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

Abstract : 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.