Restaurant Corporate Sales Marketing Question??

This is a weird topic for a conspiracy site, but I literally cannot find a forum that is used by restaurant managers/owners and employees.. so I'll try and explain this well enough for a lay person to catch on.

In corporate restaurants there are all these strange marketing rules that have been common place for decades..

All these weird phrases you should or should not use and all these crazy tactics meant to make the customer feel more comfortable.

Such as they tell you you should never use the term "speacials" and instead should call things "features".

Also it is commonly thought that if you have the chairs pulled out a few inches it makes the customer feel more comfortable and want to come in..

There are many more and it doesn't only apply to restaurants. I'm sure there are countless other crazy little policies in other businesses meant to influence their clientele.


Well I would like to know where I could find how they came to these conclusions and what studies established these hypotheses.

Was there actually double blind studies done, or is this all stuff that has basically only been circulated by restaurant people and after that kinda became a self fulfilling prophecy??

I kinda wonder if it isn't more the case of some corporate marketing group trying to justify their existence.

Kinda like some company asked..

"Now why are we paying y'all again?? "

And they just made some stuff up that sounded good and from there restaurant people started spreading their bs and it caught on..

a reply to: JoshuaCox

I would expect you need to look at what books they are using for hospitality curriculum at colleges. Check some Orlando area schools, I know it's popular in the area, and you might be able to find a syllabus or two.

a reply to: Ksihkehe

Good call!

a reply to: JoshuaCox

There's plenty more. And it applies to many different environments.

Notice there is a template for doctors offices (they need work).

Retail and restaurants use curtailed music distributors that increase sales by tailoring to the aimed demographs.

Certain phrases when welcomed.

Car dealerships try to pump you up, when you test drive they encourage you to see what it's got. That little boost of adrenaline helps some people just say yes when they get back.

None of it IMO is harmful the way conspiracies are typically labeled.

Its just trying to make that cash with gentle gestures.

a reply to: JoshuaCox

Sounds more like subliminal control more than "marketing".

I would imagine if you approach it from a subliminal advertising or process you will find a plethora of info.

When you get into corporate chains it can get strange. Although perhaps some stuff is made up by an executive, it isn't ALL made up. Years ago I worked for B.Dalton-Bookseller when they had hundreds of stores. Some of the things we were required to do by "Corporate" were:

1. Put as many books face out as possible.
2. All books in a dump (box of books) had to be face out and the same title.
3. Cardboard signage had to be swapped out every month for a new theme.
4. Books were often moved to new locations seemingly randomly..

The BAD was that it was a lot of work. People who think working in bookstores would be "so much fun" are delusional. You don't sit around and read. The GOOD was that using these techniques sold more books. People quickly got used to "books in place" and didn't really see them any more, but if you moved them it became a new environment. The corporate "chain" model is well-established. There's really not a whole lot of difference in the hierarchy and operations of a chain finance store like H&R Block or a Barnes & Noble or a shoe store. It's a B-School model taught to MBA students.

a reply to: JoshuaCox

It's just a compilation of literally millions of years (in compounded time) worth of customer service compiled into one.

Large company's like McDonald's have teams of people conducting survey's and interviewing managers, you have actual restaurateurs or top end chefs who write books on their secrets and tricks of the trade.

Another one you are forgetting is the eye catcher. In a lot of restaurants if a certain item isn't selling, but it gets positive feedback they will take say Fish and chips or some variant that sells without much hesitation and put it close to say the meatloaf dish on the menu, and they will make the print slightly larger or out of place of the meat loaf to catch the eye.

I worked in the restaurant industry for almost a decade from fast food to prep for a tasting menu. And the amount of trick the chef's or owners try to entice people is almost endless.

a reply to: JoshuaCox

There really is a hospitality science.

Many people have been training their employees to respond to a thank you with 'My Pleasure' or 'You're Very Welcome' instead of the impersonal and somewhat rude response you often hear these days 'no problem'.

Personally I like that they are trying to enhance the guest experience. Gone are the days where people will go out for substandard frozen food and poor service. Any sort of brick and mortar location has to up their game to get people out of their homes. We have too many fun things to do with video games, streaming movies etc that keep us home these days.

a reply to: Metallicus

"customer service"

To now days.

"personal touch" or "Guest services".

a reply to: JoshuaCox

Most are just evolved from tradition. The rest are what the leaders in the industry made popular at different times.

Emulating victorian era servitude is what was popular when the middle class was formed in the US after the industrial revolution.

People wanted to be treated like their bosses were at home, with servants.

That mentality still persists and molds modern hospitality trends.

Mostly it has to do with 'Expert' psychologists giving advice to marketing firms and businesses and the theories just stuck. Whether it really works or not, I couldn't tell you. But it is kind of like praying before jumping out of a plane . . . nobody can prove that it works, but does it hurt anything to do so?

A lot of this stuff is garbage and recycled crap people keep doing without even knowing why.

I've been in this business for awhile and the numbers of lazy people just trying to justify a paycheck they don't deserve is staggering.

Almost every person at the corporate or district level is an unnecessary waste of space.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

Yea but how accurate are they and how were they established?

a reply to: JDeLattre89

That's my thoughts

a reply to: JoshuaCox

There is a lot of variables on the accuracy. But businesses will weigh cost benifit and the law of diminishing returns to find what's right.

My guess on how they were established would be focus groups and just what is improving sales.

I don't think it's anything dark, give someone incentives and they'll get creative.

Capitalism is competion, you must evolve and be creative to hold your end of the market.

originally posted by: JoshuaCox
a reply to: CriticalStinker

Yea but how accurate are they and how were they established?

Well, Josh, it sounds like you are suspicious that such practices were not established because of statistically valid scientific studies, so perhaps they are invalid. So people here on ATS have responded and apparently have not been able to point you to documented scientific studies to your satisfaction, so you are still suspicious. Perhaps it's time for you to do your own research and visit an academic library at a business school and see what you can find out. Then tell us. Meanwhile if you happen to work at one of these restaurants that want you to do these suspicious activities like pull the chair out a few inches, why not just do so? It's their restaurant, their call, and it doesn't really matter what you think of these suspicious practices.

a reply to: JoshuaCox

I could tell you a bunch of tricks on how to extract more sales from a properly formatted menu.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus


Now I'm not saying all are fake..

But what study was done to establish "chairs pulled out three inches" made people more likely to come in and sit down???


Now obviously people associate things being ordered and symetrical with cleanliness and such, but what study established chairs being polluted out a few inches was better than them being pushed in all the way?

How long and broad would a study have to be to really establish that??

Same with my features vs specials reference.. are they factoring for demographics or part of the country???

Things like red makes you more impulsive and blue makes you calmer makes some sense..

But what about all the stuff that is way complex than that??

How big of a study is required to establish an intricate psychology report on the majority of the population?? Lol..

Did applebees really do that study??


Even the things that I have seen hold true.. like people appearently don't like to here "no problem" preferring "my pleasure"..

Is that an independent thought, or were they corrupted by a restaurant person who learned it from corporate??

a reply to: schuyler

I've had some good pointing done, just haven't shifted to checking those out yet.

I came here because of having no idea where to start.

a reply to: JoshuaCox

Clearly we can't answer.

Try going to infowars, maybe the forums?