When Finns choose a restaurant, they rely a great deal on recommendations from friends and acquaintances. In contrast, content on social media influences only one fifth of them – though the percentage is much higher among young people. These are some of the findings from Viking Line’s extensive survey about the restaurant habits of Finns.

For Finns, the most important source for restaurant tips and recommendations is friends, acquaintances and social media – 49 per cent of respondents gave that answer. Tips on social media and online reviews each account for about one third, and one quarter of Finns check restaurant reviews on social media. One fifth of Finns get no restaurant tips at all.

Some 58 per cent of Finns have recommended a restaurant to others, and 55 per cent discuss their restaurant experiences with people they know.

These findings come from a survey commissioned by Viking Line to examine Finnish views on eating in restaurants. In the survey, carried out by Kuulas Helsinki early this summer, a total of 2,000 Finns were interviewed, with respondents, ages 18–74, representative of the entire Finnish population*.

“People rely on the views of friends and acquaintances, and they like to talk about restaurant experiences. That’s good, because then the focus is on actual experiences and what customers themselves think is most important for a good restaurant experience. Recommendations are really important in the restaurant industry, and they also encourage restaurants to try to provide as good an experience as possible. Every customer today is a ‘mystery shopper’,” says Viking Line’s Restaurant Manager, Janne Lindholm.

One fourth of Finns post photos and videos of food on social media, and 13 per cent write online reviews. The most popular channels are Facebook (32%), Instagram (29%), Snapchat (10%) and TikTok (7%).

Of all Finns, 19 per cent say that content about food shared by others on social media affects their choices. However, age plays a big role, since 36 per cent of women and 27 per cent of men ages 18–34 indicate that content on social media has a big influence on their choice of restaurants.