Beyond Price: Behavioural and Social Determinants of Consumers' Willingness to Pay for High-End Restaurants over Hawker Centres in Singapore

This study explores the social and behavioural factors influencing the decision-making process when deciding where to dine for consumers in Singapore. The relative importance of different dining criteria is evaluated, and a conclusion is drawn from field questionnaires and a digital survey. Participants were asked to identify how they would choose where to eat based on a comprehensive list of criteria, and the relative importance they would assign to them, based on the options of a hawker centre and high-end restaurant. Findings suggest that the way Singaporean consumers and tourists focus on their own perceived utility and satisfaction maximisation. Behavioural nudges were observed in restaurants; however, the effectiveness was not assessed. While consumers tended to have their own preferences and tastes, they had similar answers for the Likert scale and different decisions could be decided more so on circumstance. In order to have a more appealing restaurant or hawker centre, is it important to maximise certain aspects of the dining experience in order to have more customers.