Kim, PeterGoodsir, WarrenBi, Hongyang2025-03-102025-03-102024http://hdl.handle.net/10292/18835Restaurants frequently employ background music to enhance the atmosphere and provide a more pleasant dining experience for patrons. Managers of ethnic restaurants often select ethnic background music to positively influence customers’ perceptions and improve their overall dining experiences. This study aims to explore the impact of ethnic background music on customers’ perceptions and behavioural intentions. Additionally, it seeks to enhance understanding of how such music affects restaurant customers’ perceptions and behaviours from a cultural standpoint. Specifically, current study examines the influence of ethnic background music on customers’ perceptions of authenticity and their intentions to spend and return. The research also compares the effects of ethnic background music on customers from diverse cultural backgrounds in various ethnic restaurant contexts as boundary conditions to better understand the findings. A review of existing literature revealed that previous studies have investigated various musical attributes, such as tempo, volume, and mode, in relation to their effects on customers’ perceptions and behaviours. However, there is a notable gap in research concerning customers’ perceptions of restaurant background music that features cultural elements, such as ethnic music. Therefore, this study, using the stimulus-organism-response theory as the research framework, delves into how ethnic background music influences diners’ perceptions of brand cultural authenticity, food authenticity, and service authenticity and how these perceptions, in turn, affect their behavioural intentions. Moreover, the study examines the moderating role of cultural differences, drawing on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework and social identity theory to analyse the varying impacts of ethnic background music on individuals from in-groups and out-groups based on their cultural backgrounds in both Eastern and Western restaurant settings. Adopting a positivist approach and a quantitative methodology, current study utilised two experimental designs: a laboratory experiment conducted in Italian and Korean restaurant settings via an online panel, and a field experiment conducted on-site in French and Chinese restaurants in Auckland. Data were gathered from a total of 940 participants who submitted valid questionnaires. In the online experiments, valid responses were received from 251 participants in the Italian restaurant settings and 264 participants in the Korean restaurant settings. For the on-site experiments, valid responses were received from 214 participants in the French restaurant settings and 211 participants in the Chinese restaurant settings. The sample sizes for each type of experiment were determined based on previous relevant studies to ensure they were adequate for achieving the study’s objectives. The data were analysed using SPSS 26, employing multiple analytical techniques. Descriptive analysis explored the frequencies and percentages of participants’ demographics, restaurant visit frequency, and familiarity with ethnic music. Correlation analysis assessed the strength of linear relationships between the study variables. The chi-square test identified significant differences between types of background music treatments relative to customer ethnicity. Confirmatory factor analysis validated the reliability of latent constructs. To test the research hypotheses, one-way ANOVA tests were used to compared mean values to examine the influences of background music on perceptions of music congruency, brand culture, food, and service. Mediation analyses evaluated how music congruency mediates the relationship between ethnic background music and perceived restaurant authenticity, and how perceived value mediates the link between perceived authenticity and behavioural intentions. Multiple regression was used to test if perceived restaurant authenticity could predict perceived value and behavioural intentions, considering demographic factors. Lastly, moderation analysis was used to examine the impact of participants’ cultural backgrounds and restaurant contexts on the effects of background music on perceived authenticity. The research findings indicate that ethnic background music can lead customers to perceive that a restaurant is targeting a specific ethnic demographic, thereby elevating their expectations of the restaurant’s brand cultural authenticity, food authenticity, and service authenticity. Additionally, these perceptions positively influence customers’ perceived value and their intentions to dine at the establishment. The moderating effect of cultural differences shows that ethnic background music has a more significant impact on in-group customers’ perceptions of authenticity compared to out-group customers. Furthermore, the effect of ethnic background music on perceptions of brand cultural authenticity, food authenticity, and service authenticity is more pronounced in Western restaurants than in Eastern ones. This study makes a substantial contribution to the literature on ethnic restaurants by developing theoretical frameworks to assess the impacts of ethnic background music on customers’ perceptions of authenticity and their behavioural intentions. It is the first study to investigate the influence of cultural moderators on the relationship between background music and customers’ dining experiences. Practically, the findings offer valuable insights for ethnic restaurant operators, aiding them in better understanding their target clientele and addressing essential questions about customer preferences for background music. The research underscores the importance of incorporating background music into the overall dining experience, which can lead to increased profitability and customer loyalty. The insights gained can help restaurant managers enhance their establishments’ value propositions, yielding mutually beneficial outcomes for both businesses and patrons. Additionally, the effective use of background music can serve as a valuable marketing tool for both restaurants and retail outlets.enThesisOpenAccess