Tourist Illusions as a Market Signal
If you visit a local McDonald’s for lunch and encounter a long line, you probably view the experience as a sign of poor service. While on vacation, however, you may not perceive a long line in the same way. An anecdote to follow suggests that tourists, in the absence of complete information, often flock to the restaurants and other attractions that feature the longest lines. There are several reasons for this apparent behavior. Firstly, many tourists lack information and thus view long lines as a signal that informed tourists believe an attraction to represent a good experience. In this sense, long lines at tourists spots are self-reinforcing and therefore valued by tourist-driven firms as more than an end result of good business practices (i.e., to maintain sales momentum). Secondly, some tourists value common experience. A tourist who enjoys discussing common experiences with friends might seek popular spots (long lines) to increase the likelihood of such conversations. Lastly, tourists aren’t typically pressed for time and are therefore more willing to trade time for an experience that is likely to be memorable.
An examination of firm behavior allows us to attribute these motivations and behaviors to the average tourist. Specifically, several tourist-driven firms are observed to create the illusion that clients are pouring out the door of their establishment. However, the author has observed no examples of this queuing illusion among firms that are not tourist-driven. The cases surrounding this observation center upon Café du Monde, a popular New Orleans tourist spot. The author has never visited Café du Monde due to its almost ever-present, amusement park sized line. The author has, on the other hand, visited several nearby cafes. A few such cafes, including Café Beignet, depend upon the business of residual tourists who came to Café du Monde but could not wait the necessary time for service there. There is no doubt that Café Beignet enjoys a steady stream of business. However, the café exaggerates its own popularity by preventing each waiting customer from approaching the register until it is his turn to order. Consequently, the line at Café Beignet begins much closer to the establishment’s door than to its counter and pours onto the outdoor sidewalk even when business is relatively slow. Some approaching tourists see this and likely think the following: “Café du Monde must be really good given the line, but it will take over an hour to be served there. Café Beignet must be pretty good given the line, and it will take only fifteen minutes to be served there. I’ll try Café Beignet.” Thus, long lines (or the illusion of long lines) beget longer lines at Café Beignet and other nearby cafes that feature the same policy. Otherwise, why would these already crowded establishments create twenty feet of dead space between the counter and the line of waiting patrons.
Such a strategy would never work for a firm that hosts a large proportion of repeat customers, as people don’t often fall for the same trick twice. However, it is a good strategy for Café Beignet, as the typical tourist (a) doesn’t realize the illusion until it is nearly time to order and (b) probably will not be back at any rate. When on vacation, a tourist should understand that he is not in Kansas anymore. Firms certainly do.
-SS
September 15th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I’ve often wondered if there isn’t something different going on at Cafe du Monde. I’ve been enough times where I claim to haeve seen tourists waiting in line and locals butting the line — something of a price discrimination story.
Did I imagine that?
September 28th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Faced with scarcity and competition i guess we all have to apply our own strategy to maintain our existence. I think it’s part of the human condition to tend to shade “reality” differently by losing ourselves in the moment. Only able to use the information which we have would account for this difference to some extent. So perceiving the long lines at a local establishment as poor service and viewing the same situation in an unfamiliar place as a sign of quality worth waiting for would be influenced by both our human condition and limited information. Funny, from the outside it makes perfect sense!
September 29th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I think that the study definitely gives me new insight into how this demand works. Illusion absolutely has a great influence on people, especially those who are unaware of day to day operations in places like these two cafes. I agree with the idea and the point; however, I disagree in one area. That is, I believe that the illusion brings the customers in, but I do not agree that the customer will probably never go back. Now this might be true for these specific places, but if the product is satisfying enough, I believe the customer will come back, regardless of its amount of business. And if that customer is a tourist, he/she may recommend the place to others, which will brng in more business. In some cases, this can even turn the illusion into a reality. But besides that, I think it is very interesting that businesses come up with these kind of illusions. It is great that these things can be done to bring in business.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
First off wow! Never really knew that was going on. But being that I am from the New Orleans area I know that Cafe du Monde does get a lot of business not because of its long lines necessarily but because of location first and the fact that it heavily advertised through word of mouth.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Hey Everyone,
I think you have good points about Cafe Du Monde. I still haven’t made it there but will definitely keep these comments in mind.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:39 am
I also never realized this. I think it is quite interesting on how people will precieve things and make the choose where they are going to spend their money. Alot of it does make sense and I will now pay more close attention to it in the future.