• Zhang Xia

Field of Research

This research will be carried out in the field of marketing, economic, and theme restaurant.

Topic of Research

The topic of this proposed dissertation is titled:

The Marketing Sustainable Operation and development of Theme Restaurant in China

Brief Literature Review of the Topic

Along with the increasing requirements of customers on dining experiences, theme restaurants have become a trend in F & B service industry. Numerous entrepreneurs and investors are attracted by this new concept and want to adventure in this business. It seems that a theme restaurant business will have a bright future. However, with only a short term of popularity at the initial stage, most of them had to close down. Only a few of the theme restaurant manage to sustain in the market, developed their own customer groups and grow rapidly. Based on the previous studies, this thesis attempts to carve out a way of stable operation and sustainable development for theme restaurants from the perspectives of marketing strategic, customer value and corporate life cycle through comparison, illustration and analysis. (Ai, D, S, 1997)

With rapid economic growth and high standard of living, food and beverage industry has develop tremendously. Some of the consumers expect to the environment and ambient when they consume the products. Current consumers are interested not only in buying products but also to have feeling enjoyment and fulfilling experiences while dining out. Customers prefer to have a unique and distinctive experience under a certain atmosphere that is different from common restaurant. When experience economy encounter restaurant, theme restaurant is born. However, theme restaurant sustainable development not really optimistic in the marketing. F & B industry has been developing for so long but certain restaurant facing big challenge to capture the consumers and to sustain in the market. Compared with others, homogeneity is very serious in dining business. Theme restaurant makes customer active participator instead of passive recipient comes with the tide of fashion.

Theme restaurant can be simply defined as a dining place marked with one (usually) or more themes based on which all the structure, decoration, design, product, service etc. are created to produce a particular cultural atmosphere that can be recognized and felt by customers. There are three main idea from researchers of theme restaurants in China. First, the main ideal, this view consider theme as a carrier of operation which is mainly used to attract customers. However the food is still the main concern in the restaurant. Second, the core ideal, the function of theme is created by the need and want of the consumers. They affirm the primary status of theme based on which all the other elements in restaurant will be defined, such as dish, menu, space design, decoration, color, music, service, marketing strategy and so on. Third is the experience that the customers will feel while dining in the restaurant which the ambiance is different from other restaurant. Emphasizes the unique and memorable emotional experience and psychological experience customers can get from different theme environments, service and cooked food. Researchers turn their sights from suppliers to receivers, from restaurateurs to consumers. (Fu, Y, 2012)

Theme restaurants are established on niche market. Each theme restaurant is its own given theme, a specific culture, and a unique style, exclusiveness is more or less inevitable. In addition,