Acoustic Appetite: How Restaurant Soundscapes Shape Dining Experiences

There has been a rapid growth of restaurants and eateries everywhere. Now a days customers not only go to the restaurant for food but also for unique experiences. Restaurants use different sensory cues in its ambience to make the diners' experience a memorable one. Various studies discuss on visual, olfactory, gustatory, auditory and tactile senses in terms of different service industry but soundscape of a restaurant often go unnoticed. The present study tries to find out how the sound environment in a restaurant affects the diners' visit to the restaurant. The required data are collected using two Focus Group Discussions (FGD). The interview data were analysed using thematic template and content analysis. The findings of the study depict the importance of soundscape, music play a crucial role as it can positively affect the customer as well as negatively too. that traditional or ethnic music is a very important aspect in ethnic restaurants to keep intact the authenticity and association of food with the overall ambience and for creating a positive experience. The sources and levels of noise are different for everyone. Noise makes the experience unpleasant one. Furthermore, the study provides insightful implications for the restaurateurs to effectively address the soundscape in the restaurant.