Sustainable restaurants : how consumers choose where to eat

• Autor(a) principal: Vilas-Boas, Rita de Sousa Raimundo
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/38290
• topic: Sustainability; Food industry; Restaurants; Sustainable restaurants; Decision-making; Influences; Social media; Sustentabilidade; Indústria alimentar; Restaurantes; Restaurantes sustentáveis; Tomada de decisão; Influências; Redes sociais; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

This dissertation aims to understand how consumers choose a sustainable restaurant. Previous studies have researched the role of social media in influencing the consumer on restaurant selection and the effect of environmental concern for choosing sustainable restaurants. Therefore, this research contributes to finding the drivers that affect the consumer the most in the restaurant sector. To answer the research question, I carried out a qualitative research approach and conducted twenty-three in-depth interviews with consumers of sustainable restaurants between 19 and 65 years. The findings show that social media are the driving force influencing the consumer's decision-making process, with Instagram proving to be the leading social media app. Other online channels can affect the consumers, however, the impact on the respondents of this study was not sufficient to reach a conclusion. Additionally, consumers are highly influenced by the recommendations and suggestions of other individuals, mainly friends. Lastly, discounts and promotions have a considerate impact on the consumer´s choice of sustainable restaurants and proved highly relevant to some individuals. The theoretical contribution of this research is that social media is the primary source where consumers collect information and the decisive factor to how they choose sustainable restaurants.