Vandenhaute Heidi, Gellynck Xavier, De Steur Hans
Division of Agri-Food Marketing & Chain Management, Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Foods. 2022 Mar 11;11(6):810. doi: 10.3390/foods11060810.
The food service sector was among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to examine consumers' attitudes towards and transparency perceptions of COVID-19-related safety measures and to identify determinants of consumers' intentions and behaviour regarding visiting restaurants and bars once reopened. By also surveying food service businesses, this study allows for comparison between both target groups. A total of 1697 consumers and 780 businesses participated in this study, conducted in Belgium both during and in between waves of infections. The findings demonstrate that consumers evaluated safety measures as important when revisiting restaurants and bars, against business owners' expectations. Both consumers' revisit intentions and behaviours are influenced by the perceived importance of hygiene measures (negatively) and past visit frequency (positively). This study highlights the importance of good compliance with safety measures as a strategy to attract customers during the reopening period. Further, our findings emphasize the importance of transparent communication by food service businesses and the government.
食品服务行业是受新冠疫情冲击最严重的行业之一。本研究旨在调查消费者对新冠疫情相关安全措施的态度和透明度认知，并确定消费者在餐厅和酒吧重新开业后前往就餐和饮酒的意愿及行为的决定因素。通过对食品服务企业进行调查，本研究还能够对两个目标群体进行比较。在比利时疫情感染高峰期及两次高峰期之间，共有1697名消费者和780家企业参与了本研究。研究结果表明，与企业主的预期相反，消费者在重新光顾餐厅和酒吧时认为安全措施很重要。消费者的再次光顾意愿和行为均受到卫生措施重要性认知（负向）和过去光顾频率（正向）的影响。本研究强调了在重新开业期间，严格遵守安全措施作为吸引顾客策略的重要性。此外，我们的研究结果强调了食品服务企业和政府进行透明沟通的重要性。
