eCommons

 

How Long Should Dinner Take? Measuring Expected Meal Duration for Restaurant Revenue Management

Other Titles

Abstract

Restaurants have two strategic levers for revenue management: duration control and demand-based pricing. Reducing dining times, especially during peak periods, can add considerable revenue for the restaurant. Managing meal duration, however, can be far more complex than manipulating the price. This paper examines dinner duration expectations for a casual restaurant using an adaptation of a price sensitivity measurement tool, naming it 'Time Sensitivity Measurement' or TSM. TSM is then used to derive the expected dining time, the optimal and indifference duration points. The results show that there is a relatively wide spread of acceptable dining duration times. Furthermore, the optimal and indifference points were significantly shorter than the mean expected dining time, suggesting that many restaurants may be able to shorten dining duration significantly (some 20 per cent in this present study) without compromising customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the paper explores whether demographic variables have an impact on time preferences and finds only nationality effects to be significant. Specifically, North Americans and Asians have similar duration expectations, while Europeans preferred a significantly longer dining time.

Journal / Series

Volume & Issue

Description

Sponsorship

Date Issued

2002-01-01

Publisher

Keywords

service duration; expected service duration; revenue management; restaurant management

Location

Effective Date

Expiration Date

Sector

Employer

Union

Union Local

NAICS

Number of Workers

Committee Chair

Committee Co-Chair

Committee Member

Degree Discipline

Degree Name

Degree Level

Related Version

Related To

Related Part

Based on Related Item

Has Other Format(s)

Part of Related Item

Related To

Related Publication(s)

Link(s) to Related Publication(s)

References

Link(s) to Reference(s)

Previously Published As

Government Document

ISBN

ISMN

ISSN

Other Identifiers

Rights

Required Publisher Statement: © Palgrave Macmillan. Final version published as: Kimes, S. E., Wirtz, J., & Noone, B. M. (2002). How long should dinner take? Measuring expected meal duration for restaurant revenue management. Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management, 1, 220-233. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.rpm.5170026 Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Rights URI

Types

article

Accessibility Feature

Accessibility Hazard

Accessibility Summary

Link(s) to Catalog Record