Where Would You Like To Sit? Understanding Customers' Privacy-Seeking Tendencies and Seating Behaviors to Create Effective Restaurant Environments

Abstract

The intuition of most restaurant operators is that table location matters. Using a survey delivered in a virtual reality restaurant, we measured the relationship between participants' privacy and table preferences and their overall satisfaction. Participants preferred anchored tables that secure privacy and provide a good view, and were willing to pay more for these tables. Additionally, tables exposed to other tables were preferred to tables located in high-traffic areas, particularly among privacy-seeking customers. Customers who placed high importance on table location presented high satisfaction with the most private table locations. These results confirm that table location does matter.

KEYWORDS:

• restaurant seating
• privacy preference
• revenue management
• customer satisfaction
• virtual reality simulation
• restaurant design