Social Media and Its Impact on Millennial Dining Decisions

Hey guys! Coming atcha with another one of my research papers for my grad program (I’m getting my masters of science in Digital Social at USC Annenberg School of Communications!). This paper was a research study I conducted for my research and methods analytics course; big shout of to any of you who took my survey, it was a tremendous help. I know this type of post might not be everyone’s jam, but as my masters programs is taking up the bulk of my existence right now, and as this blog is really just a space for me to share my life, I’m excited to be publishing my work and having it up on the internets. Also, I figured it could be helpful to anyone interested in pursuing a masters in the communication field and may be curious as to what it’s all about. Anyway, this study investigates the influence social media has on the dining decisions of millenials and post-millenials; do they heavily rely on social media when deciding on what restaurants they want to eat at? Is going out to eat at restaurants important to people? Does it even matter if a restaurant has an Instagram account? 

Abstract

This quantitative research study was conducted to explore the influence and impact social media has on dining decisions of millenials and post-millenials. 130 respondents were recruited to participate from a USC Annenberg Communications graduate class and from the followership of influencer The Blonde in Pink (@theblondeinpink); after the removal of any participant over the age of 36, 120 survey results were utilized for data analysis. Results suggested that those who reported eating out at restaurants to be important in their lives were more likely to utilize social media when making dining decisions, and those who did not were less likely to view social media as an important tool in the exercise of selecting a restaurant to eat at. 

Introduction

As both an avid social media user and self-described “foodie,” eating out at restaurants has always been an important part of my life, becoming an even deeper part of my identity as I have entered into the second half of my twenties. Speaking from a personal perspective, the satisfaction of experiencing a new restaurant is not solely determined by the food alone; in addition to the aesthetics of a restaurant, speaking on its decor, ambiance and overall panache, my passion for restaurants lies within the hunt itself. On any given weekend, especially residing in a food mecca like Los Angeles, selecting a dinner destination is a much more complex and rewarding activity than simply tossing “best restaurant near me” into Google. The process typically involves a consistent trajectory: I consult articles posted on reputable online publications, predominantly written by food journalists, to get an expert’s take on the latest and greatest buzzworthy spots. This will prompt a visit to a restaurant’s website to consult how they personally describe their brand, and of course, what is on the menu. Next, a virtual trip to the restaurant without even having to leave my house by glancing at their Instagram page, to get a sense of what to expect visually. I can look at tagged pictures by past patrons to see what the food looks like when it is served and even get a feel for the energy on a Saturday night. Lastly, after spending some time familiarizing myself with a representation of online reviews, I will head to my go-to trusted reservation site OpenTable, to view upcoming availability. The research and subsequent build up to see if the restaurant will be a delicious hit is all part of the fun, all of which takes place before even setting foot inside. As this is a typical ritual for me to take part in, I began to wonder if my behaviors were comparable to others. In this study, I investigate the following: to what extent does social media influence the choices of millenials and post-millenials regarding where they choose to dine at, and how do existing attitudes towards the importance of dining out and restaurant researching play a role in those choices? 

Literature Review

In their study “How Do Diners Make Decisions Among Casual Dining Restaurants? An Exploratory of College Students,” researchers Peng, Bilgihan, and Kandampully (2015) sought to understand how college-age diners decide which restaurants to eat at. Further, they wanted to identify the different decision-making styles demonstrated by the students, how they selected the restaurants, and what attributes influenced their selection (Peng et al., 2015, p. 1-2). Their interest in the subject was prompted by the emergence of  college diners as an important growth segment, and their desire to aid restaurant marketers in better understanding this demographic. Citing past studies, a variety of factors have been proven to influence dining decisions, including “food quality, food type, speed of service, convenience, entertainment, price, atmosphere, reputation, and interpersonal influence” (Peng et al., 2015, p. 2). However, as most of these studies fixated on dining in general, the researchers chose to focus on a specific niche within the restaurant space, casual dining, because of its noticeable rapid growth in the restaurant space. Not to be confused with fast-service dining, the researchers identify a casual dining experience as unique in the restaurant sector, serving moderately priced food, with a full waitstaff, in a relaxed atmosphere (Peng et al., 2015, p. 3). 

For their research, a self-administered survey was conducted among undergraduate students in a Hospitality Management program, with 38 students participating in a pilot study and an additional 257 students chosen as participants. All of the students were enrolled in hospitality classes, the data being collected in class; there were 162 usable questionnaires represented. The results identified five different decision-making styles that impacted college students casual dining decisions: hedonistic, habitual, price conscious, confused by overchoice, and brand conscious (Peng et al., 2015, p. 9). Further, 76% of college students exhibited extreme hedonistic characteristics when deciding where to dine at and it ultimately was the largest impact in dining decisions; “They dine out because they want to enjoy, rather than simply feed themselves, and they enjoy this experience…” In response to this discovery, the researchers suggest that restaurant marketers should prioritize not only guaranteeing quality food, but creating a relaxing ambiance to “emphasize the recreational aspect of dining out” (Peng et al., 2015, p. 10-11). 

Another interesting piece of commentary from the study instructs restaurant marketers to consider that college students are technologically savvy and highly proficient in social media usage. The researchers acknowledge that social media is changing the way students experience eating out at a restaurant, for they are enabled to share their experience online, whether it be positive or negative, and “these messages are likely to impact their restaurant decisions and will only continue to be heavily relied upon in the future. Therefore, social media marketing is a vital concept for casual dining” (Peng et al., 2015, p. 11). 

Methodology 

A self-administered survey was created on Qualtrics and sent out to students enrolled in a USC Annenberg Communications graduate course to complete. Additionally, respondents were recruited by the posting of several “swipe up” links in the Instagram Stories of influencer The Blonde in Pink (@theblondeinpink). 130 respondents were recruited to complete the survey over the course of 3 days. The questions were designed to first collect basic demographic information about the respondents, including their age, education level, and location. There were a select couple of questions to understand a respondent’s usage of social media, including how much time they spent on social media and what their preferred platforms were. The second part of the survey was designed to identify a respondent’s attitudes in regards to eating at restaurants. Specifically, to what extent respondents would agree that eating out at restaurants was an important part of their life, what factors had the greatest influence when choosing a restaurant to eat at, and what behaviors they exhibited when researching a restaurant. The last part of the survey was designed to evaluate the role social media plays in a respondent’s decision of where to dine at. 

The survey was designed to be taken in under 5 minutes, as to maximize the number of respondents who would feel inclined to take it. There were a total of 26 questions and a mixture of types of questions asked to make the survey feel more engaging for the respondents. There was a single “fill in the blank” style question to ask respondents what city they resided in and three questions that asked a range of the respondents (ie. their age or how much time they spend on social media per day on average). There were three “yes” or “no” questions and three standard multiple choice questions. One question was designed as a “check all that apply,” and one question promoted respondents to rank in order the importance of factors when choosing a restaurant to dine at. The remaining 14 questions were Likert-style, which included a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 7 (strongly disagree), a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (describes me extremely well) to 4 (does not describe me), and a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (always) to 4 (never). The data was analyzed using a correlation method and the system utilized for the analysis was SPSS. 

Findings

Of the 130 survey respondents, 124 were female and 6 were male. As the research question sought to explore the dining decisions of millenials and post-millenials, based on self-described ages provided, 10 survey respondents were deemed unusable and their data was filtered out for the purposes of analysis, leaving a total of 120 usable surveys and thus a sample size n = 120. From this group of respondents, 24% were between the ages of 18-23, 62.5% between the ages of 24-29 and 13% between the ages of 30-35. A total of 0.01% respondents reported being in sophomore university class standing, 0.008% reported being a junior, 0.05% reported being seniors, and 15% were current graduate students. 75% of respondents were not current college students. 100% of users reported being social media users; when asked on average how often they use social media sites per day, 1= “I don’t use social media,”  2 = < 1 hour, 3 = 1-2 hours, 4 = 3-5 hours, 5 = > 5 hours, the reported average was 3.43, the medium 3.00, and the standard deviation .670. When asked to respond to the statement “Going out to eat at restaurants is an important part of my life,” with a range of 1= describes me extremely well and 4 = does not describe me, the reported average was 2.15, the median 2.00, and the standard deviation 1.142 (see chart appendix 1.2). When asked on average how frequently they go out to eat at restaurants per month, respondents reported an average of 3.86, median of 4.00, and standard deviation of 1.142 on a scale of 1 = never and 6 = 10+ times. 

When identifying and analyzing correlations between variables, a negative correlation was discovered between how important going out to eat at restaurants (1 being very important) was to a respondent and how frequently they went out to eat per month (6 being over 10 times), showing a Pearson correlation of -.531 and a Sig. (2-tailed) of .000. A positive correlation was also found between agreeing with the statement “I enjoy the process of researching new restaurants to try” and how frequently a respondent reported going to a restaurant they had never been to before, showing a Pearson correlation of .325 and a Sig. (2-tailed) .000. Respondents who reported going out to eat at restaurants to be an important part of their life also showed a .370 positive Pearson correlation with agreeing with the statement that they enjoy the process of researching new restaurants to try, showing a Sig. (2-tailed) .000. Respondents that reported a restaurant’s social media page showing pictures of the restaurant/food to be an important factor in deciding where to dine at also showed a positive correlation with respondents who believed it was very important for a restaurant to have a social media page, showing a Pearson correlation of .326 and a Sig. (2-tailed) .000. Further, there was a positive Pearson correlation of .559 and a Sig. (2-tailed) .000 between respondents who believed it was very important for a restaurant to have a social media page and those who agreed that they would check a restaurant’s social media page before eating there. 

Discussion

The aim of this research study was to understand the impact social media has on millenials and post-millenials when they are choosing where to dine at. The question gauging the importance of going out to eat at restaurants in one’s life was a crucial foundational piece to understand additional components. Of the 120 respondents whose survey responses were analyzed, an average of 2.15 was reported, suggesting that within this sample population, going out to eat at restaurants was deemed very important on a scale of 1- 4. Those who deemed it extremely important also reported frequently eating out at restaurants, and further, they reported enjoying the process of searching for new restaurants to eat at and going to new restaurants they had never been to before. There was also a positive correlation between those who reported consulting a restaurant’s Instagram page to see pictures of the food and restaurant interior and those who believed it to be important for a restaurant to have an Instagram page, their behavior reinforcing the notion that a restaurant might indeed find it wise to have a social media presence to attract these possible consumers. Of these findings, it can be understood that a respondent’s pre-existing attitude towards dining at restaurants was ultimately the prime motivator for utilizing social media in the process of making dining decisions; these respondents reported enjoying the process, and consulting social media was a part of that process. 

Looking inversely, the smaller percentage of respondents who stated that going out to eat at restaurants was not important in their lives also reported to not enjoy the process of searching for new restaurants and to prefer going to restaurants they already know they like. This same group of respondents also reported less frequent usage of social media when making their dining decisions, and ultimately stated that they did not believe it was of importance for a restaurant to have an Instagram page.

These findings conclude that perhaps a restaurant’s Instagram page or trendy aesthetic is not enough to sway a diner who does not report eating out at restaurants to be important in their lives; however, it may be a factor in a diner who states that it is. Considering that over 60% of the sample group of 120 reported that it was either very or extremely important to them, a restaurant should take this into consideration when deciding whether or not to have a social media presence, or if they are questioning the importance of it. It may be the factor that wins the consumer over when they are making their dining decisions. 

Conclusion 

This study examined the dining decisions of millenials and post-millenials, revealing that the majority of the sample group reported dining out at restaurants to be important in their lives, and further, that social media does indeed play a role when making those dining decisions. Thus, restaurants should consider this information in regards to their social media strategies, for they allow potential patrons to see pictures of the restaurant’s interior, pictures of the food, and get a pre-experience of the ambiance, which may entice them to visit their restaurant over another for dinner. 

This study could have benefited from more number based answers to survey questions to better assess averages and be able to compare such values with other variables. The Likert-style question responses could have been reversed in their order, so a low value would correspond with a lack of agreement and a high value would correspond with a high level of agreement of the statement. This would have allowed for easier feasibility when assessing Pearson correlations. 

Although there are many studies that have been done to assess how people make their dining decisions, further studies should be conducted in regards to how social media plays a role in these decisions. There should be further analysis done on what mobile applications influence a diner’s decision of where to eat, as well as how this relates to a diner’s pre-existing attitudes in regards to eating out, and what factors are self-reported as being the most important to them in making the decision. 

Appendix

References 1.1 

Peng, C., Bilgihan, A., & Kandampully, J. (2015). How Do Diners Make Decisions Among Casual Dining Restaurants? An Exploratory Study of College Students. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 16(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2015.991985

Survey Questions 1.2 

The purpose of this research project is to examine the impact of social media on dining decisions. 

This research project is being conducted by Meghan Wainwright at the University of Southern California. Your participation in this research study is voluntary. You may choose not to participate. If you decide to participate in this research survey, you may withdraw at any time. 

The procedure involves filling an online survey that will take approximately 5 minutes. Your responses will be confidential and anonymous. To help protect your confidentiality, the surveys will not contain information that will personally identify you. The results of this study will be analyzed and shared with USC faculty and may be published online. 

ELECTRONIC CONSENT: Please select your choice below.

Clicking on the “agree” button below indicates that: 

• you have ready the above information
• you voluntarily agree to participate
• you are at least 18 years of age 
• you consent to the usage of your responses 

If you do not wish to participate in this research study, please decline participation by clicking on the “disagree” button

• agree
• disagree

What is your gender?

• Female
• Male
• Other

How old are you?

• 18 – 23
• 24 – 29
• 30 – 35
• 36 – 41
• Over 42

Which best describes your level of education?

• Some High School
• High School Graduate
• Some College, no degree
• Associate’s Degree
• Bachelor’s Degree
• Graduate Degree

If you are a current college student, please indicate your year:

• Freshman
• Sophomore
• Junior
• Senior
• Graduate Student
• × Not Applicable

What city do you live in?

_________________

Do you use social media?

• Yes
• No

On average, how much time do you spend on social media sites per day?

• I don’t use social media
• Less than 1 hour
• 1 – 2 hours
• 3 – 5 hours
• Over 5 hours

Please select which of the following platforms you currently use

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Youtube
• Yelp
• Trip Advisor
• OpenTable

 On average, how many times do you eat out at restaurants per month?

• Never
• 1 – 2
• 3 – 5
• 5 – 8
• 8 – 10
• 10+

Going out to eat at restaurants is an important part of my life

• Describes me extremely well
• Describes me very well
• Describes me slightly well
• Does not describe me

I search for restaurants to eat at on my mobile device

• Always
• Most of the time
• Sometimes
• Never

How frequently do you choose a restaurant you’ve never been to?

• Always
• Most of the time
• Sometimes
• Never

I trust restaurant reviews given to me by friends/family more than online reviews written by strangers

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Somewhat agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Somewhat disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

When deciding on which restaurant to eat at, I rely on online written reviews to help make my decision

• Always
• Most of the time
• Sometimes
• Never

How would you rank the following factors in terms of impact they have on your dining decisions?

• 1 Type of food
• 2 Location
• 3 Recommendation from a friend
• 4 Online reviews
• 5 Visual aesthetic of restaurant
• 6 Social media posts showing the restaurant/food

If a restaurant has negative online reviews, I wouldn’t eat there

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Somewhat agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Somewhat disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

I enjoy the process of researching new restaurants to try

• Describes me extremely well
• Describes me very well
• Describes me slightly well
• Does not describe me

I consult online publications (ex. Eater LA) when searching for new restaurants to try

• Always
• Most of the time
• Sometimes
• Never

I will look up a restaurant’s menu before eating there

• Always
• Most of the time
• Sometimes
• Never

I will check a restaurant’s Instagram page before eating there

• Always
• Most of the time
• Sometimes
• Never

Being able to get an “Insta-worthy” photo is a factor for me when deciding what restaurant to eat at

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Somewhat agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Somewhat disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

I would go to a restaurant specifically because of the photos posted on their Instagram account

• Describes me extremely well
• Describes me very well
• Describes me slightly well
• Does not describe me

I would go to a restaurant because they offer a “food trend” I saw on social media 

• Describes me extremely well
• Describes me very well
• Describes me slightly well
• Does not describe me

I have “saved” a food related photo on Instagram so I can remember the name of the restaurant later

• Yes
• No

I have consulted “saved” food related photos on my Instagram account when deciding on which restaurant to eat at

• Yes
• No

How important is it for a restaurant to have a social media page

• Extremely important
• Very important
• Moderately important
• Slightly important
• Not at all important