Restaurant preventive behaviors and the role of media during a pandemic

COVID-19 research in management: An updated bibliometric analysis

The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the global economy as well as on the academic literature. Since early 2020, management researchers have made exceptional efforts to extend our understanding of the pandemic's effect on consumption, sourcing, the workplace, and corporate strategies. The present study uses a bibliometric design to analyze the extensive database of COVID-19 studies in management literature generated over a 2-year period. The analysis focused on the performance of research constituents, thematic analysis of the literature, categorization of the themes at a societal, organizational, and individual level, and finally, a deep analysis of future research calls in the body of literature.

Consumer acceptance of autonomous delivery robots for last-mile delivery: Technological and health perspectives

The unprecedented outbreak of the novel coronavirus has led to a great shift toward online retailing and accelerated the need for contactless delivery. This study investigates how technological and health belief factors influence consumer acceptance of autonomous delivery robots (ADRs). Anchored in four behavioral theories [i.e., technology acceptance model, health belief model, perceived value (VAL) theory and trust theory], a synthesized model is developed. A total of 500 valid responses were collected through an online questionnaire in Singapore, and structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the responses. The results revealed that perceived ease of use (EOU), perceived usefulness (UFN), perceived susceptibility (SUS), perceived severity (SEV), self-efficacy (SEL) and cues to action (CUE) have a positive and significant influence on consumers' perceptions of the value of ADRs. The total effect analysis also showed that perceived VAL strongly affects consumer acceptance of ADRs. Academically, this study introduces both technological and health belief factors to explain consumer acceptance of ADRs. It also provides recommendations for policymakers and autonomous delivery robot developers on policy formulation, public communication, product design and infrastructure development.

Restaurant hygiene attributes and consumers’ fear of COVID-19: Does psychological distress matter?

Restaurant unhygienic affairs have concerned consumers and policy makers alike since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. The current study incorporates restaurant hygiene attributes—consumers-use spaces, personal hygiene of staff, workplace hygiene— and their association with consumers’ fear of COVID-19 (CFC). Moreover, how CFC educes consumers’ psychological distress (CSD) and the consequent behavioral reactions—preventive behavior (PB) and revisit intention (RI)— has been examined. Furthermore, perceived vulnerability (PV) employed as a moderator between hygiene attributes and CFC. Data collected from 407 respondents via Chinese online platform was analyzed in SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 24.0. Results showed significant association between hygiene attributes and CFC. Similarly, CFC significantly engenders CSD, which consequently effects PB. Contrarily to our hypothesis, CSD positively developed RI. Lastly, PV moderated the relationships between antecedents and CFC. Findings add to the literature of health management, consumer psychology, and service management with practical relevance, followed by limitations and potential future avenues.

Service innovation in the restaurant sector during COVID-19: digital technologies to reduce customers' risk perception

Purpose

This paper investigates the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated service innovation in the restaurant sector. It explores the use of digital technologies (DT) as a safety-empowerment and resilient strategy in the food-service industry during the pandemic. It also investigates the impact of DT on customers' risk perception (CRP) and customers' intention to go to restaurants (CIR) in Italy.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the theory of planned behaviour and perceived risk theory, this study investigates a sample of customers residing in Italy. Multiple regression and mediation analyses are conducted to test the research hypotheses, adapting the logic model developed. Using the bootstrapping technique, this study also explores whether the pandemic has moderated the relationship among several variables adapted from the literature. Robustness tests are also performed to corroborate the analysis.

Findings

The pandemic has accelerated the food-service industry's digital transformation, forcing restauranteurs to implement DT to survive. Findings show that DT support restauranteurs in implementing innovative services that reduce interactions and empower cleanliness among workers and customers, reducing CRP and preserving CIR. Thus, managing risk perception is helping the restaurant sector to recover.

Practical implications

Practical implications are presented for policymakers to catalyse the digital transformation in small- and medium-sized restaurants. The results may also be beneficial for entrepreneurs who can implement innovative service practices in order to reduce interaction and empower cleanliness levels. Moreover, academics can use these results to conduct similar research in other geographical contexts.

Originality/value

The present research represents the first study investigating the relationship between the use of digital technologies and the intentions of customers to go out for dinner during the ongoing pandemic in Italy.

Safety or service? Effects of employee prosocial safety-rule-breaking on consumer satisfaction

The COVID-19 pandemic makes restaurants implement new safety rules. However, because of consumers' and employees' resistance, employees may break these rules to improve the service experience. This paper examines how employees' prosocial safety-rule-breakings (PSRB) affect consumer satisfaction. We propose that PSRB has two competing effects on consumers' (including both requesters and bystanders) satisfaction via the mediating roles of service performance and perceived safety. We tested our proposed model in two experiments, adopting a 2 (Consumer role: Requesters vs. Bystanders) × 2 (PSRB level: Low vs. High) between-subject experimental design. Our findings suggest that PSRB has a strong negative relationship with bystanders' service performance rating. PSRB harms both requesters' and bystanders' perceived safety. PSRB reduces consumer satisfaction, and the relationship is stronger for bystanders (vs. requesters). This study demonstrates the importance for hospitality organizations to ensure safety rule compliance during and after the pandemic.

Digitalization of business processes in adaptation of catering industry to new realities: Covid-19 pandemic

The limitation of business and social activity during the crisis caused by the coronavirus in Russia and in the whole world led to the need to adapt the business processes of public catering enterprises to new realities. The goal of research is to study the trends of digital transformations of business processes of public catering enterprises of southern Russia, due to the need to adapt to the factors caused by the pandemic, as well as to assess their "viability" in terms of their use after the end of the coronavirus crisis. To conduct the study, the authors chose content analysis of scientific sources presented in the databases Scopus and Web of Science, which described the cases of development of public catering enterprises during the crisis caused by the coronavirus. As a result of the analysis of Russian and international experience, it was revealed that the set of solutions dealing with digitalization of business processes was focused on the use of technologies that ensure a decrease in perceived health risks, and was expressed both in changing the services provided and in changing the process of their provision. The study identified the following main trends in the digitalization of business processes in the food service industry of Russia. The characteristics of these trends are given from the point of view of their "viability" in the long term. Common problems associated with the use of digital technologies and tools in businesses are identified. The authors came to the conclusion that the digitalization of business processes in Russia will continue after the return to traditional forms of service, since modern consumers tend towards a variety of technological innovations due to their speed and relative ease of use, and the increased availability of mobile technologies that provide search, payment, and other functions also they make it possible to reduce health risks.

Environmental Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Two Restaurants from a Mid-scale City that Followed U.S. CDC Reopening Guidance

Since mask use and physical distancing are difficult to maintain when people dine indoors, restaurants are perceived as high risk for acquiring COVID-19. The air and environmental surfaces in two restaurants in a mid-scale city located in north central Florida that followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reopening guidance were sampled three times from July 2020 to February 2021. Sixteen air samples were collected for 2 hours using air samplers, and 20 surface samples by using moistened swabs. The samples were analyzed by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA. A total of ~550 patrons dined in the restaurants during our samplings. SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA was not detected in any of the air samples. One of the 20 surface samples (5%) was positive. That sample had been collected from a plastic tablecloth immediately after guests left the restaurant. Virus was not isolated in cell cultures inoculated with aliquots of the RT-PCR-positive sample. The likelihood that patrons and staff acquire SARS-CoV-2 infections may be low in restaurants in a mid-scale city that adopt CDC restaurant reopening guidelines, such as operation at 50% capacity so that tables can be spaced at least 6 feet apart, establishment of adequate mechanical ventilation, use of a face covering except while eating or drinking, and implementation of disinfection measures.

Transcending the COVID-19 crisis: Business resilience and innovation of the restaurant industry in China

Utilizing the content analysis approach, this study analyzed 153 textual information sources to explore Chinese restaurant enterprises' innovative activities during and after COVID-19. An innovative crisis management model was synthesized from a micro-level perspective by adopting the life cycle model to dynamically measure the innovative strategies applied by Chinese restaurant enterprises in their emergency responses and recovery efforts. Two types of innovative activities that led to internal and external performances were identified based on the push and pull theory of business motivation. Findings further indicated five dimensions of innovative strategies at two different stages: pandemic prevention and control, government and community, corporate social responsibility, marketing response, and management response at the stage of emergency responses; and pandemic prevention and control, cooperation with third parties, customer service innovation, product innovation, and innovative marketing strategy at the stage of recovery efforts. Theoretical and empirical implications are also carefully discussed.