What influences restaurant dining out and diners' self-protective intention during the COVID-19 pandemic: Applying the Protection Motivation Theory.

In this study, using the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), we examine whether protection motivation can explain restaurant patron intention to practice self-protection. New normal practices are in place in the restaurant industry that influence dining out behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on 402 usable questionnaires collected face to face with residents in Phuket, Thailand, and using structural equation modeling to analyze the data, we found self-protective intention is influenced more by the perceived threat of COVID-19, but the actual behavior of visit frequency and protective behavior is influenced more by the positive PMT factors: perceived efficacy or self-confidence about protecting oneself and the expected rewards of dining out. In addition, the study highlights the important role of self-protective intention as a mediator in the relationships between PMT factors and actual behaviors of restaurant clients, especially their protection behaviors. Academic and practical implications are discussed.

Depletion of psychological, financial, and social resources in the hospitality sector during the pandemic.

This study details how psychological, financial, and social factors shape employee deviant interpersonal behaviors during a pandemic. Data were collected with a survey of 372 front-line employees of hotels and analyzed with PLS-SEM. The findings showed social disconnectedness and perceived risk of unemployment leads to perceived isolation, which further creates depression in employees. The findings also showed that depression is positively related to employee deviance. Financial strain is a major cause of perceived isolation, depression, and deviant behaviors among front-line employees. Results also proved that social support reduces fear of isolation, depression, and employee deviance. This study provides guidelines that hotels need to understand the psychological stance of employees and design policies to overcome employee perceived fears and psychological disorders.

Consumer behaviors towards ready-to-eat foods based on food-related lifestyles in Korea.

The purpose of this study was to examine consumers' behaviors toward ready-to-eat foods and to develop ready-to-eat food market segmentation in Korea. The food-related lifestyle and purchase behaviors of ready-to-eat foods were evaluated using 410 ready-to-eat food consumers in the Republic of Korea. Four factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis (health-orientation, taste-orientation, convenience-orientation, and tradition-orientation) to explain the ready-to eat food consumers' food-related lifestyles. The results of cluster analysis indicated that "tradition seekers" and "convenience seekers" should be regarded as the target segments. Chi-square tests and t-tests of the subdivided groups showed there were significant differences across marital status, education level, family type, eating-out expenditure, place of purchase, and reason for purchase. In conclusion, the tradition seekers consumed more ready-to-eat foods from discount marts or specialty stores and ate them between meals more often than the convenience seekers. In contrast, the convenience seekers purchased more ready-to-eat foods at convenience stores and ate them as meals more often than the tradition seekers. These findings suggest that ready-to-eat food market segmentation based on food-related lifestyles can be applied to develop proper marketing strategies.