Purposeful Restaurant Design

If you think your restaurant’s brand design begins and ends with a clever logo and advertising campaign, think again.

Great signage and an engaging marketing program might encourage consumers to sample your restaurant, but those won’t keep them coming back or telling friends. The essence of your brand’s design is what happens inside the restaurant. Call it ambiance, a composite of elements that affect all the senses. It's what creates a memorable experience.

Great food doesn’t make a memorable or successful restaurant. It helps, of course, and without it you’re likely to fail. But research shows that purposely designed ambiance and service are significantly more important in determining restaurant preference and how much a customer is willing to pay.

A study by the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business found that food quality is very subjective; an alluring ambiance and excellent service can trump a mediocre culinary experience. Perception plays a role, as well—diners are willing to pay more at a French restaurant than Chinese or Mexican because they believe French food is more labor intensive.^*

The best and most successful restaurants have a well-defined concept. From the cutlery selection to the color palette, and from lighting to music, the orchestration of a brand’s essence is what makes you feel good, what causes the food to taste better, and what conveys comfort. 

We call this brand follow through—extending the design inside the company (in this case, a restaurant). At its heart, a brand is a promise, a way of saying, “This is who we are and what you’ll get.” That’s why it’s so important for user-centered design to be carried through into the restaurant, imbuing everything consumers experience.

Synchronized restaurant interior design aims to provide a customer with a very specific sensation the moment they step inside. This vibe might manifest itself in several ways, such as feeling like home or being in another country. 

This sensation is difficult to describe, but you’ve surely experienced it. You entered a restaurant and felt good. Everything about the user experience was connected and had a reason. But creating a unique and pleasant ambiance isn’t just window dressing. It’s a design strategy that can give a brand personality and transform a restaurant from surviving to thriving. Here’s compelling evidence.

• A study by Cornell University School of Hotel Administration found that a high Zagat restaurant rating correlated with favorable views of an eating establishment’s interior design. In fact, décor was found to be more important than service.^**
• A well-documented study in RIThink discovered that 57% of consumers are willing to pay higher prices at a restaurant designed according to their preferences.^*** 
• In their groundbreaking research featured in Nature, Nanette Stroebele and Dr. John De Castro discovered that a restaurant’s lighting can affect food intake: “Warm light appears to make people more comfortable, leading to them staying longer in the location, which leads to increased food intake, whereas glaring light decreases the amount of time people spend in the eating location.” **** The same study reveals that color can influence a patron’s behavior, as well—customers judged coffee from a blue pot as mild, while the exact same coffee served from a brown pot was deemed too strong.
• A surprising study in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services revealed that a pleasing ambiance can often overcome shortcomings related to inadequate food and customer service.^*****

The next time you’re having an amazing dining experience, take a moment to look around the restaurant—there’s a good chance that creative designers of a consistent brand are responsible for your enjoyment.

Need help?

Not sure where to start with creative restaurant design? Not to worry. LAVIDGE can help you develop the perfect ambiance to create a consistent brand experience.

To learn more, give us a call at 480.998.2600 or send email to [email protected].

*: International Journal of Revenue Management, “Revenue Management, Hedonic Pricing Models and the Effects of Operational Attributes”

**: Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, “How Restaurant Features Affect Check Averages: A Study of the Toronto Restaurant Market”

***: RIThink, “Interior Design in Restaurants as a Factor in Influencing Customer Satisfaction”

****: Nutrition, “Effect of Ambience on Food Intake and Food choice”

*****: Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, “Effects of Physical Environment and Locus of Control on Service Evaluation”