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

TQM Journal, ISSN: 1754-2731, Vol: 34, Issue: 7, Page: 134-164
2022
  • 27
    Citations
  • 0
    Usage
  • 247
    Captures
  • 1
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Citations
    27
    • Citation Indexes
      26
    • Policy Citations
      1
      • Policy Citation
        1
  • Captures
    247
  • Mentions
    1
    • News Mentions
      1
      • News
        1

Most Recent News

PROPOSAL OF A CONCEPTUAL MODEL ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND SERVICE INNOVATION/PROPOSTA DE UM MODELO CONCEPTUAL DA RELACAO ENTRE TRANSFORMACAO DIGITAL E INOVACAO EM SERVICOS/ PROPUESTA DE UN MODELO CONCEPTUAL DE LA RELACION ENTRE

1. INTRODUCAO As transformacoes baseadas em tecnologias digitais vem se acelerando nos ultimos anos e e, cada dia, mais onipresente nos contextos sociais e organizacionais.

Article Description

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.

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