I Want to eat out, but something holding me back: Mom’s cooking stress and family dining out constraints

Abstract

Restaurant visits have been declined in the past decades while preparing the meals at home has been increased. This study focuses on mother customers who are known as the leading providers of homemade meals and primary decision-makers in family dining out in the context of family dining. The purpose of the study is to examine (1) what issue related to home cooking causes mothers to dine out with family, (2) what keeps them from dining out, and (3) the relationship of their psychological influences (i.e., cooking stress, need for reward, desire to dine out, and dining out constraints) that occur within the family dining decision-making process. With a total of 644 mothers in the U.S, the findings reveal that the mother participants who are stressed out from cooking for their family seek a self-gifted reward for their daily effort and desire to dine out to escape from the burden of cooking duty, which leads them to participate in family dining. However, despite the dining desire, mothers also face the reasons to constrain dining out (i.e., interpersonal and intrapersonal constraints), and both constraints keep them from family dining out. The results of this study are expected to help family restaurants develop a healthful family dining environment and new strategies to entice mothers and family customers to visit family dining restaurants.