Os critérios de escolha e avaliação dos consumidores nos guias digitais de restauração

: caso Zomato

Abstract

This study aims to understand whether the Zomato application has an influence on an
individual’s decision when choosing a restaurant, as well as to identify the attributes offered
in the application that matter the most to users, in various situations: individual lunch on
weekdays, family lunch, dinner with friends and romantic dinner.
It also aims to understand what are the most important dimensions that make up a user’s
satisfaction when evaluating a restaurant after a consumption experience. Additionally, a
characterization of the Zomato user profile was carried out.
The study starts with a literature review, and no direct evidence was found on the influence
of the application or on the attributes that matter the most to consumers when choosing a
restaurant, with the contribution of digital evaluation guides. Information about the profile
of the users of this application was also not found. However, there are several studies that
investigate the attributes that most contribute to the quality of an experience in a restaurant.
In this investigation a quantitative analysis was carried out, with the participation of 219
users of the Zomato application. Until then, there were no studies made in Portugal, with the
same objectives of this investigation.
The results revealed that Zomato influences users’ decisions when choosing a restaurant. On
the second objective, it was concluded that for an individual lunch on a weekday, the most
important attributes of the application when choosing a remainder are the average price, the
type of food and the location; for a family lunch specifically, the most important criteria are
the type of food, classification and location, while for a dinner with friends, the average
price, the location and the type of food are the most important attributes when choosing a
restaurant and, finally, for a romantic dinner, the most relevant attributes are the
classification, the type of food and the pictures of the environment.
As for the third objective, the three main evaluation criteria for classifying a restaurant after
the experience are the quality of the food, cleanliness and the staff's behavior / friendliness.
Finally, the results revealed that the Zomato user tends to be younger, with more than 12
years of schooling. There was no statistical difference for gender, financial status, marital
status and food restriction.

Date of Award	12 Apr 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Alexandre Duarte (Supervisor)