Influence of display of price on consumer behaviour.

Abstract

It has been observed that an increasing number of food establishments do not display prices in their menus – online and/or brick-and-mortar. With price being an important decision variable and little or no research on this topic done thus far, the research aims to analyse the presence/absence of prices in menus on consumer behaviour.

Methodology: An experimental research design using modified menus was used to investigate the impact of pricing on consumer dining decision and attitude towards the menu, and the influence of dining contexts and uncertainty avoidance on this relationship.

The results showed that the display of price influenced dining likelihood subjected to consumers' uncertainty avoidance level in different dining contexts. Price, though important, was not the critical decision factor hence the presence/absence of which played an insignificant effect.

Managerial Implications: The results of this study are valuable to restaurateurs as it allows them to evaluate the

option of displaying price in their menus. Price plays a subservient role to food quality; if restaurants are able to highly associate themselves with high-quality food, not displaying price information appears to be a viable option.