Making “Sense” of the Middle of the Pyramid Consumer’s Dining Experience

Abstract

It is assumed that fine-dining creates immersive experiences that could enhance the flavour of a meal or dish by leveraging a combination of multi-sensory stimuli. An exploratory hybrid-study identified multi-sensory dining experience stimuli from scientific literature, namely visual (eyes), haptic (touch), taste, olfactory (smell), auditory (hearing), and design and layout that affect restaurant choice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the important multi-sensory stimuli in the dining experience of middle of the pyramid (MOP) consumers. Data was collected from a convenient sample of 363 respondents representing MOP-consumers who returned an emailed questionnaire or those who completed the same questionnaire while dining at a full-service restaurant in Gauteng Province. The measuring instrument listed multi-sensory dining experience stimuli identified through a literature review. Additional items were generated via personal interviews and comments in dining-related websites that discussed multi-sensory dining. The results suggest that multi-sensory stimuli do contribute to the creation of a comprehensive dining experience. A high premium was placed on tasty and freshly prepared meals; the dining area; pleasant food odours; comfortable and spacious seating; attractive bathrooms; close-by and safe parking; and service staff (pleasant appearance, clean/neatly dressed, a professional attitude, and providing prompt service) that create sociable away-from-home family-orientated experiences. It is concluded that multi-sensory stimulation creates a memorable dining experience, which can create the opportunity to differentiate a restaurant from its closest competitors.