Post-Lockdown Eating-Out: Apprehensions and Expectations

Abstract

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The Indian restaurant industry is one of the largest service sectors employing 7.3 million people in 2018-19. COVID-19 pandemic has brought industry at a brink of an existential crisis giving rise to a host of unforeseen challenges and roadblocks. COVID pandemic, indicate changes in the eating-out patterns with transformed customer’s expectation. All the discussions on the revival of hospitality and tourism post-lockdown are from the supply side. However, there have been few studies that look at the situation from the demand sides. This research analysed millennial customers’ sentiments towards re-patronising food outlets post-lockdown using a mixed-method approach. The research concludes that only 18.5% of millennials are willing to re-patronise eating at restaurants post lockdown. However, there is a large segment with 51.05% open to home delivery of food and 54.90 % open to take away food. The study has highlighted a significant difference in dining behaviour between generation X and generation Y. It has identified three major demographic segments based on willingness to eat out specifically in the context of the prevailing pandemic. These are daring diner millennials, cautious diner millennials and fearful diner millennials. The Need-risk grid explaining the quadrant shift of eating out activity is a crucial contribution of the study.

Keywords: COVID Pandemic, Millennials, Customers’ sentiments, Food Away from Home (FAFH), Eating Out, Restaurants

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