Restaurants’ outdoor signs say more than you think: an enquiry from a linguistic landscape perspective

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Publication date
2022-09Keyword
Ethnic restaurantsLinguistic landscape
Restaurant outdoor signage
Authenticity
Status
Behavioural intentions
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© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).Peer-Reviewed
YesOpen Access status
openAccessAccepted for publication
11/06/2022
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Show full item recordAbstract
Building on the linguistic landscape theory and literature on customers’ experience with restaurants’ authenticity and status, this study investigates whether restaurants’ outdoor signs influence customers’ perceptions and behavioral intentions. Using an experimental design comprising two studies, supported by data collected from Chinese consumers, we test how display characters and text flow may jointly impact on customers’ perceptions of the status and authenticity of ethnic (Japanese and Taiwanese) restaurants, thus influencing their visiting intentions and willingness to pay. We find that display characters influence Chinese customers’ perceptions of authenticity and status in both Japanese and Taiwanese restaurants in Mainland China. There is an interaction effect between display characters and text flow on customers’ perception of authenticity and status in Japanese restaurants in Mainland China. This study applies the linguistic landscape theory to a restaurant context and examines how such features may influence customers’ perceptions and decisions. The findings have important practical implications on managing customer experiences and perceptions via effective restaurant sign designs.Version
Published versionCitation
Song H, Yang H and Ma E (2022) Restaurants’ outdoor signs say more than you think: an enquiry from a linguistic landscape perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 68: 103054.Link to Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103054Type
Articleae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103054