New research has identified that nearly two thirds of people in the UK (63%) are likely to spend more money in pub venues that they consider to be fun places, according to a new study of UK consumers.
As the hospitality industry continues to battle against cost-of-living pressures and increased operating costs, the survey points to the fun factor being a major customer pull and spending prompt.
The survey was commissioned by Saturn Visual Solutions, a digital signage consultancy, and carried out by OnePoll with 2,000 UK-based, adult full-time and part-time workers. They were asked if they would they be likely to spend more time and money than they’d originally planned if they were having a fun time in a pub, and if so, how much more.
The research identified that two thirds of people in the UK are likely to spend more money in venues that they consider to be fun places. On average they will spend an additional £19 (per visit) if they are having fun and enjoying themselves.
The amount of time people stay in venues is impacted by how fun they consider them to be too. On average, the research respondents would be likely to spend an extra 47 minutes more than they’d planned to in a pub venue they thought was fun.
More than half (53%) indicated that they would return to the same place at least once a month if they thought of it as being a fun place.
According to the research, men are more likely to spend extra on having a good time than women, with only nine per cent of male respondents saying they would stick to a set budget, as opposed to 11 per cent of females. Men are also likely to spend a greater amount, with male respondents admitting they’d be likely to spend an average of £16.70 extra than planned, whereas female respondents would be likely to spend around £14.63.
When it comes to what people perceive as a fun venue, more than half defined a fun place/experience as somewhere visually interesting (56%). Just under half (46%) defined a fun place/experience as somewhere that encouraged them to feel specific emotions such as anticipation, excitement and happiness. Places that had nothing interesting to look at or watch were defined by 56% of people as being boring.
Chris Welsh, CEO of Saturn Visual Solutions said: “The results of our research underline the need for pubs and hospitality venues across the board to offer customers a stimulating, sociable and memorable experience. They explain why places are increasingly introducing socially competitive elements such as darts, shuffle-board or games areas, alongside visually stimulating and interactive interiors.
“When people are having fun they have a tendency to go with the flow, enjoy the moment, and treat themselves. They also want to prolong and repeat the experience. As such, hospitality venues that don’t manage to create the right ‘fun’ atmosphere could be leaving money on the table.”
“Our research has shown that there are lots of factors involved in creating an atmosphere that encourages people to have fun, and there are financial rewards for nailing it.”
Saturn Visual Solutions is a digital signage consultancy that works with leisure attractions/hospitality venues to help them improve their customer experience, making it more fun and engaging, to increase venue profitability.
Saturn has used the research to produce a white paper called ‘Profits On Tap’ which can be found here.