Olive Garden Observation

I began my observation on Wednesday, March 29th at 5:30 pm at a local Olive Garden restaurant. The weather was 54 degrees, sunny and slightly windy. Olive Garden is an Italian fare restaurant with over 800 chains throughout the United States. They present themselves as “keeping with modern day Italian traditions” (Olive Garden, 2017) when they promote their food. When one enters the door to the restaurant they are presented with Italian music or older music by artists like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. As one makes their way to their seat, the decor is that of a modern Italian-themed home or restaurant. The most noted feature encountered was how calm and quiet it was within the restaurant. There was soft whispering amongst the guest and the

low lighting enhanced this calm and hospitable atmosphere. It made it feel comfortable and safe, all the things one should feel when they are about to eat. My boyfriend and I were venturing to this location during this time to eat dinner. For us 5:30 was a reasonable time to eat dinner and we knew it wouldn't be as busy during the week at this time. As for the location, it happened to be an adequate distance from our home that we found acceptable. Once seated and greeted by our server I began to explore my surroundings in search of potential generational cohorts. “Assuming that background and experiences of a cohort have an influence of the cohorts values, these factors are also likely to influence the level of buyer involvement “(Parment, 2013). The restaurant at my initial entry wasn’t that busy but by 5:50 pm the amount of guests had doubled. I viewed 4 older couples all over the age of 60 apart of the traditionalist or “The Silent Generation” this group is a part of the mature market with the added value of connectedness that the restaurant provides them, this could because for their largest group of cohorts I viewed (Solomon, 2013). There were also 2 groups of single parents one male and one female. The female was a part of the later Gen Y age segment while the male was a part of the Generation X age segment. The last cohort observed was a family group with one male a Generation Z age segment and two women, one a part of The War Baby Generation and the other a part of the Generation X age segment.

Sitting in Olive Garden one begins to notice how these cohorts interact with one another and their surroundings.

Each family cohort group sat quietly amongst their children who also maintained a low speaking voice. The woman from the Generation Y or Millennial generation seemed preoccupied on her phone and her child sat staring off into space, left with no one to communicate with. This woman showed her need to be a part of the “connexity lifestyle where she remains footloose but connected to her friends at all times”(Solomon, 2013) The Generation Y is very keen on having the best of the best and the most recent trends at their disposal. This could be due to them “growing up during a time of economic prosperity, surrounded by the rapid advance of technology, particularly the Internet” (Niesen, 2013), which has created an attitude that is difficult to please. So the lack of this generation being present at this restaurant is understandable because there isn't many new or unique foods or drinks that would draw in this type of crowd. “Gen Y makes up about 20 percent of the population and is expected to increase at twice the rate of the rest of the population over the next decade” (Reed College of Media, 2017). Also observed, was the family that was made up of three unique cohort groups, Generation Z, The War baby Generation, Generation X. Because these cohorts all share very different characteristic their lack of conversation didn't surprise me. A generational gap can create a relationship distance between the cohorts that can make it more difficult to communicate or to understand one another. The traditional cohorts I observed were very calm and polite. They seemed comfortable in this atmosphere and there was a very clear display of a “gray market” (Solomon, 2013) during this time of day and this day of the week in the restaurant. It was filled with a large majority of elderly customers more so than any other demographic. What I learned from the observing the several

cohorts while dining, is that there was a strong sense of a tribe atmosphere that all the guest displayed. The tribe like affiliation could arise due to the restaurant's ability to unlock a something within the guests. The seemed to share a similar lifestyle because they shared a loyalty to the restaurant because this seemed to be a regular activity for these cohorts. The entire selection of cohorts, even though they displayed unique characteristics on their own, all shared the tribe characteristic. I was able to “identify a group of characteristics that bind their key customers together, such as a collective passion, vision, stage of life” (Smith, J. 2011). Olive Garden is trying to make their atmosphere a part of their identity, in that their family atmosphere is an inviting and a relaxing place to bring family and to enjoy each others company. The customers all demonstrated a similar set of norms. Crescive norms of a conventional nature were observed such as the guest were quietly talking and a demeanor of calm and tranquil attitudes was displayed throughout the restaurant (Solomon, 2013). What I thought I would view at the beginning of the observation was that there would be larger family groups but instead, there was a larger number of the traditionalist generation versus the other generational cohorts. As I continued my observations I became distracted by the waiter's questions, the food, and the atmosphere. I too began to also relax as my focus shifted from the intense observation of all the individuals to a bit more concentrated on what I was doing. The atmosphere I had observed that was affecting the other individuals in the restaurant began to affect me as well. As I finished my meal, my focus resumed into an intense focus once more and I continued to observe new customers entering while others left. The new cohorts that entered were of the similar descriptions as the previous one I've observed from the beginning, validating my theory that this restaurant seemed to have a strong relationship with the traditionalist generation vs. the Millennial and Generation Z.
My recommendation to Olive Garden would be to create a much stronger loyalty program. This program could create a need to return to the restaurant in a form of an incentive that would reward the consumer after reaching a certain amount of visits. Another Recommendation would be to create an atmosphere that is more appealing to a millennial family generation with unique food choices and updated cocktails or limited time entrees. The scarcity principle can create a sense of urgency and need to get it now before it’s too late. “This desire increases as you anticipate the regret you might have if you miss out by not acting fast enough” (Lee, 2014). I would also recommend trying to create a place that would become more of a recurring ritual for those who visit the restaurant by providing specials or limited time offers for specific days of the week or times of the day. Gaining the attention the great atmosphere Olive Garden provides will be very helpful in boosting their image and achieving their ideal profit margin.