If you run a restaurant, having a video along side your advertisements can attract new diners, but if done poorly it can also scare customers away. What things attract hotel customers and what things cause them to shy away? We asked 101 people to share their opinion.

29% of consumers are not interested in watching a restaurant video. They cite things like the videos fail to be short and concise, or they see most videos as exaggerated, over-produced, generic, unclear or incomplete. The remaining 71% of consumers say they would watch a restaurant video if unfamiliar and curious about the restaurant.


When it comes to video length, people are less likely to click on a restuarant video that is too long for their preference. Longer time lengths are a sign that the video may not be concise. When we asked "what length of time should a restuarant video be limited to?", here is what people say:

  1. 1 minute: 38%
  2. 30 seconds: 28%
  3. 15 seconds: 15%
  4. 2 minutes: 15%
  5. 90 seconds: 1%
  6. No limit: 3%

Length of video does vary on type of restaurant. Typically, the more expensive a product or service, the longer customers are willing to watch. In my own observation, restaurant viewers, incuding myself, seem to lose interest around 40 seconds.


When asked "What things in a video would excite you to try the restaurant?", the first 1 to 3 things that came to their mind were:

  1. Well-presented food (unique, new, the backstory, portion size) 58%
  2. Appealing Atmosphere (decor theme, clean, nice seating layout) 26%
  3. Special prices (deals, happy hours) 13%
  4. Friendly, professional staff 5%
  5. Customer testimonials, recommendations or reviews 5%
  6. Happy customers enjoying the food 4%
  7. Location (proximity and niceness of area) 3%
  8. Building and surroundings look nice 2%
  9. Ample parking 2%
  10. Child friendly 2%
  11. How the chef prepares the food 2%
  12. Clean kitchen 1%
  13. Good narrative from owner 1%
  14. Good ratings 1%
  15. Outdoor seating 1%
  16. Food is locally sourced organic 1%
  17. Food is gluten free 1%
  18. Interesting beer 1%
  19. Newer plates and silverware 1%
  20. Outgoing chef 1%
  21. Smaller portion options 1%
  22. Open late 1%


When asked "What things in a video would cause you to shy away from trying the restaurant?", the first 1 to 3 things that came to their mind were:

  1. Signs of uncleanliness 28%
  2. Unappetizing food or food type 20%
  3. Unappealing atmosphere (poor seating, decor, lighting) 14%
  4. Unappealing location (noisy, undeveloped) 9%
  5. Crowded (long lines, crying babies, noisy) 8%
  6. Unsanitary back kitchen 7%
  7. Unprofessional-looking staff 6%
  8. Overpriced 6%
  9. Using actors, staged scenes or graphics instead of authentic footage 5%
  10. Aggressive sales message, exaggeration 3%
  11. Poor production quality (low def, audio, editing) 3%
  12. No parking 3%
  13. Small portions 2%
  14. Poor owner narration (pushy, fake, arrogant) 2%
  15. Bad reviews 2%
  16. Chef using bare hands 1%
  17. A long story of why they opened it 1%
  18. Shots in too tight, not showing full restaurant 1%
  19. People eating 1%
  20. Video is over 1 minute 1%
  21. Customers dressed too caually 1%
  22. Not showing actual dishes 1%
  23. Video interviews customers while they are dining
  24. Hours 1%
  25. No buzz 1%


We asked consumers if a restaurant video should include these 6 features:

  • 87% want the food and menu (8% indifferent, 5% do not want)
  • 74% want the inside seating area (17% indifferent, 9% do not want)
  • 49% want the building in its surroundings (39% indifferent, 12% do not want)
  • 42% want the staff (42% indifferent, 16% do not want)
  • 32% want the back kitchen (46% indifferent, 22% do not want)
  • 30% want the owner narrating in the background (50% indifferent; 21% do not want)
For more survey results, check back here: https://biveo.com/learning.


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