Rainy days don’t always get me down: how rainy weather affects customers’ dining experience and evaluations

Zhao, C, Yu, Y, Zhang, Z, Adıgüzel, F ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5289-1701 and Zhang, Z, 2026. Rainy days don’t always get me down: how rainy weather affects customers’ dining experience and evaluations. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 134: 104586. ISSN 0278-4319

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Abstract

Weather conditions can significantly influence individuals’ perceptions of the consumption environment, subsequently influencing their post-consumption evaluations. This research examines the effect of rainy weather during the consumption experience on restaurant customers’ post-consumption evaluations. Using secondary data collected from a popular online restaurant review platform and controlled experiments, the findings suggest that customers who dine during rainy weather tend to rate their experiences favorably. Furthermore, this positive rainy weather effect varies across different dining seasons, and is mediated by an enhanced sense of psychological warmth as customers transition from the rainy outdoors to indoor environments. This research contributes to the literature on weather effect and post-consumption evaluation behavior and offers practical managerial insights regarding customer handling and service improvement for businesses operating in physical retail environments and the restaurant industry.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Hospitality Management
Creators:	Zhao, C., Yu, Y., Zhang, Z., Adıgüzel, F. and Zhang, Z.
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date:	April 2026
Volume:	134
ISSN:	0278-4319
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.ijhm.2026.104586 DOI S0278431926000332 Publisher Item Identifier 2565728 Other
Rights:	This accepted manuscript is shared under a CC-BY-NC-ND license after a 36-month embargo period.
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	10 Feb 2026 09:49
Last Modified:	10 Feb 2026 09:49
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55217

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