Branded environments : perception of a restaurant design for customers in Lebanon

Abstract

Eating out of home is becoming more prevalent. The consumption habit, though traditional, is also related to the modernization and transformation of society. Nowadays, it is essential when examining eating out to consider not only the food but also the space and the situation under which consumption takes place. With the growing number of restaurants and competition in the market, the demand for more sophisticated, stimulating, and ambience-rich settings is also increasing. Multiple factors starting from the name, the food served, the service, the price, the atmosphere, and the physical environment, all create together a brand image which can act positively or negatively on the customer’s decision-making process. When designing a space, designers might take into consideration the local community and architecture to make them feel more native to the place. Unfortunately, this effort to connect the design of places to their locale does not always happen. Space is a social construction and an entity for cultural practice and change as well as social relationships, and restaurants are social spaces, which belongs to society more than belonging to the owner, and in this respect, there is a gap which defines the Lebanese people perception and preferences towards the spatial settings of a restaurant. The purpose of this research is to explore how restaurants can cater to the Lebanese customers that they serve to increase the sense of belonging within these spaces by developing a reliable and valid scale of preferred characteristics of the Lebanese millennials and post-millennials concerning a restaurant setting in Beirut. To attain the objectives of this research, three hypotheses are developed and tested. A cross sectioned study was conducted combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The qualitative research methodology was employed, and primary data were gathered in the form of semi-structured interviews. Accordingly, a questionnaire was developed based on the “Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory,” which is the overall customer satisfaction based on their expectation. One hundred ten sets of questionnaires were answered by the target respondents, who are graduate and undergraduate students of Notre Dame University-Louaize. This research acknowledges that culinary factors (food and service quality) are the most important factors affecting millennials and post-millennials choice of restaurant with an account for (59%). Nonetheless, the essence of social, economic (21%) and physical factors (20%) cannot be denied in a very competitive environment, where food plays an important but by no means the only part. Moreover, a scale of the preferred restaurant settings of the Lebanese millennials and post-millennials is presented at the end of the research. In conclusion, customer preference and choice are a complex topic, and due to time and local resource constraints, it was not possible to investigate every aspect of their predilection. This research has the potential to help architects, designers, and restaurateurs in Lebanon, by covering different aspects of restaurant design and providing some insight and useful information regarding the social and managerial implications.