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Junk Food or Haute Cuisine to the Ear? – Investigating the Relationship Between Room Acoustics, Soundscape, Non-Acoustical Factors, and the Perceived Quality of Restaurants

  • Sound and music are well-studied aspects of the quality of experience in restaurants; the role of the room acoustical conditions, their influence on the visitors’ soundscape evaluation and their impact on the overall customer satisfaction in restaurants, however, has received less scientific attention. The present field study therefore investigated whether sound pressure level, reverberation time, and soundscape pleasantness can predict factors associated with overall restaurant quality. In total, 142 persons visiting 12 restaurants in Berlin rated relevant acoustical and non-acoustical factors associated with restaurant quality. Simultaneously, the A-weighted sound pressure level (LA,eq,15) was measured, and the reverberation time in the occupied state (T20,occ) was obtained by measurements performed in the unoccupied room and a subsequent calculation of the occupied condition according to DIN 18041. Results from linear mixed-effects models revealed that both the LA,eq,15 and T20,occSound and music are well-studied aspects of the quality of experience in restaurants; the role of the room acoustical conditions, their influence on the visitors’ soundscape evaluation and their impact on the overall customer satisfaction in restaurants, however, has received less scientific attention. The present field study therefore investigated whether sound pressure level, reverberation time, and soundscape pleasantness can predict factors associated with overall restaurant quality. In total, 142 persons visiting 12 restaurants in Berlin rated relevant acoustical and non-acoustical factors associated with restaurant quality. Simultaneously, the A-weighted sound pressure level (LA,eq,15) was measured, and the reverberation time in the occupied state (T20,occ) was obtained by measurements performed in the unoccupied room and a subsequent calculation of the occupied condition according to DIN 18041. Results from linear mixed-effects models revealed that both the LA,eq,15 and T20,occ had a significant influence on soundscape pleasantness and eventfulness, whereby the effect of T20,occ was meditated by the LA,eq,15. Also, the LA,eq,15 as well as soundscape pleasantness were significant predictors of overall restaurant quality. A comprehensive structural equation model including both acoustical and non-acoustical factors, however, indicates that the effect of soundscape pleasantness on overall restaurant quality is mediated by the restaurant’s atmosphere. Our results support and extend previous findings which suggest that the acoustical design of restaurants involves a trade-off between comfort and liveliness, depending on the desired character of the place.show moreshow less

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  • Copyright © 2021 Steffens, Wilczek and Weinzierl. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Metadaten
Author:Jochen SteffensORCiD, Tobias Wilczek, Stefan Weinzierl
open access (DINI-Set):open_access
Qualitätssicherung:peer reviewed
open access :Gold - Erstveröffentlichung mit Lizenzhinweis
Institutes:Institute of Sound and Vibration Engineering (ISAVE)
Fachbereich/Einrichtung:Hochschule Düsseldorf / Fachbereich - Medien
Hochschule Düsseldorf / Fachbereich - Medien / Sound and Vibration Engineering​
Document Type:Article
Year of Completion:2021
Language of Publication:English
Publisher:Frontiers
Parent Title (English):Frontiers in Built Environment
Volume:676009
Article Number:6
Page Number:11
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-32115
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2021.676009
ISSN:2297-3362
Tag:DOAJ
Corresponding Author:Jochen Steffens
Dewey Decimal Classification:0 Informatik, Informationswissenschaft, allgemeine Werke / 00 Informatik, Wissen, Systeme / 000 Informatik, Informationswissenschaft, allgemeine Werke
Licence (German):Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International
Release Date:2021/07/23
Note:
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2021.676009/full#supplementary-material; ut:000655121500001
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