The Dining Decision Ecosystem was developed from the results of our survey data to provide a framework for restaurant marketing departments to understand the many steps consumers make before making a restaurant decision.

1. THE DINING DECISION
ECOSYSTEM™
HOW DINERS
CHOOSE RESTAURANTS
I’m your
trusty data Me Too!
analyst!
CARIN GALLETTA OLIVER ERIC OLIVER
ANGELSMITH @INKFOUNDRY @THECOSMONAUT
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2. WHO & WHAT
ARE DRIVING
CONSUMER
RESTAURANT
CHOICES?
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3. HOW ARE
INFLUENCERS
INFLUENCED?
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4. CONCLUSION #1:
CONSUMER RECOMMENDATIONS
BOTH ON AND OFFLINE MATTER
MORE THAN WE’D LIKE TO ADMIT
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5. CONCLUSION #2:
NOT ALL INFLUENCE
IS CREATED EQUAL
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6. CONCLUSION #3:
WORD OF MOUTH PUTS
RESTAURANTS INTO THE
CONSIDERATION SET
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7. CONCLUSION #4:
RESTAURANTS’ DIGITAL
FOOTPRINTS SERVE
AS VALIDATIONS FOR
PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
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8. CONCLUSION #5:
RESTAURANTS HAVE LOTS
OF CONTROL OVER THEIR
ONLINE REPUTATION
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9. SURVEY QUESTION:
WHEN LOOKING FOR A NEW
RESTAURANT TO TRY,
WHO/WHAT INFLUENCES
YOUR DECISION MOST?
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10. Nearly
5 10
say
out of
FRIENDS
are the
MOST
IMPORTANT
INFLUENCE
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11. listed
22.8 % USER-GENERATED
REVIEW SITES
as most important
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12. 0%
MORNING
TELEVISION
5.2
RESTAURANT
%
WEBSITE
4.4 %
7.6
NEWSPAPER
CRITIC
%
GOOGLE
SEARCH
9.4 % %
1.7
FOOD
NETWORK
RESTAURANT
FOOD BLOGGER
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13. 80%
perform
ADDITIONAL
RESEARCH
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14. I
o be ha
I had a
great tim
at
Maestro
e
’s!
RECOMMENDATIONS put restaurants into a
f s d
O m ts t
Joe
on ’s
3
has rd
ut y
c
t he
b lif ea
a e k
k! at CONSIDERATION SET
t
be he
ser st
vice
!
Have you
eve
been to r
Buckeye
Roadhou
AH-MAH- se?
ZING!
You MUS
T
try
Alexand
er’s!
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15. Diners VALIDATE
their RESTAURANT CHOICES
BEFORE OPENING their wallets
But where?
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16. 27.7 %
USER-GENERATED
REVIEW SITES
27 %
RESTAURANT’S
WEBSITE
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17. 25.2
OTHER FRIENDS
%
16.4
BLOGS/BLOGGERS
%
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18. 16.5
SEARCH ENGINES
%
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19. rank NEWSPAPER REPORTERS
16 %
as 4TH MOST IMPORTANT
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20. Diners ranked
FOOD NETWORK
(34.6%)
and
LOCAL TELEVISION
(40%)
as
LEAST IMPORTANT
when making a dining decision
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21. THIS IS NOT IDLE CHATTER
PASSIVE PEER TO PEER CONVERSATIONS
INFLUENCE RESTAURANT DINING DECISIONS
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22. PASSIVE RECOMMENDATIONS:
CONSUMERS ARE
INFLUENCING EACH OTHER
MORE THAN EVER
83.4 79.5 65.1
REPORT BEING ACTIVELY
SOUGHT FOR
% %
BELIEVE THEIR DINING
RECOMMENDATIONS
ARE “ALWAYS” OR
%
“FREQUENTLY” ASKED
RESTAURANT INFLUENCE WHERE FOR RESTAURANT
RECOMMENDATIONS THEIR FRIENDS EAT RECOMMENDATIONS
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23. ACTIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
TAKE PLACE LESS FREQUENTLY,
BUT CARRY MORE INFLUENCE
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24. WHAT IS THE PROFILE
OF A TOP INFLUENCER?
732
MORE LIKELY TO BE
ACTIVELY SOUGHT FOR
%
100 %
KNOW THEY INFLUENCE
THE DINING DECISION
100 %
REPORT THAT THEIR
FRIENDS BELIEVE THEM
A RESTAURANT OF OTHERS TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE
RECOMMENDATION ABOUT DINING
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25. TOP INFLUENCERS ARE
DIFFERENT FROM AVERAGE
CONSUMERS:
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26. REPORT HIGHER LEVELS OF
CONTENT CONSUMPTION
OF BOTH BLOG &
NEWSPAPER CONTENT
BLOG
THAN AVERAGE
NEWSPAPER
92.9 %
70.4 %
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27. LESS INFLUENCED
BY YELP
IS “MOST INFLUENTIAL”
12.5 %
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28. MORE INFLUENCED BY THE
RESTAURANT’S WEBSITE
LISTED RESTAURANT
WEBSITE AS THE
MOST IMPORTANT
SECONDARY RESEARCH
31.1 %
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29. BOTTOM LINE:
CONSUMERS TAKE A
SERIES OF STEPS BEFORE
MAKING A RESTAURANT
DECISION, AND YOU HAVE THE
OPPORTUNITY TO INFLUENCE
THEME LATI TEACH STEP
ANG SM H
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30. YOU ARE IN
CONTROL
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31. THE DINING DECISION
ECOSYSTEM ™
AWARENESS
DRIVEN BY MEDIA
(PR, BLOGS, ADVERTISING, DIRECT MAIL, EMAIL MARKETING)
RECOMMENDATION & TRIAL
MADE BY FRIENDS, FAMILY AND COLLEAGUES INCREASE INTEREST;
PLACES RESTAURANT INTO ‘CONSIDERATION SET’ FOR POSSIBLE SELECTION
VALIDATION
RESTAURANT WEBSITE & USER GENERATED REVIEW SITES (E.G., YELP)
VALIDATE DINER’S INTEREST
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32. AWARENESS OPPORTUNITIES:
BLOGGERS
TRADITIONAL MEDIA
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33. CONNECT
& ENGAGE
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34. TRIAL & RECOMMENDATION
OPPORTUNITY:
THE DINING
EXPERIENCE
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35. DO SOMETHING
UNEXPECTED.
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36. ASK FOR THE
RECOMMENDATION
12-25% WILL DO IT!
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37. VALIDATION OPPORTUNITIES:
YOUR WEBSITE
USER-GENERATED
REVIEW SITES
ANGELSMITH
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38. ROCK YOUR
WEBSITE
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39. We think this
is funny..
ANGELSMITH Check this comic out on
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40. ANGELSMITH Check this comic out on
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41. COMPLETE
YOUR PROFILE
FILL OUT YOUR YELP, CITYSEARCH,
GOOGLE PLACES, & OTHER SITE LISTINGS
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42. THANK YOU
THE DINING DECISION ECOSYSTEM™
HOW DINERS CHOOSE RESTAURANTS
BY ANGELSMITH, INC.
DROP US A LINE!
Call me first! No, Call me!
CARIN GALLETTA OLIVER ERIC OLIVER
ANGELSMITH @INKFOUNDRY @THECOSMONAUT
©2012 ANGELSMITH, INC. S H I P W A Y, S T E . 2 0 2 ,
10 LIBERTY S A U S A L I T O CARIN@ANGELSMITH.NET
, CA 94965 415.508.5778 ERICO@ANGELSMITH.NET