Descriptive language of ‘Thai SELECT Premium’ restaurant menus: Appealing perception and collocations

Abstract

The study examined menu descriptions of Thai restaurants on how appealing the menus communicated with customers. Data were taken from restaurant websites with ‘Thai SELECT Premium’ certifications in the UK. 673 menu items were obtained and analyzed in five categories (nationalism, characteristics, sensory cues, branding, organic and healthy concerns). Sensory cues category was mostly used (68.95%) followed by characteristics (41.9%) and nationalism 17.53%). Six Thai dishes on CNN Travel World’s 50 Best Foods list in 2011 were investigated on appealing perception of menu descriptions via online questionnaire. Of the six dishes, there were 51 menu descriptions, and 26 descriptions were rated as ‘much appealing’. Nationalism (20/26) was mostly found followed by sensory cues (16/26). Menu data were also analyzed by AntConc to extract the high frequency keywords and collocation patterns. Mostly found noun keywords were seven (sauce, chicken, curry, chilli, rice, prawns, and beef) and mostly found adjective keywords were four (sweet, green, red, and spicy). The most frequent collocation patterns were ‘noun + noun’ and ‘adjective + noun’. Respondents requested short and precise menu descriptions, information of food ingredients to help in decision making, and local Thai food names either in Thai words or English transliteration to create exotic experience and to imply the originality.