Study reveals differences between ratings among the population
Discrepancies in restaurant ratings investigated: A new study by the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden shows how strongly ratings of restaurants differ among the population. While cleanliness, value for money and service quality are generally appreciated, other criteria such as vegan dishes, accessibility and portion sizes vary greatly. The results show how recommendations could be personalized in the future.
It may sound familiar to many: You follow a restaurant recommendation from a friend or use reviews on an online platform as a guide. It sometimes happens that after visiting a restaurant, you can’t understand how such good reviews came about. The reason is simple: the requirements and wishes for a restaurant visit are quite different for many people. This raises the question: ’How much do people differ in their ratings of restaurants?’ A team from the UAS Graubünden investigated this question. A survey (N=1,004) was conducted in Switzerland and Germany in which participants were asked about 33 different evaluation criteria for restaurants.
On the one hand, the results show that there are clear differences between different segments of restaurant guests - such as between women and men. For example, the biggest differences were found in the evaluation criteria that are more important to women than men when it comes to vegan, healthy or organic dishes, as well as in relation to the barrier-free design of restaurants. Men, on the other hand, tend to find it more important that portions are large enough and that there is a sufficient selection of drinks. On the other hand, the results also indicate that the individuality in the weighting of the evaluation criteria makes it difficult to give and use general restaurant recommendations.
Individuality should be better taken into account when recommending restaurants
It is true that the survey results show some criteria that are important to many people (e.g. cleanliness, value for money and service quality). However, the individuality of each person prevails across all evaluation criteria.
"Until now, users of online platforms and social networks have mainly received restaurant recommendations that appeal to everyone in the same way. They then have to see for themselves to what extent the person making the recommendation or the evaluation criteria applied suit them. Our research results suggest that the quality and benefit of restaurant recommendations for many users could be improved enormously if their individual requirements for restaurants were better taken into account," says project manager Dr. Michael Beier.
The project was funded by Innosuisse via an innovation cheque and implemented by employees from the "Digital Strategies and AI for Companies" research field at the UAS Graubünden in collaboration with Taste Match AG. The aim of the project was to better understand how people perceive and evaluate restaurants and how restaurant recommendations are made and used. On this basis, the Taste Match AG restaurant app was further developed as part of the project.
- About the project: fhgr.ch/restaurantempfehlungen
- The associated research report from the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons is available to download free of charge at the following link: researchgate.net/publication/385938613
