Business Research Methods: Dining Consumption in Restaurants Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive review of the topic of dining consumption in a restaurant context, drawing upon seven peer-reviewed articles. The analysis covers key aspects such as customer satisfaction, engagement activities (like wine interaction, stand-up comedy, and karaoke), the impact of online reviews, and the growing importance of food preferences, including organic options. The report discusses common and different themes across the articles, highlighting how restaurants can enhance customer satisfaction through various strategies, including service quality, hedonic values, and establishing effective customer relationships. It also explores the limitations of each study design, such as the use of surveys versus interviews, and proposes future research directions, including the analysis of factors beyond online reviews and the exploration of customer preferences. This report provides a detailed overview of the research landscape and its implications for restaurant management, offering valuable insights into customer behavior and satisfaction.

Running head: DINING CONSUMPTION IN A RESTAURANT CONTEXT
BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS: DINING CONSUMPTION IN A RESTAURANT
CONTEXT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1DINING CONSUMPTION IN A RESTAURANT CONTEXT
The purpose of this paper is to undertake a review of the topic of “Dining Consumption
in a Restaurant context” through the usage of seven peer-reviewed articles. The authors of the
articles are (1) Bruwer, Cohen and Kelley, (2) Song and Qu, (3) Lu and Chi, (4) Gan, Ferns, Yu
and Jin, (5) Erkmen and Hancer, (6) Schjøll and Alfnes and (7) Clauzel, Guichard and Riché.
Brief summary of the theory and discussion of progression in the field
Bruwer, Cohen and Kelley (2019) in their article focus on the need for the restaurants to
take the help of different kinds of engagement activities which in turn would enable them to
enhance the satisfaction of the diners. This is important since it will loyalty of the customers
greatly depends on the kind or the nature which are being offered by the restaurants and also the
level of satisfaction of the diners with these services. In this regard, Bruwer, Cohen and Kelley
(2019) state that wine interaction is an important construct through the restaurants can enhance
the interaction among the diners and thereby satisfaction of the diners. Furthermore, it had been
seen that post the publication of this article the different restaurants are taking the help of
different kinds of engagement activities like stand-up comedy, karaoke and others for the
purpose of attaining the same goal. On the other hand, Song and Qu (2017) state that the
emotions play a pivotal role in enhancing the satisfaction level of the diners which in turn is
being influenced by “hedonic value” and also the quality of the services that are being offered by
the restaurants to the diners. In this relation, it needs to be said that the aspect of service quality
had been the focus of the different restaurants since the traditional times however it is not
recently that the restaurants are focusing on the aspect of “hedonic values”.
Gan et al. (2017) in their articulate the importance of the online reviews left by the
customers and the impact that it had on the decision making process of the customers. In this

2DINING CONSUMPTION IN A RESTAURANT CONTEXT
relation, Gan et al. (2017) the reviews left by the customers over the different social media
platforms influence the decision of the customers whether to opt for the services offered by a
particular restaurant or not and this is perhaps one of the major reasons why the different
restaurants are in the present times trying to maintain a positive image over the various social
media platforms for the purpose the decision making process of the customers in the best
possible manner. However, Lu and Chi (2018) the customers in the present times have become
very concerned regarding the kind of food that they eat or become more health conscious and
thereby they generally like to consume organic food. This is a recent trend and thereby is not
many restaurants which offer organic food. Thus, it becomes important for the restaurants to take
into trend into account for the purpose of enhancing the satisfaction of the customers.
The article of Erkmen and Hancer (2019) focus on the manner in which the restaurants
need to establish effective relationship with their customer. Furthermore, the authors suggest that
for the attainment of this end the restaurants need to take the help of different kinds of
engagement activities, improve their brand image, enhance brand trust of the customers and
others. Adding to this, Schjøll and Alfnes (2017) have stated that for the purpose of establishing
effective relationship with the customers, the restaurants need to take into account their food
preferences. Lastly, Clauzel, Guichard and Riché (2019) have noted that the aspect of customer
satisfaction or experience is also influenced by the size of the restaurants or for that matter the
number of customers who dine there.
Discussion of common themes
A brief summary of the seven articles clearly indicates the fact that the focus of all the
articles is on the aspect of customer satisfaction and also the manner in which the restaurants

3DINING CONSUMPTION IN A RESTAURANT CONTEXT
need to enhance the same for the purpose of attaining the desired level of success. For example,
Bruwer, Cohen and Kelley (2019) suggest the method of wine engagement whereas Song and Qu
(2017) suggest the enhancement of the hedonic values and also the enhancement of the quality of
the services which are being offered to the customers. In addition to this, Lu and Chi (2018) and
Schjøll and Alfnes (2017) suggest that the quality of food which is being offered by the
restaurants or by taking into account the food preferences of the customers, the restaurants can
enhance the satisfaction of the customers.
Discussion of different themes
As discussed the majority of the articles are related to the theme of customer satisfaction
and for the attainment of this end the authors suggest the usage of engagement activities and the
improvement of the quality of the services which are being offered to customers. However, two
articles focus on different themes for the purpose of earning the satisfaction of the customers.
Erkmen and Hancer (2019) focus on the establishment of effective relationship with the
customers whereas Gan et al. (2017) focus on the aspect of online reviews as the factors which
the restaurants need to take into account for the purpose of enhancing the satisfaction of the
customers.
Discussion of study limitations and how limitations differ across the research designs
Bruwer, Cohen and Kelley (2019) have collected primary data from 513 respondents
through for the completion of the article however no interviews were conducted for the
completion of the same. This in turn had narrowed down the scope of the article and this in turn
becomes the major limitation of the article. On the other hand, Song and Qu (2017) used online
survey for collecting primary data and this in turn had reduced the accuracy of the results since

4DINING CONSUMPTION IN A RESTAURANT CONTEXT
the researchers themselves were not sure whether the participants regularly opted for the
restaurant services or not. The article of Lu and Chi (2018) focuses only on the aspect of organic
food and not on the other varieties of food and this in turn is the major limitation of the
concerned study despite the high accuracy of the data that the authors collected through the
usage of the mixed method. Furthermore, Schjøll and Alfnes (2017) had relied on secondary data
or qualitative analysis and this in turn is one of the major limitations of the study since no
primary data was collected to test the validity of the secondary data. Erkmen and Hancer (2019)
and Gan et al. (2017) have also merely relied on the construct of survey for the collection of
primary data and no interviews were conducted for enhancing the accuracy of the articles. This
in turn becomes the major limitation of the concerned articles.
Discussion of future research directions
Gan et al. (2017) in future have the opportunity to analyze the other important factors
apart from the online customer reviews like food quality, engagement activities and others which
in turn would enhance the satisfaction of the customers. Erkmen and Hancer (2019) in their
article have focused on the aspect of the establishment of effective relationship with the
customers and completely relegated the importance of food quality, ambience and others to the
background. Bruwer, Cohen and Kelley (2019) and Song and Qu (2017) can take the help of the
construct of interviews for enhancing the accuracy of their articles. Lu and Chi (2018) and
Schjøll and Alfnes (2017) have the opportunity to analyze the other factors apart from the food
quality which affect customer satisfaction to extent to scope of their study. Lastly, Clauzel,
Guichard and Riché (2019) have the opportunity to analyze the other factors apart from the
customer size with restaurants which affect customer satisfaction for the enhancement of the
scope of their study.

5DINING CONSUMPTION IN A RESTAURANT CONTEXT
References
Bruwer, J., Cohen, J. and Kelley, K., 2019. Wine involvement interaction with dining group
dynamics, group composition and consumption behavioural aspects in USA
restaurants. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 31(1), pp.12-28.
Clauzel, A., Guichard, N. and Riché, C., 2019. Dining alone or together? The effect of group size
on the service customer experience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 47, pp.222-
228.
Erkmen, E. and Hancer, M., 2019. Building brand relationship for restaurants: An examination
of other customers, brand image, trust, and restaurant attributes. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(3), pp.1469-1487.
Gan, Q., Ferns, B.H., Yu, Y. and Jin, L., 2017. A text mining and multidimensional sentiment
analysis of online restaurant reviews. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality &
Tourism, 18(4), pp.465-492.
Lu, L. and Chi, C.G.Q., 2018. An examination of the perceived value of organic
dining. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(8), pp.2826-2844.
Schjøll, A. and Alfnes, F., 2017. Eliciting consumer preferences for credence attributes in a fine-
dining restaurant. British Food Journal, 119(3), pp.575-586.
Song, J. and Qu, H., 2017. The mediating role of consumption emotions. International Journal
of Hospitality Management, 66, pp.66-76.