Dining alone or together? The effect of group size on the service customer experience

Amélie Clauzel (1, 2, 3) , Nathalie Guichard (4, 5) , Caroline Riché (4, 5)

1 ISC Paris - Institut Supérieur du Commerce de Paris
2 UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
3 PRISM Sorbonne - Pôle de recherche interdisciplinaire en sciences du management
4 UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11
5 RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation

Within the broader field of consumer experience of services, this paper addresses the impact of the size of a group of consumers sharing the same meal experience in a restaurant. This research is based on the quantitative analysis of sales receipts from 2753 restaurants tables. Multinomial logistic regression models and variance analysis show that the individual spend per guest depends on the number of guests per table. They also reveal that the proportion of prix-fixe menus ordered by table (vs. à-la-carte) is mostly maximized for meals taken as a couple and minimized for meals taken alone, depending on restaurant settings.

Keywords: Service experience; Restaurant; Group size; Individual spend; Menu; Consumer groups; Companions

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences

Amélie Clauzel, Nathalie Guichard, Caroline Riché. Dining alone or together? The effect of group size on the service customer experience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2019, 47, pp.222-228. ⟨10.1016/j.jretconser.2018.11.010⟩. ⟨hal-03676068⟩