Impact of COVID- 19 on Eating Out Culture and Sensory Priorities

Purpose- The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether sensory priorities & dining out habits of the society were modified during COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.Design / Methodology/ Approach- Data was collected from a total 304 respondents comprising frequent diners, academicians and industry practitioners. A structured questionnaire was designed through a detailed discussion with academicians & practitioners. Exploratory factor analysis was used to explore most preferred food choice variables whereas a paired sample t test was performed to assess shifts in frequencies of eat out prior and post COVID 19 pandemic outbreak.Findings- 'Taste and flavor of the product' was most preferable sensory priority for food selection before pandemic. However, this priority has been replaced by hygiene, cleanliness, zero touch points and contactless order due to COVID-19 pandemic. Newly emerged most preferred food choice variables include touch less consumer experience, sanitized restaurants, food safety certifications, contactless order, health and hygiene. Restaurants had to reframe, restructure their SOPs and strategies to gain the confidence of the customers as an outbreak of a pandemic disrupted lifestyle whereas consumption pattern, dining habits of consumers were modified. Originality/value- This study reveals the modified dining out habits and conscious consumption led to changed sensory priorities, as a strategy to recover from a worldwide epidemic and transition to a "new normal" phase of the service sector.

ANALYSING THE RESIDENTS' FOOD (EATING OUT) BEHAVIOUR IN THE PRE & POST COVID-19 PERIOD: A STUDY OF DHARAMSHALA REGION, INDIA

The first epidemic of the modern world that has changed the course of the current civilization & turned out to be a pandemic (i.e. COVID-19) has tremendously affected several industries including that of tourism & hospitality. Due to the multilevel impact, the whole world struggled to overcome this situation but with almost two years of its co-existence, people have now managed to change their style of living & social habits including that of the food habits. One of such food habits i.e. 'Eating out/ Dining out' was bound to change in the post-pandemic period due to the health advisories & closure of several hotels, restaurants and food outlets. The present research tries to find out the changes in the Eating out behaviour of the residents of Dharamshala (H.P.) in the pre & post-pandemic period. Further, it tries to identify the factors which affect the eating out behaviour of the residents & measure their importance in different periods (pre &post pandemic). The data were collected from 286 residents of Dharamshala region, through a structured questionnaire & analysed through reliability checks (Cronbach's Alpha-α), KMO & Bartlett's test, factor analysis, paired sample t-test and analysis of frequency & mean values. The results showed a significant decrease in the frequency of visits, purchasing/ordering, percentage of outside meals consumed, average spending etc, whereas the level of priority given by the residents to hygiene, food safety, quality, service & distribution etc has increased in the post-pandemic period. Hence various strategies were suggested for the restaurants/local eateries like, (1) Use of technology (automatic doors, sensor & timer enabled soap & sanitiser dispenser, online payments), (2) cost reduction tactics (controlling of food wastage, reduction in menu items), (3) training of employees (sanitisation rules, HACCP rules) etc which were if adopted will certainly help them revive from the crisis slowly & steadily over the period. © 2022 Editura Universitatii din Oradea. All rights reserved.

Impact of Covid- 19 on Eating out Culture and Sensory Priorities

This study is an attempt to understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, which essentially demands social distancing, on growing culture of eating out in consumers and determinants of food choices/ restaurant selection. The present study contributes to the changing sensory priorities and eating out habits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, using the data from frequent diners, academicians and industry practitioners. A sample of 304 respondents from Pune City and Mumbai MMR actively participated in an online survey. A random sampling method was used for this survey due to pandemic lockdown Major revolutions have been emerged in the dining habits of food lovers such as, zero touch points, contactless deliveries etc.‘Taste and flavor of the product’ was most preferable sensory priority for food selection before pandemic. However, this priority has been replaced by ‘hygiene, cleanliness, zero touch points and contactless order due to COVID-19 pandemic. Newly emerged most preferred food choice variables include touch less consumer experience, sanitized restaurants, food safety certifications, contactless order, health and hygiene. This indicates that restaurants need to reframe, restructure their SOPs and strategies to gain the confidence of the customers as COVID-19 may have a long-lasting effect and show repercussion in many more ways than thought.

Traveling and eating out during the COVID-19 pandemic: The Go To campaign policies in Japan.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic plunged many industries of the economy into contraction, particularly the travel, hotel accommodation, and eating/drinking industries. In Japan, some demand-inducing policies targeting such industries were implemented, known as the Go To Travel and Go To Eat campaigns. Using a unique individual-level survey, we investigate what factors make people respond to these campaign policies. We find that certain socioeconomics factors (e.g., gender, income, ICT skills) as well as noneconomic factors matter. In particular, risk attitudes, and personal traits (e.g., extraversion) crucially affect whether people traveled or dined out in response to these campaigns despite the spread of COVID-19.

Special Issue: COVID-19. (Special Issue: COVID-19.)

This issue includes three research letters and eight articles, three of which deal with COVID-19 related topics, namely: dining with distance during the pandemic;post-pandemic tourism recovery;and COVID-19 crisis discourse in cruise tourism Facebook groups.

Post-Lockdown Eating-Out: Apprehensions and Expectations

The Indian restaurant industry is one of the largest service sectors employing 7.3 million people in 2018-19. COVID-19 pandemic has brought industry at a brink of an existential crisis giving rise to a host of unforeseen challenges and roadblocks. COVID pandemic, indicate changes in the eating-out patterns with transformed customer’s expectation. All the discussions on the revival of hospitality and tourism post-lockdown are from the supply side. However, there have been few studies that look at the situation from the demand sides. This research analysed millennial customers’ sentiments towards re-patronising food outlets post-lockdown using a mixed-method approach. The research concludes that only 18.5% of millennials are willing to re-patronise eating at restaurants post lockdown. However, there is a large segment with 51.05% open to home delivery of food and 54.90 % open to take away food. The study has highlighted a significant difference in dining behaviour between generation X and generation Y. It has identified three major demographic segments based on willingness to eat out specifically in the context of the prevailing pandemic. These are daring diner millennials, cautious diner millennials and fearful diner millennials. The Need-risk grid explaining the quadrant shift of eating out activity is a crucial contribution of the study. © 2021 Publishing India Group. All rights reserved.

An applied research into understanding how socio-demographic factors affect the eating of outside food for urban population

Purpose/Aim - This article aims at analyzing the consumers' eating out habits and preferences as to restaurant service attributes and factors affecting eating out, through a primary survey of 193 urban respondents who were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. For leveraging consumer insight about eating outside food, and to understand how socio-demographic factors affecting eating outside food are important to the restaurant industry for developing strategies to attract potential consumers in order to tap the emerging market potential. Eating of outside food corresponds to both dining out as well as ordering through food apps. The study also investigates how the COVID pandemic has affected the consumption of outside food. Design/Methodology/Approach - A survey was initiated, and data collected from 193 respondents across urban areas. A convenient sampling was used for the purpose. A Random Forest was used to find the key socio-demographic factors influencing the eating of outside food. Paired t-test to test differences between pre-COVID and the current situation for dine out as well as ordering through apps was conducted. The analysis was conducted in R studio. Findings - The study finds there is significant difference in eating of outside food (both through apps as well as dine out) between pre-COVID times and the current situation. It also finds that family type, education, annual income and occupation are significant factors in the ordering of food through food apps and age is found to be a significant factor where people prefer to dine out. Research Limitations - The study was conducted in India and this study can be replicated in the adoption of food apps in other countries as well. Important constructs like personal innovativeness, network effects and habit are not yet studied. Sample size should have been larger and wider for better explanatory power. Explanatory power will be high when we include behavioural constructs along with the socio-demographic variables. Practical Implications - Food tech companies can make a segmented marketing approach using this research. The study results provide practical implications for the Indian restaurant and food tech industry. It provides strategic inputs to the food tech industry for developing effective strategies as per consumers socio-demographic attributes. Restaurants also can use this report to get insight into their customers. Restaurants can customize menu according to different socio-demographics. Originality/Value - There has been no research conducted in understanding how socio-demographic factors affect the app usage as well as dining out during the context of COVID. Previous research studies have not looked into the family type, Occupation type, Sector in which the person works and the type of housing. A Random Forest model would provide us with key significant socio-demographic variables and hence this study could be used.

Exploring spatio-temporal variations in environmental impacts from eating out in the United Kingdom.

In this study we estimated the environmental burden of eating away from home based on emission factors of food recipes consumed in different regions and countries within the United Kingdom. Food based emissions were expressed in kg CO2 equivalent per capita per week and were calculated based on food consumption data between the years 2001 and 2018. Time series analysis was used to estimate emissions for the years 2019 and 2020 for all study areas. These results were used to estimate the endpoint impacts on human health as well as terrestrial and aquatic species during the study period. Finally, an estimate of the emissions for 2020 was also carried out based on available market data for the first 11 months of the year. This was subsequently compared with the forecasts calculated earlier to observe the impacts of Covid-19 led lockdowns on eating out and hence the emissions. By taking a subnational approach, we aimed to highlight the importance of appreciating similarities and differences among these regions and policy implications thereof. To the best knowledge of the authors this is the first and only study focusing on regional food-based emissions from eating out in the United Kingdom.

Food safety and evaluation of intention to practice safe eating out measures during COVID-19: Cross sectional study in Indonesia and Malaysia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered consumers' relationship with food, whether through shopping, increased home cooking, taking pre-cautionary measures during food shopping, food delivery and whilst dining out. This study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on consumers' food safety knowledge, attitude and practices and to identify the predictors of food safety practices during COVID-19. An online survey was conducted and received valid responses from 987 respondents. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, Spearman's rho correlation and multiple regression. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model was used to investigate the intention to practice safe eating out measures during COVID-19. The mean food safety knowledge score was 6.37 ± 1.37 (9.00 = highest score) of which 91.3% of total respondents from Indonesia and Malaysia scored ≥5 points. Consumers also demonstrated positive food safety attitude (4.06 ± 0.99) and reported high frequencies in conducting food safety practices (4.03 ± 0.82) during COVID-19. The TPB has provided valuable framework for understanding consumers' intention to practice safe eating out measures during COVID-19. The multiple regression model explained 63% and 73% of the variance in adherence to safe eating out practices in Indonesia and Malaysia and (p < 0.05) respectively. All the TPB antecedents i.e. attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were identified as significant predictors on consumers' eating out practices. This suggests that consumers with positive food safety attitude and strong family norms were more likely to adhere to safe eating out measures (e.g. selection of clean and less crowded restaurants, practicing hand hygiene, wearing masks and practising social distancing). The findings also suggest that to fully adhere to the safe practices, it is important to have sufficient support from restaurant staff to ensure social distancing and to provide adequate handwashing facilities. This is the first study to provide new empirical findings on consumers' intention to practice safe eating out measures during COVID-19.