Li Bai, Mingliang Wang, Yinsheng Yang, Shunlong Gong,

Food safety in restaurants: The consumer perspective,

International Journal of Hospitality Management,
Volume 77,
2019,
Pages 139-146,
ISSN 0278-4319,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.06.023.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431917305650)
Abstract: The study aimed to reveal the indicators that consumers in Mainland China
employ to evaluate food safety level of restaurants and find how the use of them
varies across consumer subgroups. A national survey was carried out and 1076
respondents completed questionnaires which consisted of 33 questions. The results
showed that the consumers preferred to assess a restaurant’s food safety level
based on “sensory perception of food” and “restaurant environment”. Although
official inspection certificate is one of the reliable indicators, the consumers
seldom use it. Furthermore, consumers from different subgroups used different
indicators. The females were much more finicky – they employed more indicators to
protect them from unsafe restaurants. These results demonstrated a need for better
education to create discerning consumers to expel those that fail to deliver safe
food. Restaurants can rely on the results to develop effective marketing
communication to match the consumers’ decision attributes.
Keywords: Restaurant; Choice; Food safety; Perceptions; Indicators; Consumers