Go for Oh’s to Reduce Restaurant No-Shows

OpenTable data show that in the U.S., about one out of every four restaurant reservations is not kept by the prospective diner. After citing that statistic, a team of Montclair State University, Mount Royal University, and Sejong University researchers detail the costs of no-shows, describe reasons for this behavior, and, through studies, develop suggestions for reducing the rate.
     The costs to restaurants include not only the lost revenue from those diners who didn’t appear, but also suboptimal inventory management of supplies and missed opportunities to seat walk-in guests at tables being held for those with reservations. The reasons for no-show behavior, as seen in prior studies, include some we might not expect, such as a customer booking at a number of restaurants and then forgetting to cancel the unwanted bookings.
     The chief strategy developed by the researchers for reducing no-show rates is to activate social pressure for reliability and punctuality by reminding consumers of the detrimental social effects of no-show behavior. Let’s get frequent diners in the habit of saying to themselves, “Oh, that’s why I should make only restaurant reservations I’m comfortable I can keep and conscientiously cancel any reservations I realize I won’t keep.”
     Based on results from their studies, the researchers conclude that this strategy works best when the cancellation policy is lenient. This is consistent with the idea that an optimal technique for reducing no-show rates won’t irritate prospective customers. Any penalties for cancellation should be perceived as fair and the cancellation procedure should not be perceived as burdensome.
     The researchers point out these techniques for curbing restaurant reservation no-shows might not work in other booking situations, such as with hotels. The average transaction amounts, length of advance planning, and visit frequencies are different. Still, I believe the strategy of increasing awareness among consumers about the costs of no-shows holds promise.
     Moreover, arousing a sense of obligation can nudge behavior toward the socially responsible in areas well beyond the no-show. The effects depend on you making the consumer’s behavior visible, or at least giving the impression of visibility. Although you can influence shopper behavior in the short-term by arousing shame, you’ll have better long-term results by aiming for a sense of obligation.
     With restaurants, feeling obligation should lead to higher diner tip amounts than would a feeling of shame, and in the areas well beyond, feeling obligation leads to more repeat business than does shame.

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