Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-nx7b4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-05T02:33:57.857Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reconceptualising the Commercial Meal Experience in the Hospitality Industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2012

Marc B. Stierand  and
Roy C. Wood
Marc B. Stierand*
Affiliation:
NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
Roy C. Wood
Affiliation:
NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
*
Address for correspondence: Marc Stierand, Academy of Hotel and Facility Management NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Sibeliuslaan 13, 4837 CA Breda, Netherlands. E-mail: stierand.m@nhtv.nl
Get access

Abstract

This article critically reappraises a key concept in hospitality management (and specifically food and beverage management) — that of the meal experience. Focusing primarily on the commercial sense and applications of the concept, while recognising the many other contexts that provide a basis for much wider study of the phenomenon, the discussion questions the status of the meal experience as part of the ‘received wisdom’ of hospitality management on the grounds that empirical support for the concept, as represented in the published research literature, is limited both in quantity and evidential persuasiveness.

Keywords

meal experiencehospitality managementindicative research evidencesubstantive research evidence

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management , Volume 19 , July 2012 , e14
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Andersson, T., & Mossberg, L. (2004). The dining experience: Do restaurants satisfy customer needs? Food Service Technology, 4, 171–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Auty, S. (1992). Consumer choice and segmentation in the restaurant industry. The Service Industries Journal, 12 (3), 324–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, T. (2012, February). Picking o'er the bones: A postmortem on hospitality management education (DoB 1893). Proceedings of CAUTHE 2012: The new golden age of tourism and hospitality, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.Google Scholar
Beardsworth, A., & Keil, T. (1997). Sociology on the menu: An invitation to the study of food and society. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bille, T. (2010). Creativity at work: The Nordic approach to the experience economy—does it make sense? Retrieved from http://openarchive.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/10398/8012/44_TB_The_Nordic_Approach_to_Experience_Economy__Does_it_make_Sense_Final.pdf?sequence=1Google Scholar
Campbell-Smith, G. (1967). The marketing of the meal experience. Guildford, UK: Surrey University Press.Google Scholar
Campbell-Smith, G. (1970). Marketing the meal experience. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 11 (1), 73–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlbäck, M. (2008). Are the chain operations simply with it? Five aspects meal model as a development tool for chain operations/franchise organizations. Journal of Foodservice, 19, 74–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, M., & Wood, R. (1998). Consumer loyalty in the restaurant industry: A preliminary exploration of the issues. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 10 (4), 139–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driver, M. (2008). Every bite you take. . . food and the struggles of embodied subjectivity in organizations. Human Relations, 61 (7), 913–934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, J., & Gustafsson, I.-B. (2008a). The Five Aspects Meal Model. Journal of Foodservice, 19 (1), 4–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, J., & Gustafsson, I.-B. (2008b). The room and atmosphere as aspects of the meal: A review. Journal of Foodservice, 19 (1), 22–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, J. (1989). Dining out: A sociology of modern manners. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Frisbee, W., & Madeira, K. (1986). Restaurant meals: Convenience goods or luxuries? The Service Industries Journal, 6 (2), 172–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustafsson, I.-B., Öström, Å., Johansson, J., & Mossberg, L. (2006). The Five Aspects Meal Model: A tool for developing meal services in restaurants. Journal of Foodservice, 17, 84–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustafsson, I. (2004). Culinary arts and meal science: A new scientific research discipline. Food Service Technology, 9–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, K., Jensen, Ø., & Gustafsson, I.-B. (2004). Payment: An undervalued part of the meal experience. Food Service Technology, 4 (2), 85–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, K., Jensen, Ø., & Gustafsson, I.-B. (2005). The meal experiences of à la carte restaurant customers. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 5 (2), 135–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, K., & West, J. (1995). Senior savvy: Mature diners’ restaurant service expectations. Florida International University Hospitality Review, 13 (2), 35–44.Google Scholar
Heide, M., & Grønhaug, K. (2006). Atmosphere: Conceptual issues and implications for hospitality management. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 6 (4), 271–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemmington, N. (2007). From service to experience: Understanding and defining the hospitality business. The Service Industries Journal, 27 (6), 747–755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosany, S., & Witham, M. (2010). Dimensions of cruisers’ experiences, satisfaction and intention to recommend. Journal of Travel Research, 49 (3), 351–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, N., Tyas, P., Ingold, T., & Hopkinson, S. (1996). Investigation of the perceived components of the meal experience using perceptual gap methodology. Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research, 2, 15–26.3.0.CO;2-E>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jönsson, P., & Knutsson, H. (2009). Management control of a meal experience: Comments on the Five Aspects Meal Model. Journal of Foodservice, 20, 181–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
June, L., & Smith, S. (1987). Service attributes and situational effects on customer preferences for restaurant dining. Journal of Travel Research, 26 (2), 20–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kociatkiewicz, J., & Kostera, M. (2009). Experiencing the shadow: Organizational exclusion and denial within experience economy. Organization, 17 (2), 257–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladhari, R., Brun, I., & Morales, M. (2008). Determinants of dining satisfaction and post-dining behavioural intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27 (4), 563–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, R. (1981). Restaurant advertising: appeals and consumers’ intentions. Journal of Advertising Research, 21 (5), 69–74.Google Scholar
Meiselman, H. (2008). Dimensions of the meal. Journal of Foodservice, 19, 13–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mielby, L., & Frøst, M. (2010). Expectations and surprise in a molecular gastronomic meal. Food Quality and Preference, 21 (2), 213–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myung, E., McCool, A., & Feinstein, A. (2008). Understanding attributes affecting meal choice decisions in a bundling context. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27 (2), 119–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Catering Inquiry. (1966). The British eating out. Glasgow, UK: National Catering Inquiry.Google Scholar
Nyberg, M., & Grindland, B. (2008). The influence of the room context in the meal experience: Examples from a hospital and a nursery. Journal of Foodservice, 19, 35–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Mahony, B (2009). University kitchen nightmares enter a new ERA. The Hospitality Review, 11 (4), 5–7.Google Scholar
Öström, Å., Rapp, E., & Prim, M. (2008). FAMM: From food to meal research on the product aspect of the meal experience. Journal of Foodservice, 19, 63–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantelidis, I. (2010). Electronic meal experience: A content analysis of online restaurant comments. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 51 (4), 483–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavesic, D. (1989). Psychological aspects of menu pricing. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 8 (1), 43–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierson, B., Reeve, W., & Creed, P. (1995). ‘The quality experience’ in the food service industry. Food Quality and Preference, 6 (3), 209–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pine, J., & Gilmore, J. (1999). The experience economy: Work is theatre & every business is a stage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Pollnow, K., & Österlund, H. (2005). Are you ready for what's in store? Exploring consumers’ perception of the experience economy (Master's thesis, Jönköping University). Retrieved from http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:3844/FULLTEXT01Google Scholar
Walter, U. (2008). The meeting aspect and the physical setting: Are they important for the guest experience? Journal of Foodservice, 19 (1), 87–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warde, A., & Martens, L. (1999). Eating out: Reflections on the experience of consumers in England. In Germov, J., & Williams, L. (Eds.), A sociology of food and nutrition: The social appetite (pp. 116–134). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Warde, A., & Martens, L. (2000). Eating out: Social differentiation, consumption and pleasure. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watz, B. (2008). The entirety of the meal: A designer's perspective. Journal of Foodservice, 19 (1), 96–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, R., Feinstein, R., Hale, A., & Dalbor, M. (2004). Customer satisfaction of theme restaurant attributes and their influence on return intent. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 7 (1), 23–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, R. (2000). How important is the meal experience? Choices, menus and dining environments. In Wood, R. (Ed.), Strategic questions in food and beverage management (pp. 28–47). Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, C., & Liang, R.-D. (2009). Effect of experiential value on customer satisfaction with service encounters in luxury-hotel restaurants. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28 (4), 586–593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamanaka, K., Almanza, B., Nelson, D., & DeVaney, S. (2003). Older Americans’ dining out preferences. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 6 (1), 87–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar