Covid-19 and Consumer Future Restaurant Intentions

Limitations

This work was completed using a judgement sample that sought out subjects that were food knowledgeable and more likely to be representative of the general dining public, but the results are not generalizable to the population as a whole. This is likely a good thing for industry but does not help to better understand the greater American population’s response to COVID-19 outside of food and beverage, and even outside of people are regular consumers of restaurant offerings.

Further, the sample is representative of a very affluent segment of the population, and while that segment is more likely to dine out, and spend more when they do, there remain questions about how more regular Americans will choose to spend their food dollars moving forward in a world where COVID-19 is a concern.

There are known issues with self-reporting, which could influence the outcomes of this work.

Future Research

It is suggested that future researchers expand the sample to increase generalizability with a particular eye towards demographics with less disposable income. Further, field research in the form of ethnographic studies of actual participation and behavior may be of use in better understanding consumer behavior.

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