Is texture the new taste? The effect of sensory food descriptors on restaurant menus on visit intentions

Purpose This study investigates the impact of sensory food descriptors on restaurant menus on the intention to visit a restaurant and to spread positive word-of-mouth. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the signalling theory and the assimilation-contrast theory, two online experiments and one field experiment test the assumption that food descriptors prompt food-quality inferences before and after consumption, and that in both stages, food-quality inferences prompt favourable behavioural intentions. Findings Sensory food descriptors impact positively on behavioural intentions through quality inferences, although not all aspects of food quality mediate this effect. Research limitations/implications Not all four factors (deliciousness, visual attractiveness, variety and nutritiousness) prompt behavioural intentions to the same extent. While the signalling theory explains the positive impact of food-quality inferences on behavioural intentions before consumption, the assimilation-contrast theory explains the positive effect food-quality inferences have on the intention to revisit and word of mouth after consumption. Practical implications Managers should use either oral somatosensory descriptors alone, or in combination with flavour descriptors to prompt quality inferences and behavioural intentions. Originality/value The findings challenge the prevailing assumption that food descriptors addressing multiple senses have a superior effect on food-quality inferences compared to food descriptors stimulating only one sense. Instead, food descriptors referring to the texture, viscosity or mouthfeel of a dish, (i.e. oral somatosensory descriptors), impact on food-quality inferences, while adding flavour attributes did not have favourable effects.