Isabel Ruhmer
Center for Doctoral Studies in Economics (CDSE)
Universität Mannheim

Pia Dovern-Pinger
Center for Doctoral Studies in Economics (CDSE)
Universität Mannheim

The aim of this project is to explore consumer behavior in restaurants. Using discrete choice models, we analyze how menu choice is influenced by certain menu- and situational-specific characteristcs. In particular, we investigate whether in addition to prices also the menu design - namely the ordering and grouping of the dishes - influences consumer choice.

First results indicate that consumers tend to be extremeness averse. While overall demand decreases in prices, individuals do not pick alternatives at the lowest or highest end of the price spectrum. Furthermore, the overall number of dishes displayed under a certain sub-category - such as fish or vegetarian - influences a category's choice probability.

As the dataset consists of all bills of a German specialities restaurant over a period of more than seven years, it comprises a huge variety of choices. In total, the data contain menu choices of more than 88,000 individuals who chose among more than 76 alternatives grouped within 6 different categories. As a consequence, the estimations are computationally heavy and could not have been performed without the BwGRID Cluster.

• Ruhmer, Dovern-Pinger: "Do consumers (really) care about prices? Lessons from a restaurant's menu" - to be finished

Area: Economics