The influence of emotional response to interior color on restaurant entry decision

Color is one of the essential aesthetic design elements in restaurant setting due to its high impact on customer's emotional and behavioral responses. The purpose of this study is to explore the linkage between emotional response to interior color and restaurant entry decision. A total of 496 research participants evaluated eleven computer-generated restaurant scenes with different interior colors. Each participant was asked to evaluate his/her emotional responses on nine adjective pairs of the PAD emotion scale as well as his/her entry decision. Logistic regression models were derived to indicate the probability of entering the restaurant. Pleasure was found to be the best behavioral response predictor. Data analysis also showed that restaurant scenes with high value color and warm-tone color received higher scores for pleasure. This study concludes that to fully understand the effects of color on emotional and behavioral responses in restaurants, additional color attributes should be further examined.