+44%larger meals in company
Meals eaten in company were on average 44 per cent larger, and the effect climbed with table size.
The data came from thousands of food diaries, not from bars. What it shows is that the company itself is doing the work. A room that is still full at half nine is a room where that effect is still running.
De Castro and Brewer (1992), Physiology & Behavior
5-9%revenue per extra star
One extra star on Yelp is worth five to nine per cent in revenue, for independents only.
The study matched ratings to state tax records for Seattle restaurants between 2003 and 2009, comparing places that landed just either side of a rounding threshold, so it measures cause rather than coincidence. Chains gain nothing because people already know what they are getting. An independent room is judged on what was written about it.
Luca (2016), Harvard Business School working paper 12-016