About Sybil S Yang

Phone:

(415) 405-2531

Title: 

Instructional Faculty, Special Programs

Department: 

Hospitality & Tourism MgmtCollege of Business

 

At SF State Since:

2011

Bio:

ABOUT

Sybil Yang is an Associate Professor (apologies, the listing in the margin is incorrect) at San Francisco State University, in the Department of Hostpitality & Tourism Management, within the Lam Family College of Business. Her research agenda is focused on evaluating the efficacy of restaurant menu, menu board, and wine label design tactics. On a more theoretical-level, Sybil's research interests are in consumer behavior and behavioral economics. 

 

Sybil’s menu design research has been presented at the National Restaurant Association’s annual restaurant shows (2013 and 2010), and has been reported on and featured in (among others):

  • Science (online),
  • The Wall Street Journal (online),  
  • Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurants & Institutions, and
  • Women’s Health Magazine.

Her design and pricing recommendations have been directly implemented on hundreds of menus across the United States. Apart from her menu design research, Sybil’s current work also explores consumer decision making and how decoys can be used to change consumer behavior.  

 

Prior to her current position at SFSU, Sybil taught menu development at the Culinary Institute of America, was a baker at artisan bread  bakery Arizmendi (Zagat 25) and chef at Wente Vineyards (Zagat 25). Before finding her professional passion for the Food & Beverage Industry, Sybil was a boring investment banker with Salomon Smith Barney's media and telecommunications group, and an analyst for the venture capital firm Skipstone Ventures.

 

EDUCATION

PhD - Consumer Behavior, Cornell University

MBA - Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

MMH - School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University

Bachelor’s of Science - Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley.

 

RESEARCH

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:

  • Sybil Yang and Michael Lynn (2014) More Evidence Challenging the Robustness and Usefulness of the Attraction Effect. Journal of Marketing Research: August 2014, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 508-513.

 

  • Yang, S. S. (2012). Eye movements on restaurant menus: A revisitation on gaze motion and consumer scanpaths. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(3), 1021-1029.

 

  • Yang, S. S., Kimes, S. E., & Sessarego, M. M. (2009). Menu price presentation influences on consumer purchase behavior in restaurants. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(1), 157-160.

 

  • Yang, S. S., Lynn, M., & Wines, S. (2009). Wine List Characteristics Associated with Greater Wine Sales. Cornell Hospitality Reports, 9(11).

 

  • Yang, S. S., Kimes, S. E., & Sessarego, M. M. (2009). $ or Dollars?: Effects of Menu Price Formats on Customer Price Purchases. Cornell Hospitality Reports, 9(8).

 

Textbook Chapters & Modules:

  • F&B Module: Financial Forecasting for Food & Beverage Operations (2016). Sybil Yang, Author. Peter Szende, Series Editor. Prentice Hall.

 

  • F&B Module 5: Menu Design for the Food and Beverage Operation (2013). Sybil Yang, Author. Peter Szende, Series Editor. ISBN-10: 0132802848 • ISBN-13: 9780132802840. Prentice Hall.

 

  • F&B Module 6: Menu Pricing for the Food & Beverage Operation (2013). Sybil Yang, Author. Peter Szende, Series Editor. ISBN-10: 0132802740 • ISBN-13: 9780132802741. Prentice Hall.

 

  • F&B Module 7: Wine & Beverage Menu Design and Pricing (2013). Sybil Yang & Andrew Walls, Authors. Peter Szende, Series Editor. ISBN-10: 0132802716 • ISBN-13: 9780132802710. Prentice Hall.
 
 
Invited Speaking Engagements:
  • 94th Annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show. National Restaurant Association, Chicago, IL. Menu Re-design: How to Fix Your Layout, Copy, Design and Pricing Tactics.

 

  • 91st  Annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show. National Restaurant Association, Chicago, IL. Tactics, Tips & Tricks for Developing "New Now" Menus.