From restaurant to cloud kitchen: Survival of the fittest during COVID-19 An empirical examination

Abstract

The restaurant industry is experiencing a financial crisis at the moment of COVID-19. The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the impact of various factors responsible for purchase decisions for generation Z in the context of cloud kitchen. In this endeviour, the researchers used a self-reported survey questionnaire to collect the data. The quality responses were collected using convenience sampling and analysed using SmartPLS. As almost all businesses are hit badly due to the COVID-19 pandemic this paper explored the possibilities for the restaurant business i.e. food and beverage industry in the form of ‘cloud kitchen’. In this endeavour, the impact of green aspects, memorable food experience (experiential food under experience economy) along with certain other factors was examined. This study extends the food choice process model by Furst et al. (1996) that in the recent time green aspect, memorable experience are being preferred by consumers. Moreover, the restaurant may choose to work as ‘cloud kitchen until the situation (COVID-19) normalizes. The research work will contribute to new theoretical knowledge in the form of an extended food choice process model exploring generation Z purchase decision towards cloud kitchen.