Searching for information when selecting a restaurant

Given the characteristics of the service sector, the search for external information is more difficult than in the product sector. The external information search, in addition to being affected by a series of factors, can be made at two levels; a passive and an active level. This implies that individuals increase their state of awareness by paying considerable attention to advertising and conversations, or they can initiate an active information search involving greater effort. In the restaurant sector, individuals who carry out a greater external information search generally visit restaurants before choosing one and take into account restaurant advertising before making their purchase decision. These activities involve an active and passive external information search. Additionally, the active external search is affected by family income and by a greater perception of differences between establishments. The passive external search is affected by the level of prior knowledge, use of price‐quality criteria, the level of perceived risk, and by income of the family.