Despite the popularity of food delivery robot services in the food service environment, there has been limited understanding of how customers perceive the value of the innovative delivery option, and the consideration of benefits and sacrifices in the decision-making process has largely been overlooked. Therefore, extending the value-based acceptance model, this study explores the intricate dynamics of customer perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions, employing a comprehensive benefit and sacrifice paradigm. The results revealed that usefulness, enjoyment, technicality, perceived fee, and privacy risk positively affect perceived value. Additionally, usefulness, enjoyment, and technicality have a positive impact on customer satisfaction. Perceived value also positively influences customer satisfaction, continuous usage intention, and word-of-mouth intention. Furthermore, the positive impact of customer satisfaction on continuous usage intention and word-of-mouth intention was identified. These findings provide valuable insights for researchers and industry practitioners, informing strategic decisions for better customer experience.

Online Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) master's programs in the U.S. have expanded as strategic initiatives to meet the needs of diverse learners. Despite this growth, few studies have compared these programs through a strategic lens. Guided by systems theory and the STAR model, this study conducted a comparative content analysis of 10 program characteristics drawn from the websites of 32 online HTM master's programs across 29 U.S. institutions. The programs were conceptualized as systems with interconnected components, and the characteristics were categorized into five STAR elements: culture, people, process, structure, and strategy. The findings reveal both similarities and differences across the programs, reflecting the strategic adaptation of the characteristics in response to internal priorities and external demands. These insights advance understanding of online HTM master's programs as strategic systems and offer practical implications for the development, evaluation, and growth of online education programs in a competitive online education marketplace.

Amid rising inflation and operating cost pressure, this study investigates how restaurant pricing strategies—a 5% surcharge versus a 5% menu price increase—and prior disclosure affect customers' perceptions of price fairness and transparency. Utilizing a 2 (pricing strategy: surcharge vs. price increase) × 2 (disclosure: presence vs. absence) experimental design, 193 responses were collected via a scenario-based survey. Results revealed that customers perceive a 5% price increase as significantly fairer and more transparent than a surcharge. While prior disclosure signage did not significantly influence perceptions of fairness, it marginally improved transparency, especially with the surcharge strategy. These findings suggest that restaurants aiming to maintain customer trust should consider implementing direct price increases rather than surcharges. If surcharges are used, clear prior disclosure can help mitigate negative perceptions. The study emphasizes the importance of transparent pricing communication to foster positive customer experiences and long-term loyalty.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to measure the nutrition knowledge of Army ROTC cadets before and after the implementation of nutrition education sessions presented by a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN), while observing the effectiveness of nutrition intervention on this population.Methods: Army ROTC cadets (n=33; 19+1 years old) from a southeastern university participated in a 9-week study in which they completed a nutrition knowledge survey pre- and post- implementation of six nutrition education sessions. General nutrition knowledge (GNK) and sports nutrition knowledge (SNK) were measured via the Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (ANSKQ).Results: General, sports, and total nutrition knowledge (TNK) improved significantly between pre-survey and post-survey scores (p < .001; p < .01; p < .001, respectively). Independent samples t-test showed large t-score values (GNK t = -3.559; SNK t = -2.794; TNK t = -3.776), indicating a strong difference between the three groups. Army ROTC cadet ANSKQ scores significantly improved GNK from adequate to good, SNK from poor to adequate, and TNK from poor to adequate.Conclusions: The results of this study indicate nutrition knowledge is poor in ROTC cadets, but may improve from nutrition education interventions presented by an RDN.

This study investigated the impact of restaurant sustainability menu labels on restaurant green image and customer attitude by comparing three restaurant sustainability attributes. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and a simple linear regression analysis were employed to test the hypotheses. The results suggested that the three restaurant sustainability attributes, food-focused, environment-focused, and administration-focused attributes, significantly affect restaurant green image. An interaction effect suggests that food-focused sustainability attribute significantly affects restaurant green image only when environment-focused attributes are absent. The findings provide strategies for the efficient allocation and effective execution of limited resources in implementing sustainability activities.

Purpose - Food delivery robot service (FDRS) is a novel service using autonomous delivery robots that alters human delivery in mobile food ordering. Despite FDRS companies' skyrocketing service expansions throughout the USA, there has been limited understanding of customer perceived value, customer satisfaction and loyalty which is imperative to promote repeat sales. Therefore, this study aims to examine customer perceived value of FDRS, identify antecedents of customer satisfaction with FDRS and investigate the additional impact of customer satisfaction and loyalty toward FDRS and the restaurant using FDRS.Design/methodology/approach - As a sample population, this study targeted the US customers over 18 years old and have used FDRS within the past 12 months. With a total of 323 responses, descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted for data analysis.Findings - The findings of this study demonstrate the positive impacts of functional, price and emotional value on customer satisfaction. The current study also shows that customer satisfaction positively influences customer loyalty toward FDRS and the restaurant.Originality/value - To the best of the authors' knowledge, the current study is arguably the first to investigate customers' post-purchase experience with FDRS, which enhances understanding of customer behavior toward the service. Moreover, with a multidimensional consumption value approach from the theory of consumption values, this study provides a single framework to explore the relations between customer perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty in the FDRS context.

In this study, the determinants (i.e., social influence, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, trust, and food safety risk perception) affecting customers' purchase intention toward online food delivery services are explored based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. The moderating effect of usage frequency between determinants and purchase intention is also examined to improve the understanding of the decision-making processes of frequent and non-frequent customers. Up to 392 responses are collected, and the results of this study indicate that performance expectancy, trust, and social influence positively affect customers' purchase intention toward online food delivery services. Positive relationships between determinants – social influence and performance expectancy, effort expectancy and performance expectancy – and the significant role of trust in effort expectancy and food safety risk perception are also identified. Furthermore, usage frequency significantly moderates the relationships between the determinants and purchase intention. Based on the findings, theoretical contributions and managerial implications for online food delivery service providers and restaurants are provided.

Objective Determine students’ attitude toward menu labeling before and after menu labeling implementation at university dining facility. Participants: College students aged 18 years and older eating at campus dining facility. Methods: Survey on attitude toward menu labeling, weight management status, and athletic classification (NCAA, recreational, or non-athlete) was completed 30 days pre- and post-menu labeling implementation. Results: Females showed stronger positive attitude toward menu labeling. Students trying to lose or gain weight had stronger positive attitudes toward menu labeling than students maintaining weight, as did overweight students compared to normal weight students. NCAA athletes had lower attitude mean scores toward menu labeling than other athletic classifications. Conclusion: Attitude toward menu labeling varies by students’ gender, body mass index (BMI), and weight management focus, with NCAA athletes having the least positive attitude. Focus future research on effective ways to inform students on menu labeling in university dining facilities in order to nutritionally engage young adults.

The hospitality industry is one of the most affected by the pandemic, and because of its human close interaction and labor-intensive characteristics, it has left Human Resource Management (HRM) puzzles with organizations’ stabilization and recovery. This study aimed to summarize current research on hospitality HRM research outcomes and trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing the PRISMA technique and NVivo software, 102 research articles were extracted and analyzed to highlight to overall achievement and movement of hospitality HRM research under the shadow of the COVID-19 crisis. Considering the main purpose of this study, which was to show the status and prospects, the findings indicated 309 free nodes and 26 secondary nodes based on grounded theory. 7 key themes clustered from the analysis and include “environmental factors”, “industrial factors”, “HRM practice”, “organization”, “employee”, “external outcomes”, and “methodology”. The results demonstrated the COVID-19 pandemic driven HRM transformation. In addition, it sheds light on how research responds to the shifting navigation of HRM within the hospitality context under the COVID-19 conditions.

This study investigated the effectiveness of rational and emotional appeals in online and offline hotel upselling messages on customer attitude and purchase intention. The study employed a 2 (rational appeal: rational vs. nonrational) x 2 (emotional appeal: emotional vs. non-emotional) x 2 (message delivery setting: online vs. offline) between-subjects design with a sample size of 578 respondents. The findings revealed that, for offline upselling, rational appeal is the most effective for increasing both customer attitude and purchase intention. On the other hand, for online upselling, emotional appeal was the most effective for improving customer attitude, while none of the appeals direabsctly improved. The current study extends the literature by providing a better understanding of hotel consumer attitude and purchase intention toward upselling and helps hotel professionals strategically utilize the upselling technique.

Considering the significant number of vegetarian customers and the global trend of reducing meat consumption, the primary objective of this study is to examine the effects of six restaurant attributes, namely, food quality, service quality, atmosphere, convenience, price, and vegetarian menu options, on the customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions (i.e., willingness to pay more and revisit intention) of vegetarian customers. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that, among the attributes, only price and vegetarian menu options had significant positive effects on vegetarian customers' satisfaction, and the relationship between vegetarian menu options and revisit intention was mediated by customer satisfaction. In addition, customer satisfaction significantly increased both customers' willingness to pay more and their revisit intention. This research expands the knowledge about vegetarian customers and provides useful insight for restaurateurs.

With the emerging popularity of online food delivery (OFD) services, this research examined predictors affecting customer intention to use OFD services amid the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Specifically, Study 1 examined the moderating effect of the pandemic on the relationship between six predictors (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, price saving benefit, time saving benefit, food safety risk perception, and trust) and OFD usage intention, and Study 2 extended the model by adding customer perceptions of COVID-19 (perceived severity and vulnerability) during the pandemic. Study 1 showed that all of the predictors except food safety risk perception significantly affected OFD usage intention, but no moderation effect of COVID-19 was found. In Study 2, while perceived severity and vulnerability had no significant impact on OFD usage intention, the altered effects of socio-demographic variables during the COVID-19 pandemic were found. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided.

Festivals are experiential products heavily depending on the recommendations of previous visitors. With the power of social media growing, understanding the antecedents of positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intentions of festival attendees is immensely beneficial for festival organizers to better promote their festivals and control negative publicity. However, there is still limited research regarding eWOM intentions in the festival context. Thus, this study aims to fill such a gap by investigating the relationships among festival attendees' enjoyment seeking motivation, perceived value, visitor satisfaction, and eWOM intention in a local festival setting. Additionally, the moderating role of gender was tested as it is one of the most important demographic variables to show individual differences in behavioral intentions. The results of structural equation modeling showed a positive effect of enjoyment seeking motivation on perceived value, visitor satisfaction, and eWOM intention. Moreover, gender differences in eWOM intention and a full mediating effect of visitor satisfaction between perceived value and eWOM intention for female respondents were revealed. The findings of this study extend the existing festival literature and provide insights for strategically organizing and promoting festivals to generate more positive eWOM which can be utilized as an effective marketing tool and a feedback channel.

Given the steadily increasing popularity of food trucks among consumers, this study investigated customer selection attributes and dining intention toward food trucks and compared the importance of the selection attributes by customer segments based on respondents’ food-related lifestyle. The results of an online survey from 421 food truck customers indicated that out of the six food truck selection attributes identified (i.e., marketing/setting, food quality/value, service quality, dietary considerations, reputation, and experience), food quality/value ranked the highest among general food truck customers who were classified into four groups: health-conscious, price-oriented, taste-oriented, and convenience-oriented. Among them, two groups—health-conscious and taste-oriented—had a higher dining intention at a food truck than other types of customers, and the importance of all six attributes differed significantly across customer segments. The findings of this study provide meaningful theoretical and practical implications.

There has been a substantial increase of non-standard work arrangements such as part-time, contingent, and temporary work in the restaurant industry. According to the National Restaurant Association, the overall turnover rate in the restaurant industry was 72.9% in 2016 and this rate has been increasing since 2010. The findings clearly indicated that part-time employees were less satisfied with their current job situations as compared to their counterparts. This study also found that none of the predictors of employee turnover intention in the part-time employee group had any impact on lowering turnover intention, implying that the high turnover intention of part-time employees is inevitable. Given that most part-time employees work at the front line and are in direct contact with customers, properly managing part-time employees is critical to the success of the business.

Background Front-of-package (FOP) labels are increasing in popularity on retail products. Reductive FOP labels provide nutrient-specific information, whereas evaluative FOP labels summarize nutrient information through icons. Better understanding of consumer behavior regarding FOP labels is beneficial to increasing consumer use of nutrition labeling when making grocery purchasing decisions. Objective We aimed to determine FOP label format effectiveness in aiding consumers at assessing nutrient density of food products. In addition, we sought to determine relationships between FOP label use and attitude toward healthy eating, diet self assessment, self-reported health and nutrition knowledge, and label and shopping behaviors. Design A between-subjects experimental design was employed. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four label conditions: Facts Up Front, Facts Up Front Extended, a binary symbol, and no-label control. Participants/setting One hundred sixty-one US primary grocery shoppers, aged 18 to 69 years. Participants were randomly invited to the online study. Intervention Participants in one of four label condition groups viewed three product categories (cereal, dairy, and snacks) with corresponding questions. Main outcome measures Adults' nutrition assessment of food products based on different FOP label formats, along with label use and attitude toward healthy eating, diet self-assessment, self-reported health and nutrition knowledge, and label and shopping behaviors. Statistical analyses performed Data analyses included descriptive statistics, X-2 tests, and logistical regression. Significant outcomes were set to alpha=.05. Results Participants selected the more nutrient-dense product in the snack food category when it contained an FOP label. Subjective health and nutrition knowledge and frequency of selecting food for healthful reasons were associated with FOP label use (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). Conclusions Both Facts Up Front (reductive) and binary (evaluative) FOP labels appear effective for nutrition assessment of snack products compared with no label. Specific attitude and behavior factors were associated with label use.