ORCID
0000-0001-7066-3721
Keywords
Food aesthetics; Sensory marketing; Consumer behavior; Experimental research
Subject Categories
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Hospitality Administration and Management | Marketing
Abstract
Visual presentation accounts for an initial product impression. Despite the role of food presentation within the sharing economy, industry practice remains intuitive without a coherent framework and empirical evidence for understanding how food aesthetics operates. To address this gap, the dissertation investigated the effects of food aesthetics on restaurant consumer behavioral intentions through conceptualization, theoretical integration, and testing across service contexts and food types. A serial experimental approach was adopted to achieve the purpose. Study 1 revealed that a smaller plate size strengthened purchase intention and positive WOM in casual dining through lower perceived scarcity and higher perceived attractiveness. Study 2 demonstrated the moderation effect of color contrast, with scarcity active under low contrast and attractiveness under high contrast. Study 3 demonstrated that the interaction effect of plate size and color contrast reverses across restaurant tiers, with larger, low-contrast plates amplifying scarcity in fine dining. Study 4 identified food type as a boundary condition for the mediating role of perceived healthiness, activated only for essential foods. This dissertation advances a configural account of food aesthetics, theorizing size and color as jointly operating stimuli within a framework that draws on the stimulus-organism-response model, the Delboeuf illusion, and color-in-context theory. The dissertation extends scholarship on food aesthetics within hospitality by sharpening current accounts of how visual cues function in service environments. It further enriches the color psychology and food marketing literature by delineating the parallel mechanisms through which food aesthetics translates into behavioral intentions. From a managerial standpoint, the dissertation provides a coherent set of design principles for restaurant operators and foodservice practitioners seeking to engineer dining experiences. Deploying the configural principle enables practitioners to calibrate scalar and chromatic pairings to service-tier positioning, to harness visually constructed scarcity as a premium signal, and to apply presentation strategies to essential foods in public and institutional foodservice as nudges toward healthier consumption.
Completion Date
2026
Semester
Summer
Committee Chair
Wei, Wei
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Format
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
English
Release Date
8-15-2027
STARS Citation
Piao, Zhenxian, "Examining Food Aesthetics On Consumer Decision-Making In Restaurants: The Role Of Visual Cues" (2026). Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026. 333.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/gradstudies_etd_2026/333
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Hospitality Administration and Management Commons, Marketing Commons
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