A plate of senses : A study on sensory descriptive menu items and their impact on sales in fine dining restaurants

Abstract:

Course/Level: Bachelors Thesis, 2FE16E

Authors: Felicia Liljegren, Sandra Markovic, Malin Månsson

Tutor: Dr. Martin Amsteus

Examiner: Dr. Åsa Devine

Title: A plate of senses – a study on sensory descriptive menu items and their impact on sales in fine dining restaurants

Key words: Descriptive menu names, sensory marketing, human senses, taste, sight, touch, texture, consumer decision-making, consumer involvement, menu design

Background: The human senses are essential for an individual’s experience of different purchase and consumption processes, and they are vital when a consumer is making a decision. At restaurants, the menu is a tool to guide the consumer to a decision, and by using good, thoughtful chosen wording and design, a restaurants’ menu can be a huge advantage that might stimulate both first time consumption and repeat sales.

Purpose: To explain the impact on sales caused by sensory descriptive menu items in fine dining restaurants

Hypotheses:

H1 - Sensory descriptive menu names lead to increased sales in fine dining restaurants.

H2 - Sensory descriptive menu names lead to increased sales of appetizers in fine dining restaurants.

H3 - Sensory descriptive menu names lead to increased sales of main courses in fine dining restaurants.

H4 - Sensory descriptive menu names lead to increased sales of desserts in fine dining restaurants.

Methodology: Pre-test focus groups and a main study of field experiments

Findings: The results of the thesis show that there is in total no statistical significance for sensory descriptive menu names’ positive impact on sales in fine dining restaurants.