Eliciting consumer preferences for credence attributes in a fine-dining restaurant

Abstract

Design/methodology/approach -A menu-labelling experiment was conducted in a finedining restaurant during ordinary opening hours over a period of two weeks. The menu description of an organic veal entrée was altered repeatedly and the effect of these changes on the sales of this entrée was investigated. Purpose -The objectives of this paper are to (1) illustrate and discuss methodology issues in menu-labelling experiments in commercial full-service restaurants, and (2) to investigate how the menu description and price affects customers' choice of an organic veal entrée in a Norwegian restaurant. Findings -Adding words to the menu description, such as "organic", or describing animal welfare had a very limited effect on customers' choices in the restaurant. Research imitations/implications -The research illustrate the use of a natural field experiment in a commercial full-service restaurant, and discuss strengths and weaknesses of the methodology. Originality/value -Few experiments have been performed on the effect on credence attributes in commercial full-service restaurants and there is little knowledge about research challenges in menu-labelling experiments. This paper contributes to the knowledge on both issues by conducting a natural field experiment in a fine-dining restaurant.

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