consumption behavior is still poorly understood and under investigated. Furthermore,
the focus of existing studies has been mainly on the consumption of tangible luxury
goods, such as handbags, accessories, and cars (e.g. Han et al., 2010a, b; Hung et al.,
2011); few studies have examined the consumption of luxury services, even though
luxury products have become more accessible to middle-class consumers since the
mid-2000s (Lee and Hwang, 2011; Mintel, 2011; Silverstein and Fiske, 2003). Because of
the gaps in the literature, relatively little is known about luxury services consumption
behavior and the factors influencing this behavior.
Within the range of luxury services, restaurant industry has its significances. First,
the restaurant industry has grown significantly since the 1980s. From the 1980s
to 2011, restaurant industry sales increased more than ten times, from $42.8 billion to
$536.7 billion, worldwide. Second, according to Wu and Liang (2009) and Lee and
Hwang (2011), fine dining is a luxury leisure activity with additional importance.
Apart from fine dining being increasingly valued by middle-class consumers and their
families, it is also worth investigating further whether existing frameworks on luxury
goods consumption are applicable to service-based products, given such products’
perishable and intangible nature.
To narrow the gaps in the luxury consumption literature, this study examines Hong
Kong diners’ loyalty toward luxury restaurants by considering Michelin-starred
restaurants’ stimuli (i.e. food quality, service quality, and atmospherics) and diners’
product knowledge. The objectives of this study are as follows. The first objective
is to conceptualize customers’ loyalty toward Michelin-starred luxury restaurants with
a modified Mehrabian-Russell model. The second objective is to test the moderating
effect of diners’ product knowledge. Finally, some implications for hospitality and
brand managers are discussed.
Literature review
Luxury restaurants – definition and previous studies
Among different types of restaurants (e.g. full/limited-service and fine/family/casual
dining environments), full-service and fine dining restaurants have received
considerable attention since 2000 (Lee and Hwang, 2011). Wu and Liang’s (2009)
research clearly defines luxury restaurants. In their study, four- and five-star hotels’
full-service restaurants are considered luxury restaurants because they are subject to
stringent inspection, high customer expectations, and competition from nearby luxury
hotels and restaurants. In addition to Wu and Liang’s definition, Lee and Hwang (2011)
suggest that luxury restaurants have the following characteristics: full-service,
a high-quality environment, and entrées that are generally priced over $20. Based on
the development of the restaurant industry’s and the definitions of luxury goods
proposed by Berthon et al. (2009), Han et al. (2010a, b), Lee and Hwang (2011),
and Nueno and Quelch (1998), a luxury restaurant is considered in this study to be a
full-service restaurant whose environment (e.g. décor, atmospherics, and services) and
products (e.g. food and beverages) are carefully prepared and presented, unique,
superior in quality, and conspicuous.
In the previous literature on the behavior of consumers as restaurant patrons, the
studies by Jang and Namkung (2009), Kwun and Oh (2006), and Wu and Liang (2009)
are significant. First, in Kwun and Oh’s (2006) study, the authors investigate the
impact of restaurants’ performance factors on new and experienced customers. Their
results indicate how perceived performance (i.e. service, food, beverage, facilities, and
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atmospherics) influences new and existing customers’ revisit intentions and
recommendation behavior differently. Kwun and Oh’s research has contributed to
the literature, but their paper’s relationship to existing leisure and/or hospitality-related
theory has not been discussed. In addition, they focus on full-service restaurants, not
luxury restaurants. Second, Wu and Liang (2009) contribute to the luxury restaurant
consumption research literature by focussing on service performance, environmental
stimulus, and additional influences on diners’ perceived experiential value and
satisfaction. Their results show that restaurant staff, the dining environment, and other
diners can impact customers’ perceived experiential value of luxury restaurants
and their satisfaction with their dining experience. Although Wu and Liang’s (2009)
research is significant, it is not without limitations. Wu and Liang (2009) examined
diners’ level of satisfaction; however, they did not consider the impact of diners’
knowledge about restaurants and diners’ future behavioral intentions, such as the
intention to revisit.
Finally, Jang and Namkung’s (2009) study had the most direct implications for the
present study’s framework. Using a modified Mehrabian-Russell model to examine
restaurant-specific stimuli’s (i.e. product quality, atmospherics, and service quality)
impact on middle-class diners’ emotion, their results showed that service quality and
atmospherics have positive impacts on diners’ positive emotions while product
quality has a negative correlation with diners’ negative emotions. Last but not least,
their results show that only positive emotions affect diners’ subsequent behavioral
intentions. Although the Mehrabian-Russell model is often used to examine
service-related consumption, Jang and Namkung’s findings and framework cannot
be applied to the luxury restaurant consumption scenario without considering luxury
and other restaurants’ differences. Mainly, apart from fulfilling basic needs, diners
often go to luxury restaurants for purposes that are different than when they visit
family and/or casual restaurants (Lee and Hwang, 2011; Wu and Liang, 2009).
Because Jang and Namkung’s research context is general full-service restaurants, their
model does not take diners’ understanding about luxury restaurants into account.
Based on this review of the current literature on luxury restaurant consumption,
several research opportunities have emerged.
Research framework and hypotheses
Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) study on the influences of environment stimuli and
the model they proposed had a significant impact on the study of environmental
psychology. According to them, environment stimuli (S) can affect consumers’
emotions (O), which in turn influence their responses (R). The Mehrabian-Russell model
and its modifications have been applied in retail, service, leisure, and tourism contexts.
The contexts that have been examined include shopping (Ong and Khong, 2011;
Tai and Fung, 1997), retail marketing (Kaltcheva and Weitz, 2006), online shopping
(Koo and Ju, 2010), tourists’ shopping behavior (Yuksel, 2007), and restaurant
management (Jang and Namkung, 2009). These studies’ findings generally support
the notion that stimuli affect consumers’ emotions, which in turn influence their
responses (e.g. revisiting and/or recommending).
After examining these studies and considering the contexts of their research, the
models of Jang and Namkung (2009) were adopted, with modifications, for use in
this study. This current research adopted a modified version of their framework
because of its comprehensive nature: their framework considers the influence of
multiple stimuli. In addition to environmental stimuli, service quality and food quality
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are included in their model when examining diners’ emotions and subsequent behavior.
This study’s framework does not include “negative emotion” because Jang and
Namkung (2009) found that this variable did not influence diners’ behavior and was not
influenced by a restaurant’s service quality or atmosphere. Therefore, it seems that
“negative emotion” has limited impact when the Mehrabian-Russell model is used to
examine diners’ behavior. In addition, several scholars who have used the
Mehrabian-Russell model to study service consumption scenarios did not include
negative emotion in their framework (e.g. Koo and Ju, 2010; Lee and Hwang, 2011;
Tai and Fung, 1997; Yuksel, 2007).
In addition to the variables mentioned above, product knowledge is included in the
present framework as a new moderating variable that can affect luxury restaurants
diners’ consumption behavior (Berthon et al., 2009; Chen and Peng, 2012; Wong and
Yeh, 2009). The following section provides the details and definitions of each variable,
followed by this study’s proposed hypotheses (Figure 1).
According to Jang and Namkung (2009), Kwun and Oh (2006), and Wu and Liang
(2009), a restaurant’s stimuli influence diners’ emotions. Consumption emotions can be
described as the affective responses generated specifically during product usage or
consumption experiences (Han et al., 2009; King and Meiselman, 2010; King et al., 2010).
When examining customers’ emotions, questions that seek to determine whether
respondents are excited and/or pleased are often included.
Koo and Ju (2010) suggest that during service encounters, environmental stimuli
affect customers’ emotions, which in turn influence their behavioral intentions.
According to Jang and Namkung (2009), Kwun and Oh (2006), and Wu and Liang
(2009), a restaurant’s environment includes service quality, food quality, and
atmospherics. Kwun and Oh (2006) define food and beverages as restaurants’ core
products. The freshness and tastiness of food can have significant impacts on
consumers’ emotions. In addition, Wu and Liang (2009) note that the presentationH5aH5cH3H1H2AtmosphericsFood qualityServicequalityH5dH4 Brand loyaltyEmotionProductknowledgeH5b
Figure 1.
Research framework
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