Consumer values among restaurant customers

The research presented in this article focuses on consumer values in restaurant meal experiences from the restaurant customers’ points of view. Based on a set of data, the purpose is to evaluate the customers’ perceived consumer values in restaurant meal experiences and to compare the results with other studies on consumer values and service quality and with studies of meal experiences. A modified grounded theory approach has been followed. The empirical data are based on seven semi-structured interviews of experienced restaurant customers in two cities in Norway. A conceptual model illustrates the coding process that shows the connection between the different categories. The data analysis produces different categories of consumer-specific values on three levels of integration. The lowest level includes 29 consumer values that are integrated into 13 specified values. On the highest level, five value categories of consumer-oriented values are specified. These are excellence, harmony, emotional stimulation, acknowledgement, and circumstance value, of which harmony is the most emphasised value among the restaurant customers.This study offers the restaurant industry increased insight into consumer values among their actual and potential customers. It also lays a foundation for conducting a quantitative study in the future to test the validity of the determined values in customer meal experiences.