The impacts of descriptive food names on consumer impressions
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2020
Abstract
Restaurateurs often use sensory, nostalgic, and brand descriptions to influence a customer’s perceptions. This research suggests that descriptive food names can influence customers’ warmth and competence impressions regarding their impending service experience. The replications of the experiments across the two menu contexts (entrée vs dessert) indicate that customers view a restaurant with sensory and nostalgic food names as offering warmer impending services compared to a restaurant with general names. Also, customers view a restaurant that utilizes brand names as providing more competent impending services than a restaurant that utilizes general names. However, there was a different pattern observed for the effects of sensory names on consumers’ warmth-related impressions in the dessert menu selection context. Further, this research proposes that warmth and competence can drive different magnitudes of anticipated satisfaction and willingness to pay more. Perceived warmth served a more important role in anticipated satisfaction than did perceived competence. Conversely, regarding willingness to pay more, perceived competence acted as a more significant factor than did perceived warmth.
Publication Title
International Journal of Hospitality Management
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102533
Recommended Citation
Kim, S., Magnini, V. P. (2020). The impacts of descriptive food names on consumer impressions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, 102533. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102533
Original Citation
Kim, S., Magnini, V. P. (2020). The impacts of descriptive food names on consumer impressions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, 102533. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102533
