The Role of Experiential Quality in a Vegetarian Restaurant from an Eco-Friendly Perspective

Abstract

Adopting strategies to reduce meat consumption can help overcome environmental problems associated with meat-based diets, including water scarcity and pollution, soil erosion, and global hunger. Increasing vegetarian diets can result in significant environmental benefits and has been focused on as a way to mitigate environmental changes. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the antecedents affecting customers’ storytelling and subjective well-being in vegetarian restaurants from an eco-friendly perspective. For the surveyed vegetarian restaurants, the four most frequently used by restaurant consumers were selected through a pilot test. Data collection was conducted online through a research company, and a sample of Koreans who responded that visiting at least one of the four selected vegetarian restaurants was selected. Among the 297 questionnaires, a total of 262 valid questionnaires were used for analysis. As a result of the verification, among the respondents, the proportion of women was higher, and the number of individuals in their 20s and 30s who responded was higher than that of people in their 40s and 50s. Affective quality showed the greatest positive influence on experiential quality, followed by physical environmental quality and interaction quality. However, the effects of the outcome quality on the experiential quality were not significant. Additionally, experiential quality was found to have a positive effect on experiential satisfaction, and experiential satisfaction was found to have a positive effect on storytelling and subjective well-being. These results provide useful insights for enhancing customers’ storytelling and subjective well-being in vegetarian restaurants. The design and results of this study contribute to the literature on eco-friendly vegetarian restaurants in the food service industry through theoretical and practical implications.