Investigating customer acceptance, usage, trust, and perceived safety risk of self-ordering kiosk technology in Malaysian quick-service restaurants during COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the interrelationship between customer acceptance and usage of self-ordering kiosks, purchase behaviour and post-purchase behaviour in quick-service restaurants. This study also hypothesised that the perceived safety risk moderates the relationship between customer purchase and post-purchase behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a quantitative research methodology using an online survey. During the data collection process, 430 responses were obtained. The partial-least square-structural equation modelling was used to test the study's model and hypotheses. Findings: The results of this study indicated that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and trust significantly influence purchase behaviour through the self-ordering kiosks. Meanwhile, price value and customer habit did not affect purchasing behaviour, while perceived safety risk as a moderator does not influence re-purchase behaviour. Practical implications: This study provides valuable implications for foodservice researchers and marketers related explicitly to technology adoption in restaurant services. Given the positive outlook on self-ordering kiosk usage, quick-service restaurants should continuously improve their ordering kiosk adoption and efficiency, especially during the health pandemic. Originality/value: This study is one of the few to predict and explain the consumer acceptance of self-service kiosks by integrating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 model with other essential behavioural constructs. The inclusion of trust and perceived safety risk construct enhances the study model's adaptability during health crises. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

COVID-19 review: an epidemiological perspective and Malaysian scenario in handling the pandemic (January - May 2020)

The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought much fear and anxiety worldwide due to the rapid transmission rate and mortality. The exponential surge of COVID- 19 cases need to be addressed aggressively to flatten the epidemic curve. This review aims to describe the COVID-19 disease epidemiology and disease transmission, response actions taken by the authorities to control this pandemic and risk communication strategies in Malaysia. A literature search via the ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases of published articles and official statements from the Ministry of Health, Malaysia from December 2019 to May 2020 was conducted. The first wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia started in late January involving 22 cases but the second wave involved more cases due to the massive religious gathering that occurred in late February. Malaysia implemented the Movement Control Order (MCO) on 18^th March 2020 and other well-coordinated response action plans to prevent community transmission. The reproduction number (R₀) was successfully reduced from 3.6 to 0.3 due to the MCO. Malaysia's risk communication strategies that include daily press conference by the Director General of Health and dissemination of information through national television and social media, played a crucial role in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. In conclusion, effective response actions and mitigation plans, should be the main priorities to combat this pandemic. The immediate direction will need to be focused on development of vaccines for COVID-19. Future research should study the origin of the virus in animals and the role of comorbidities contributing to poorer prognosis.