What makes a restaurant cool in the eyes of consumers? Conceptualizing restaurant coolness and exploring its business implications

The two-fold objectives of this study are: (1) to identify key dimensions which contribute to the perceived coolness of a restaurant from consumers’ standpoint; and (2) to investigate how consumers' perceived restaurant coolness affects their behavioral intention. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews with 20 interviewees using snowball and convenience sampling methods. This qualitative study suggested that the key dimensions of restaurant coolness include quality, particularity, aestheticity, coherence, delicacy and authenticity. Several behavioral outcomes were also found to be affected by restaurant coolness, including intention to visit/revisit, recommend, spend more and post on social media.