So private, yet so public: The impact of spatial distance, other diners, and power on solo dining experiences

Solo dining in Chinese restaurants: A mixed-method study in Macao

“…Eating alone in a private space has been widely investigated in sociology and nutrition literature ( Lahad and May, 2017 ; Takeda and Melby, 2017 ; Tani et al, 2015 ), while solo dining in restaurants has only begun to gain attention in recent years ( Heimtun, 2010 ; Her and Seo, 2018 ; Hwang et al, 2018 ; Shin et al, 2018 ). Within this growing stream of research, researchers have highlighted the needs to study solo dining motivation and how it impacts on experience ( Hwang et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Existing research investigating the solo dining experience has predominantly focused on emotions ( Her and Seo, 2018 ; Hwang et al, 2018 ; Moon et al, 2020 ). Regardless of the motivations, negative emotions such as loneliness, discomfort, embarrassment, shame, and heightened self-consciousness have been consistently reported in the context of solo dining in restaurants ( Brown et al, 2020 ; Her and Seo, 2018 ; Lahad and May, 2017 ).…”

“…They further revealed that the feeling of exclusion, which originates from the anticipated negative judgment from out-group diners, is likely to weaken the solo dining intention. Using the same theories, Hwang et al (2018) investigated the influence of spatial proximity and individuals’ psychological sense of power on solo dining attitude. Their findings indicate proximity with in-group or solo diners will result in a more favourable attitude due to the perceived social connectedness, and such effect is felt more strongly among individuals with a lower power status.…”

“…Their findings indicate proximity with in-group or solo diners will result in a more favourable attitude due to the perceived social connectedness, and such effect is felt more strongly among individuals with a lower power status. Advancing findings that have suggested the negative conspicuousness of solo consumption in public spaces ( Heimtun, 2010 ; Ratner and Hamilton, 2015 ), Her and Seo (2018) and Hwang et al (2018) have revealed that the solo dining experience is affected by the presence and proximity of in- versus out-group diners sharing the space. Nevertheless, both studies used a quasi-experimental design based on hypothetical solo dining scenarios instead of examining the actual behaviour and experience of solo diners.…”

“…Furthermore, prior research has suggested that the sociality assumption in a public dining space conducive to sharing and togetherness could render solo diners feeling lonely and conspicuous ( Heimtun, 2010 ; Lahad and May, 2017 ). Recent studies have also underlined the issues with dining space, such as table proximity and restaurant layout in creating stressful and negative experiences for solo diners ( Her and Seo, 2018 ; Hwang et al, 2018 ; Moon et al, 2020 ). Nonetheless, we have yet to fully understand the various dining environmental factors that shape the solo dining experience.…”