Consumer Assessment of the Safety of Restaurants: The Role of Inspection Notices and Other Information Cues

ABSTRACT This paper explores the ways in which consumers assess the safety of food in restaurants and other eating‐out establishments, and the resulting impact on restaurant choice. The analysis builds on the existing literature on restaurant choice more generally and a growing body of studies on the impact of official inspection information on the perceived safety of restaurants. Based on a two‐stage consumer study in the City of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada, involving focus groups and a postal survey, the research highlights how consumers base their assessment of food safety in restaurants using a range of visible indicators of the experience and/or credence characteristics associated with foodborne illness. These include their observed judgments of restaurant hygiene, the overall quality of the restaurant, external information, including official inspection certificates, and the level of patronage. The use of these broad groups of indicators varies across consumer subgroups according to gender, age, level of education and recollections of past incidences when a restaurant was closed and/or convicted for food safety reasons.