Fear and Anxiety as Hindrances To Restaurant Experience in the Post-Viral World: a Qualitative Study

Abstract

This study explores consumers' restaurant dining perceptions and experiences during the COVID-19 era to propose a model of restaurant dining perceptions and experiences during a pandemic. Therefore, it also examines the link between restaurant dining perceptions and experiences. Adopting a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with restaurant consumers and examined through content analysis. The endings reveal that consumers' fear and anxiety cause them to keep away from dining out at restaurants. Furthermore, restaurant experience is mainly determined by consumers' negative perceptions and restaurant choosing criteria. Finally, a model explaining the inter-relationships of restaurant dining perceptions, experiences, and restaurant selecting criteria was presented. This paper lls the gap in the literature by exploring Turkish customers' restaurant dining perceptions and experiences during the COVID-19 health crisis. Understanding restaurant customers' dining perceptions and experiences will be beneficial for both scholars and practitioners to draw a picture of restaurant customers' perceptions and experiences during a pandemic. © 2023, Universidade de Aveiro. All rights reserved.