The halo effect created for restaurants that source food locally

This research investigated inferences consumers make about restaurants that market their use of locally sourced food (LSF) ingredients using the halo effect as a theoretical foundation. Food produced and sold within a certain geographical radius (typically under 400 miles) is considered LSF. Hypothesized was that simply labelling a restaurant as using LSF would create a positive halo effect (a positive perceptual bias) and promote beliefs about the restaurant’s attributes that were unrelated to LSF. The results of an experiment with 313 participants suggest that LSF labeling in restaurants produces a positive halo effect. Participants assumed that a restaurant using LSF was more environmentally friendly, served a healthier/more nutritious menu, was more conveniently located, and was more likely to use natural/organic ingredients than was a similar restaurant that did not use LSF. Additionally, participants’ food-related lifestyles were significant moderators, with those most concerned about (1) the healthiness of the food they eat, and (2) the joy they get from eating and socializing over food, being most strongly influenced by the positive LSF-halo. Overall, the results indicate that restaurants may benefit from the positive glow created from the halo effect of sourcing food locally.     

Dirty dining: how exemplification affects food safety perceptions

News outlets recurrently publish stories depicting restaurants in a negative light by using vivid exemplars based on a reporter’s personal testimony rather than detailing food safety reports. This magnifies the most severe violations and may impact the public’s perception of the issue as well as influence behavioral intentions. Using exemplification theory, a between-subject experiment (N = 286) revealed that participants exposed to exemplars with personal testimonies considered food safety risks to be higher and declared being less likely to eat at a restaurant than those exposed to exemplars without testimonies. Practical applications for food safety messages are discussed.     

Identity,Ethnic Embeddedness,and African Cuisine Break-Out in Britain

This exploratory study appraises the limitations and process of African food/restaurant enclave ventures by examining issues around immigrants’ economic empowerment and inclusion. Using the platform of Sub-Saharan Africa gastronomy, identity, and multicultural practices, 35 semi-structured interviews with British-Black African restaurateurs and ethnic/nonethnic clientele were conducted. Through grounded theory methodology, the study contextualizes the broader discourse of ethnic enclave to capture an evolving and under-researched phenomenon. Findings indicate that prejudice, socio-cultural issues, financial limitations, lack of awareness, and image and perception of Africa are critical factors working against the acceptability of Black African food in Britain. The implication for continuous development of competencies and skills of African entrepreneurs in a multicultural British society is enormous. Also important is the intervention of African governments in developing their tourism sector. The value of the article resides in its explanations of the process of break-out and the fundamental factors inhibiting break-out/diffusion of ethnic enterprises from the standpoint of ethnic gastronomy. Thus, the article contributes to discussions on aspect of immigrants’ embeddedness in host country by identifying the image and perception configurations of Black Africa as preventing Black African cuisine break-out into the British mainstream’s consciousness.     

Restaurant Patronage and the Ethnic Groups in Singapore

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to assess the restaurant patronage practices (food habits) of three major ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays, and Indians) of Singapore. A total of 390 questionnaires were distributed. In spite of major cultural, socio-economic and religious differences, the three ethnic groups have common food habits while eating out. Eating at theme restaurants is not popular across the three ethnic groups. Among the ethnic groups under consideration, the food habits while eating out differed from the food habits of those groups while eating at home. The study indicated that all three ethnic groups eat out regularly. Chinese patronize quick service restaurants more frequently than the other ethnic groups. Chinese and Indians patronize “Hawker centers” more often than the Malays. Perception of nutrition and gender has very little affect on food habits while eating out. The obtained results partially supported the Barker's model.     

“Why do you dine at Korean restaurants?” An ethnic food consumption model approach

This study aimed to examine how people choose an ethnic restaurant based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to uncover factors that influence consumer decision-making in ethnic food consumption situations, particularly Korean food. Specifically, this study extended the original TPB model by incorporating consumer values and other variables that are theoretically related to the attitude formation, including familiarity and affective country image. The results showed that economic value, quality value, epistemic values, and familiarity were significant factors affecting consumer attitudes toward dining at Korean restaurants. Also, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control significantly influenced consumer intentions to dine at Korean restaurants.     

Consumer Preferences for Locally Produced Food Ingredient Sourcing in Restaurants

Increasing restaurant supply chain participants’ knowledge of consumer preferences toward the use of locally produced ingredients in restaurants may provide insight into a valuable marketing opportunity. This study uses conjoint analysis to evaluate consumers’ locally produced ingredient preferences relative to two other key restaurant attributes (the price of the dining experience and restaurant type). Results suggest that, for one fifth of surveyed restaurant consumers, a restaurant’s practice of “buying locally” is the primary restaurant attribute of importance. The implications of these results for supply chain providers (e.g., producers, manufacturers, and food service distributors) are discussed.     

Consumers’ perception of reduced calorie meals: How low is “Low-Calorie”?

ABSTRACT

With consumers becoming increasingly health conscious, the demand for reduced calorie food has significantly increased over the years. However, the definition of low-calorie food remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate consumers’ perception of reduced calorie meals, from the perspective of the maximum calorie level that consumers would consider as “low-calorie.” Survey data were collected using MTurk. In addition to respondents’ perception of the calorie count of low-calorie food when eating out and eating at home, respondents’ attitude toward low-calorie food, behaviors about consuming low-calorie food and exercise frequency, and demographic information were also assessed in the survey. The results demonstrate that consumers’ calorie perception of low-calorie food served in restaurants is consistent among different types of restaurants. Moreover, consumers believe that a low-calorie meal served in restaurants should be under 367 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and 677 calories for dinner. Lastly, consumers perceive home-cooked meals to be lower in calories than restaurant food. This study is the first attempt to explore consumers’ definition of a low-calorie meal served in restaurants. The findings will provide guidance to restaurant operators in designing menus, and help policymakers better understand the ongoing need to develop a sound and comprehensive definition for the term “low-calorie.”     

The Foodservice Supplier's Sales Environment

ABSTRACT

This study is designed to assist small meat processors seeking to expand their sales volume. The analysis pertains to a procurement survey of 191 restaurants. Fifty-one different variables are analyzed by means of cross-tabulations among different restaurant groups. For example, three restaurant annual sales groupings (under $500,000, $500,000 to $2,000,000, and over $2,000,000) are used to examine which of these fifty-one restaurant variables significantly differ by group. Other cross-tabulations are also presented regarding dinner ticket price levels, management structure, and chain affiliation, respectively. Many significant differences are found to exist in terms of food quality, delivery methods, product types, and more. Small meat processors will be able to develop more effective sales growth strategies through gaining an understanding of such differences. This study should be of value to small food manufacturers interested in direct marketing to restaurants. For example, based on the general findings of this study, small food manufacturers should place greater emphasis on product quality rather than price when selling their products to larger restaurants since supply quality is of greater importance than cost to these restaurants.     

Advancing laddering and critical incident technique to reveal restaurant niches

This study, based on means-end chain and dramaturgical theories, aims to reveal critical attributes/incidents that influence consumers to dine in a restaurant and proposes a complete picture for restaurant operators to understand consumer inner thinking that can be used to carve out their restaurant niches. By using the laddering and the critical incident techniques, this study proposes a theoretical explanatory scheme to identify the most critical attributes/incidents for the restaurant operators. From the perspective of dramaturgical theory, the results of the hierarchical value map show that the most common attributes/incidents dining in the restaurant are related to the physical facilities or customer–staff interaction system. Such a map can help restaurant operators easily and quickly capture their strengths and weaknesses from the relationship between restaurant features and customer value demands. If managers would like to know more specific critical attributes/features for their restaurants, they may simply follow the same procedure outlined in this work to find out what is the niche for their services and establishments, in order to survive in a highly competitive environment.     

The effect of sensation seeking and emotional brand attachment on consumers’ intention to consume risky foods in restaurants

Sensation seeking and emotional brand attachment have been studied extensively, but limited research has been conducted on “risky foods.” This study explored how sensation seeking, emotional brand attachment, and risky food consumption varies demographically, and the relationships among those variables. Approximately 300 responses were collected from a restaurant serving “risky” and “nonrisky” foods. Significant differences included that consumption of raw/undercooked fish/eggs was higher in younger groups. Females showed more affection toward emotionally attached restaurants. The hypotheses testing showed the positive relationship from sensation seeking and emotional attachment to risky food consumption. Results offer information about marketing to different demographic groups.     

A Descriptive Study of Factors Affecting Longevity of Independently Owned Ethnic Restaurants in Four Alabama Cities

Abstract

Factors affecting the longevity of independently owned ethnic restaurants in four Alabama cities were identified. A proportional stratified random sample of 43 restaurateurs representing African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Mediterranean cuisines was selected. A questionnaire was administered to restaurateurs during face-to-face interviews to explore factors affecting viability of ethnic restaurants. Twenty (46.5%) restaurants were open fewer than five years and 23 (53.5%) were open more than five years. Significant differences between newer and established restaurants included whether the owner purchased an existing restaurant business or began a new one, employment practices, method of customer payment, and marketing strategies.     

A Thirst for the Real Thing in Themed Retail Environments

ABSTRACT

The restaurant industry is experiencing a trend toward “authentic” ethnic restaurants that promise not only authentic food from a specific culture, but also an authentic dining experience and decor. For many consumers, these ethnic dining experiences constitute their sole contact with foreign cultures. This paper explores the importance of authenticity in ethnicthemed restaurants. It considers the methods employed and the frames of reference used to create these themed environments, consumers' abilities to delineate the real from the fake and the importance of authenticity as a component of the consumption experience. This exploratory study used qualitative research methods to report emerging themes derived from one type of ethnic restaurant, Irish pubs in Savannah, Georgia during St. Patrick's Day festivities. Managerial and research implications are offered.     

How Do Social Norms Influence Parents’ Food Choices for Their Children? The Role of Social Comparison and Implicit Self-Theories

Despite the proliferation of healthier side items for children at fast food restaurants, many parents still do not make healthy choices for their children in this setting. The goal of this research is to identify the parents most likely to do so and develop an intervention to nudge these parents toward making healthier choices in retail outlets. Across four field studies conducted in a retail environment (i.e., locations of a fast food restaurant chain), the authors predict and find that parents with a high tendency to engage in social comparison and a malleable view of the self are most likely to conform to the norm in their parental social network. Given that the norm in the population studied is to order a less healthy side item (e.g., fries) versus a healthy side item (e.g., fruit), conforming results in significantly less healthy orders for the children of these individuals. The authors demonstrate that a social norm-based intervention designed to set a new healthy norm in this retail environment succeeded in increasing the overall proportion of parents that chose a healthy side item by over 29% by increasing the choice of healthy sides specifically for these individuals. The authors conclude with a discussion of implications for theory, retail managers, and policy makers.     

A Study of Factors Influencing Parental Patronage of Quick Service Restaurants

Summary

This study identified factors influencing parental quick service restaurant patronage. Results indicated that parents are influenced to patronize quick service restaurants most often by speed of service, menus that offered their childrens' favorite food items, and parents' lack of time for meal preparation at home. Children preferred French fries, pizza, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and chicken nuggets at quick service restaurants. French fries, the favorite childrens' fast food menu selection, was ranked by respondents as one of the least healthy food items, while mashed potatoes, one of childrens' least favorite fast food menu selections, was perceived to be one of the healthier food selections by parents. Restaurateurs were encouraged to develop newer, healthier methods of preparing these popular menu items while offering more nutritious menu selections for children.     

Food Safety

Summary

Food safety in the foodservice industry is an issue that is a priority at the federal level. In 1999 the National Food Safety System formed the Coordinating Committee to combat the problem. Since the formation of this group, outreach programs have extended globally to assist other countries with this issue. According to Susan Alpert, national leader on the Food Safety Initiative, many states are experiencing the same food safety challenges. Programs and standards have been established for each state; however, the problems of state implementation of a high quality food safety program is becoming a growing issue. This study investigated the importance of food safety training for food handlers and compares the current training and inspections for those who manage foodservice establishments. Data is presented from one high tourism state serving as an example of the violations to and the training given on food safety. The study presents the food safety training program required, inspection form used, and categories of violations most often experienced. Issues related to combating food safety are presented as well as suggestions for improving food safety training and inspection process.     

Product standardisation in the food service industry: post-purchase attitudes and repurchase intentions of non-Muslims after consuming halal food

In order to satisfy the Muslim market segment, many restaurant and fast food companies in Western countries have standardised their products by switching to halal. The purpose of this research is to discover the extent to which non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries experience cognitive dissonance when they think about restaurants and fast food outlets having likely served them halal-produced food, and the extent to which these consumers intend to repurchase halal food. Data came from a total sample of 1097 non-Muslim consumers in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. The full model, with religious identity, ethnic identification and interest in animal welfare as antecedents of cognitive dissonance, explained 35% of the variance in consumers’ repurchase intentions. Our findings suggest that many non-Muslims do not have a particular issue with consuming halal food, but they may react negatively if they unintentionally consume halal food and perceive that they have been deprived of information, or worse still, deliberately deceived. The research makes a number of contributions to marketing knowledge with regard to the negative spillover effects that can result from faith-based product standardisation, and the influences of consumer interest in animal welfare and deprivation of product information on consumer behaviour.     

Give your hunger a new option: Understanding consumers' continuous intention to use online food delivery apps using trust transfer theory

The recent growth of online food delivery apps (OFDAs) centralized the restaurant's business in electronic distribution platforms. Recently, a few researchers have attempted to understand consumer behaviour towards using OFDAs. However, various aspects related to the usage of OFDAs have not been explored. Drawing from trust transfer theory, the purpose of this study is to fill this gap by investigating the trust transfer from OFDAs to restaurants and to address the boundary condition of trust transfer by examining the moderating effect of perceived effectiveness of dispute resolution (PEDR) between trust in OFDAs and trust in a restaurant. The model was tested via structural equation modelling (SEM) using data obtained from 836 users of OFDAs through structured questionnaire. The results show that trust in OFDAs positively influence the trust in restaurant, which ultimately leads to the consumers' continuous purchase intention. Further, PEDR positively moderates the relationship between trust in OFDAs and trust in a restaurant. Additionally, disposition to trust and online reviews significantly develops consumer trust in OFDAs. The present research makes substantial theoretical and practical contributions as it develops a trust transfer mechanism by considering an emerging mobile-commerce field. The study provides a first theoretical outlook on consumers' continuous intention to use OFDAs, using trust transfer theory, which has not been considered so far. The findings provide information for food delivery platforms on how to manage conflict resolution to succeed in the market and help restaurants in selecting the most effective food delivery platforms with which to collaborate.     

Restaurant Food Choices by Moms: An Exploratory Study

Restaurants are always seeking to better understand customer decisions. Mothers are of significance to restaurants as they have a direct influence on others, primarily children and spouses. This study focuses on what affects the restaurant food choices of “Moms” (a woman with at least one child 10 years or under). Three categories of factors were uncovered: externalities which occur outside of the restaurant environment, concurrencies which occur in the restaurant at the point of purchase, and confirming factors which cause an item to be confirmed or rejected after the purchase intention has formed. This article examines the externalities category.     

Food allergy information sharing and communication strategies in full-service restaurants in the U.S.

The purpose of this study was to explore how restaurant staff shares food allergy information with and communicate risks to customers with food allergies. Results of the online survey indicated that very few restaurants had separate allergen-free menus, yet the majority of servers had never or rarely asked if customers had any food allergy. Informing customers when the food preparer is unable to provide allergen-free meals, including a statement on the menu advising customers to inform servers their food allergies, and having a written protocol with procedures for serving allergen-free foods were perceived as the three most effective communication strategies.     

Examining customer perceptions of restaurant restroom cleanliness and their impact on satisfaction and intent to return

Competition in the Canadian restaurant industry is unyielding. Restaurant cleanliness is one of the most important aspects when a customer evaluates restaurant quality and return intention. In particular, restaurant restroom cleanliness (RRC) is often considered the central factor that leads to overall perception of cleanliness. This study examined how RRC affects restaurant customers. Restroom appearance had the greatest impact on cleanliness followed by personal hygiene items. In addition, RRC impacted customer satisfaction and did not vary based on customer segmentation. However, older restaurant patrons were more likely to report RRC issues than younger patrons. The research demonstrates that RRC is an essential element to the success and viability of a food service operation and is an important aspect of academic research in foodservice operations. Future directions for both industry and academic research in this area are discussed.