How to Improve the Customer Experience in the Hospitality Industry, applying Angus Deaton’s theories?

The hospitality industry, and particularly the restaurant industry, faces a constant challenge: to offer attractive and satisfying experiences to its customers.

In an increasingly competitive market, restaurants must understand the needs and preferences of their customers in order to offer a quality service that sets them apart from the competition.

In this sense, the work of the economist Angus Deaton, 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, can be of great help; since his studies have shown that consumers do not always seek to maximize their utility when making purchase decisions, but also consider other factors, such as the context and emotions associated with the purchase. With this in mind, let’s see how his work can be transformed into useful tools to improve our customers’ experience.

Here are five ways to apply Deaton’s theories.

1. Contextualizing the menu is essential, consumers not only make decisions based on price and ingredients, but also on the context in which the menu is presented to them.
2. It is important to strengthen and use the power of the brand, since it can have a great impact on the purchasing decisions of consumers.
3. Create emotional experiences through the environment, music and service, since emotions can have a great impact on purchasing decisions.

4. Use price psychology, since consumers do not always make decisions based on the real price of the product, but rather on the perception of the value that it offers them.
5. Offer limited and carefully selected options to help customers make faster and more satisfying decisions.

To begin applying these theories in a restaurant, questions such as: How can I create an attractive and emotionally pleasing environment? How can I present the menu in a way that is attractive and convenient for customers? How can I use my brand to attract and retain diners? How can I use price psychology to make prices appear more attractive and fairer? How can I limit menu options so customers can make faster and satisfactory decisions?

Today, large restaurant chains use these concepts together with Applied Neurogastronomy to understand how consumers make purchasing decisions and how they can improve the customer experience. We hope these five keys are useful to you and so you can experiment and find new ways to attract and satisfy your consumers.

We co-created this content with @neurogastronomo to help your business grow.