The Impact of Menu Types Using Sensory Cues and Customer Gender on Argument Quality

Abstract

A restaurant menu is a strategic tool for communication and marketing. It is getting more important to develop effective and appealing menus as the foodservice industry faces fierce competition with a fast-changing environment. This study tests the effect of menus with various sensory stimuli including visual, audio, and multisensory cues. It also tests the interaction effect between the sensory stimuli and customer gender on perceived argument quality of the menu. We used a 2 (gender: men or women) × 4 (menu types: text, picture, audio, or video) between-subjects experimental design in a restaurant setting. The experiment was conducted as an online survey with participants recruited via Amazon MTurk. The results show that menus with sensory cues overall were perceived highly in argument quality of menus. Menus with visual and multisensory cues particularly had higher argument quality compared to the conventional text menu and the menu with an audio cue. A significant gender difference was not found. However, the responses toward specific sensory cues were observed between men and women. This study provides both theoretical and practical implications utilizing sensory cues in service marketing and the foodservice industry.