Consumer Insights: He Says, She Says

Differences in how women and men evaluate dining experiences can influence design, menu and marketing.

By Scott Hume, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/1/2008

The weight of flatware. The ease with which the front door swings open.

These aren’t minor elements in restaurant design; they are the kinds of details that can shape consumers’ opinion of a foodservice operation. And female and male customers are likely to evaluate such details differently.

"You have to look at every aspect of a restaurant and ask what it means and what it reflects," says Aaron Allen, CEO of restaurant consultancy Quantified Marketing Group in Lake Mary, Fla. "People buy brands that reflect how they see themselves. Restaurants are wising up to that more than ever before. It’s a dangerous time right now for any restaurant that still believes that ‘good food/good service’ is going to do the trick for them."

Brand perceptions are built on small details, Allen says, and men and women often perceive things differently. He cites Huntington Beach, Calif.-based BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery as a concept that appeals to both male and female diners, although the genders may experience the brand differently. "Men are immediately drawn to the huge copper [brewing] kettles; they notice flat-screen televisions in the bar," Allen says. "Women are more inclined to see that there’s both a disco ball and a chandelier."

Men like heavy "steakhouse-style" cutlery, while many women find it off-putting. Men are wary of the lightweight chairs that women prefer to cumbersome furniture, he says. Heavy doors may presage, to good effect, a meat-centric menu to men while annoying female customers.

If restaurateurs are to err in favor of one gender or the other in their design planning, Brian Stys, vice president of Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction’s restaurant group, argues for pleasing female customers first. "Women make a lot of the dining-destination decisions; they wield a lot of power," he says. "Also, of course, if a restaurant attracts women, men will follow."

Motivations and Attitudes

R&I’s 2008 New American Diner Study identifies a wide variety of ways in which women and men differ in their attitudes about eating away from home. Dining frequency is the most obvious difference: Men purchase an average of 4.1 meals a week, compared with 3.4 for women. Men also are more-frequent foodservice snackers (3.2 per week) than are women (2.5).

But differences in attitudes are more interesting and have more relevance to design and marketing decisions:

• Women are significantly more likely than men to say that a dining experience involves more than just a meal, and they agree more strongly that dining out is an indulgence or a way to treat themselves. Women dine out to try new foods and are less likely than men to order food similar to what they would cook at home.
• In choosing a restaurant, men are more likely to base their decision on convenience (meaning proximity to home or work), whereas women are more inclined to check prices first. Men see their restaurant choices as reflective of their social status more strongly than do women (who are more inclined to take restaurant recommendations from friends and family). Men like dining out because they don’t have to clean up; women enjoy not having to cook.

Men notice the televisions at BJ’s because guys like gadgets, says Allen. They like flat-screen televisions in restrooms and automated ordering kiosks. The New American Diner Study finds a higher percentage of men saying that they like technology that allows them to order without contact with counter staff.

Men also pay more attention to the design of bar areas, says Shawmut’s Stys, and New American Diner data shows that men are significantly more inclined than women to say they prefer eating at a restaurant’s bar. Men like bar seats that aren’t too small or too closely packed, he says. "They want to protect their space and be able to move around," he notes.

Women, however, are more likely to have checked out a restaurant online before making a reservation, the study finds.

Customizable Appetizers

In design, women pay closer attention to colors, fabrics and lighting; men respond to structural elements. That may be why, Allen suggests, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches skews to a male audience and Panera Bread skews to female consumers.

"There’s an irreverent look to Jimmy John’s design, very industrial and urban; its colors are reds and blacks," he says. "Panera has a softer feel, a more graphic look. The color scheme is subdued."

Both Allen and Stys single out The Cheesecake Factory as an example of a concept that has balanced gender appeal. "Women relate to the soft, warm colors; the nice lighting; and finishes like marble," Allen says. "And males don’t feel out of place because there’s a very strong architecture to the restaurants: large columns or beams and crown molding."

A "very warm color palette" helps The Cheesecake Factory, as do large portions. "They bring out the huge plates of food, and men say ‘Great!’ and women see dinner and lunch for tomorrow," Stys says.

Women are much more likely than men to order a side salad at lunch or dinner, according to the New American Diner Study. Men are more likely to order side dishes, such as rice or potatoes, with an entrée.

Men order appetizers more often at both lunch and dinner. When women do choose to order an appetizer, they like to be able to customize a combination plate of several small appetizers. A woman also is more likely than her male companion to seek an appetizer with a dipping sauce.

Perhaps that’s because men tend to be messier eaters. Men prefer wooden tabletops to table linens because "let’s face it, they’re less neat and they feel guilty when they soil a nice tablecloth," says Stys.