Restaurant Diners’ Switching Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protection Motivation Theory

Abstract

The unsettling fear of COVID-19 infections has caused a new trend in consumer behavior in the food and beverage industry. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has shifted consumers’ preferences from eat-in to online delivery. This research aims to measure the impact of consumers’ motivation to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19, which explains why people switch from eat-in to online food delivery. We adopted the theory of protection motivation (PMT) to explain consumer switching behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study investigated the mediating effect of switching intention on the relationship between vulnerability, altruistic fear, anticipated regret, and switching behavior. Simultaneously, we examined the role of brand awareness as a moderator of behavioral choices of consumers switching from eat-in to online delivery. We collected data from 681 eatery consumers in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, using scenario-based survey questionnaires (327 eat-in respondents and 354 online delivery respondents). Then, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). This new generation analysis was conducted using the analysis of moment structure (AMOS) (v.24.0) and the statistical package for social science (SPSS—version 25.0). The results indicated that consumer vulnerability, altruistic fear, and anticipated regret of COVID-19 increased consumers’ propensity to shift from eat-in to online food delivery. Allegedly, consumer behavioral control and intention of switching toward online delivery were pointedly affected by switching behavior. The results indicated that consumer vulnerability, altruistic fear, and anticipated regret of COVID-19 increased the shifting of restaurant dine-in patterns and made the intention to switch to online delivery. Consumers’ alleged behavioral control and their intention of switching toward online delivery were pointedly affected by switching behavior. We also found that brand awareness moderately affects switching behavior toward restaurant settings. The present research contributes to developing the consumer behavior model of switching from eat-in to online delivery. This study also provides eatery customers and the business community with a safer and healthier proposition of shifting to online food delivery during the pandemic.

The Role of COVID-19 Vaccine Perception, Hope, and Fear on the Travel Bubble Program

“…The attitude towards the COVID-19 vaccine construct was measured using measurement items adopted from Kiatkawsin et al [ 38 ]. The items used to measure hope as well as fear were adopted from Kim et al [ 63 ]. Lastly, attitude towards travel bubbles and travel bubbles intention were measured using items from Lou and Lam [ 8 ].…”

Effect of restaurant consumers’ anticipated emotions on perceived value and behavioral intention in the COVID-19 context

“…The annual GDP growth of the restaurant industry in G20 countries reduced by approximately 2% in 2020 ( Mac Donald et al, 2020 ). With the economic downturn, people are now less likely to dine out now as they have become used to online delivery ( Mahmood et al, 2022 ) or cooking more at home ( Ko et al, 2022 ). Therefore, it is crucial for hospitability scholars to understand the consumer psychological states in the recovery stage of COVID-19 and how such psychological effects influence consumption behaviors, which remains underexplored in the literature ( Mahmood et al, 2022 ).…”

“…For example, if only positive emotions were found to affect perceived value, the manager may promote a pleasured and familiar dining environment to the consumers’ thought engagement and social media ( Haas et al, 2022 ) while not advertising the missed opportunities of not dining out. By assessing the impact of perceived COVID-19 threat, the regulators or other stakeholders on whether and how the perceived threat plays a role in it are also recommended ( Kim et al, 2021 ; Zhong et al, 2021 ), which is important for the recovery of hospitality and restaurant industries ( Mahmood et al, 2022 ; Sardar et al, 2022 ).…”

A pathway towards the development and evolution of consumer behavior: Policy directions for sustainable development and improvement of nutrition

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to reduce the spread of the virus, some countries adopted partial or complete blockade measures, such as closing schools, workplaces, entertainment places, restaurants, etc. (2), which had a significant impact on people's food purchasing methods and consumption habits (3), and changed consumers' dietary preferences from offline eating to online delivery (4). In this process, people's demand for online food services such as takeout catering and fresh food e-commerce is also expanding.…”