“It Wasn't as Worth It as I Thought”: Post‐Purchase Luxury Risk and Loyalty in Fine Dining

ABSTRACT

While luxury restaurant dining involves high financial, symbolic, and experiential stakes, post‐consumption evaluations often remain uncertain. Prior research explains loyalty mainly through satisfaction and service quality, overlooking post‐purchase evaluation. This study conceptualizes perceived post‐purchase luxury risk as residual uncertainty over whether a dining experience justifies its financial, hedonic, social, and health‐related costs. Using 432 valid on‐site surveys from Michelin‐recognized and luxury hotel‐affiliated restaurants in Macau, the study develops and validates a multidimensional scale and examines its behavioral effects. Split‐sample structural equation modeling shows a strong negative effect of post‐purchase luxury risk on loyalty intention. The results further indicate that risk operates through expectation‐based evaluation, with different dimensions exerting uneven effects. Theoretically, the study reframes loyalty as an outcome of post‐consumption sense‐making. Practically, it highlights post‐purchase risk as a key lever for managing luxury dining beyond the service encounter.