Exploring the Link Between Customers’ Safety Perception and the Use of Information Technology in the Restaurant Sector During the Covid-19: The Case of the Campania Region

ABSTRACT

As a safety-empowerment strategy, technology innovation is likely to play a pivotal role in the restaurant sector’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, its impact on customers’ perceptions is still unexplored in the literature. To fill this gap, this research attempts to provide an innovative contribution to the existing literature by investigating the relationship between customers’ safety perception (CSP) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the restaurant sector during the coronavirus pandemic period. Drawing upon a sample of customers resident in the Campania region, the research provides early evidence about the positive impact exerted by ICT on CSP. More specifically, our findings show that the use of ICT, on the one hand, should reduce customers’expected interactions. On the other hand, enhance the level of expected cleanliness. Accordingly, academics and restaurant managers can rely on these results to implement resilience strategies. Results may be also beneficial for policymakers who can develop guidelines and measures to support restaurateurs in maturing resilience to the ongoing health crisis. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.