What question did this study set out to answer?

To identify restaurant-level factors that best predict organizational performance by comparing customer-facing attributes with internal capabilities.

August 19, 2026Cornell Hospitality Quarterly

What Makes a Restaurant Successful? A Meta-Analysis of Restaurant Performance

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Authors

DWDaniel S. WhitmanLouisiana State University

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Implication

Meta-analysis identifies service quality and innovation as top performance drivers in restaurants, suggesting customer satisfaction alone is insufficient as a success proxy.

Key Points

To identify restaurant-level factors that best predict organizational performance by comparing customer-facing attributes with internal capabilities.
Conducted a meta-analysis synthesizing 37 studies encompassing 11,487 restaurants and over 280,000 employees.
Categorized performance drivers under the Resource-Based View framework into customer-facing attributes (food, service, ambiance) and internal organizational capabilities.
Customer-facing attributes and internal capabilities both positively predict performance, with service quality and innovation showing the strongest and most consistent positive effects.
Customer satisfaction shows only a moderate association with overall performance and partially mediates the relationship between organizational capabilities and restaurant performance.

Cite This Study

Daniel S. Whitman (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a85632803308d306e2d62c6 https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655261475604

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Implication

Meta-analysis identifies service quality and innovation as top performance drivers in restaurants, suggesting customer satisfaction alone is insufficient as a success proxy.

What Makes a Restaurant Successful? A Meta-Analysis of Restaurant Performance

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

What Makes a Restaurant Successful? A Meta-Analysis of Restaurant Performance

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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