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Consumer decision making process has always been a subject of interest for marketers. The present study examines the decision making process in respect of restaurant services in India. Restaurant sector is vibrant due to changing life style of people and composition of Indian families. The study aims to augment the understanding about preferences of selected cross-sections of consumers regarding restaurants and differences within the selected cross-section. This exploratory study attempts to investigate the impact of demographic and ‘reason to visit’ variables on restaurant's preferences. In order to assess the relative importance of various aspects of restaurant selection, customers were asked to rate selected attributes like location, less time in serving, convenient operating time, safety, parking facility etc. The study utilized a self-administered questionnaire to a convenience sample of 300 respondents. The findings of the study suggest how consumers from selected cross-sections evaluate intrinsic and extrinsic cues while evaluating a restaurant. It finally presents the implications for researchers and managers of Indian restaurants.

The importance of consumer attitudes towards products and classes of products in determining purchase behaviour is well established. The bias of consumers towards domestic goods, i.e., ethnocentrism, offers a vital clue to strategies of global corporations. Extensive debates and movements on this issue argue that it has a moral side as well. This paper attempts to explore the attitude Indians harbour towards consumption of domestic vis-à-vis foreign goods. The data from the study suggests tendency towards ethnocentrism that exists in Indians. It matches the level as found in the US and other developed countries. Moreover, the data suggests that ethnocentrism in Indians does not vary significantly with the selected levels of education, age and gender. In sum, this tendency is spread uniformly amongst socio-demographic groups selected for the study