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The purpose of this paper is to explain the puzzle of Chinese Great Leap Famine, which started with a good harvest in the end of 1958 and ended with lowest rural grain consumption per capita in 1961, by focussing on the communal dining system characterized by compulsory collectivization of peasants’ total grain rations, and deprivation of private plots and household sideline production.

The paper uses the panel data of 25 provinces from 1958 to 1962 to make the benchmark estimations by POLS and endogeneity-elimination estimations by 2SLS, employing the great advance in agricultural cooperative movement between 1954 and 1956 and the rural population density as the IVs for the radicalism of communal dining system during the Great Leap Forward. The β coefficients and Gfields decomposition are also presented to assess the relative importance of various factors on famine.

The empirical study finds that the communal dining system does play a critical role on the famine. The evidences of the β coefficients and Gfields decomposition basing on previous estimations also show that communal dining system is the most important cause on the famine.

The lesson from communal dining system on famine provides reference for resolving the current “Three Agrarian Issues” in China. It is important to allow peasants to exit from the compulsive collective system.

The paper discovers the institutional root of the famine by the endogeneity-elimination estimations of IVs and the assessment of relative importance of various factors on famine by β coefficients and Gfields decomposition.

In light of the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese authorities have called for the adoption of the individual dining style (IDS) as a preventive measure for the pandemic and a new norm for civilized code of conduct. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the factors influencing the Chinese people’s intention to adopt the IDS.

The authors applied the capability, opportunity and motivation model of behavior (COM-B) and identified potential predictors influencing the intention to adopt the IDS through a review of the literature. Data were collected through an online survey, and structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypotheses.

The results indicated that the most influential predictors were subjective norm, social norm, perceived benefit and past behavior, while the other predictors (including breaking habits, communal dining culture, perceived behavioral control, perceived health risk and social risk) had insignificant effects on the intention to adopt IDS.

First, educational public health messages should communicate the benefits of IDS. Second, persuasive public communication should focus on how people are implementing the target behavior rather than drawing attention to a minority who are disregarding it. Moreover, given the highly significant effects of subjective norm, public health campaigns should emphasize that adoption of the desired behavior expresses care for significant others.

The findings advance understanding of an underexplored topic, namely, how deeply ingrained ways of dining may be transformed in the current context. Applying the COM-B, the authors tested multiple variables to explain the intention to adopt IDS. The results suggest that some social influences (subjective norm and social norm) and reflective cognitive processes (perceived benefit) had the greatest impacts on behavior intentions. Moreover, the results indicate that threat of COVID-19 may not prompt people to change their dining styles. However, the benefits of IDS to prevent the spread of infectious diseases could lead to its wider adoption.

Have you been to a smart restaurant, and how were its services? A common limitation of hospitality studies stems from the lack of research on how service quality is shaped within smart technology. This study aims to fill this literature void not merely to reiterate the importance of technology but also to recast service quality through the lens of information technology. It synthesizes the 5-S model of smart service quality (AKA SSQ) as a new conceptualization of service quality application in smart hospitality contexts such as smart restaurants.

This study undertook a qualitative research design based on theoretical synthesis from service quality, information technology and attention restoration. Drawing from online review comments and semistructured interviews from smart restaurants, the authors improvised the SSQ model to identify the essence of smart service in smart dining establishments.

“5-S” reflects an extension of the literature to denote a new SSQ abstraction pertinent to s-servicescape, s-assurance, s-responsiveness, s-reliability and s-empathy. A nomological network was posited to better understand the importance of smart design and consequence of SSQ.

The emergence of smart dining gives rise to smart restaurants, which puts technology at center stage. As consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with self-service technology, auto-payment and ordering systems and robotic services, technology in foodservice will continue to play an essential role to better serve diners. Geared with advanced innovations and intelligent devices, smart restaurants are now more than mere eateries. It is a trend and a lifestyle.

This novel SSQ concept adds new nuances to the literature by acknowledging the technological essence in today’s hospitality industry. By integrating smart technology into the service quality paradigm, the authors are able to observe several interesting behaviors exhibited during smart dining, including tech-induced restoration, which opens a new avenue to understand how attention restoration could be attained through immersion in a technologically advanced setting. By synthesizing theoretical essence from service quality, attention restoration and information technology, the authors are able to create a new dialog that should warrant a forum of discussion in future studies.

Given the increasing importance of relationship management in service recovery encounters, this study aims to investigate the role of consumer–organization relationship norms (communal versus exchange) in connection with the service recovery process.

Based on a thorough review of the previous literature, the model was developed. Using a scenario-based survey method, a total of 204 usable responses were obtained via self-administered questionnaires in the USA. Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step approach was used to assess the measurement and structural models.

The findings indicate that consumers’ recovery processes are influenced by relationship norms. For consumers in the communal relationship, perceived social recovery had a greater influence on satisfaction with the service recovery. Consumers in the exchange relationship reacted more sensitively to perceived economic recovery in terms of satisfaction with the service recovery.

The focus of this study is restaurant consumers’ responses to service recovery in the context of an established relationship. Therefore, the results may not be generalizable for other consumers and segments.

The findings have important implications for increasing the understanding of consumer behavior in established relationships and suggesting effective recovery strategies.

This study investigates the effect of different relationship norms that could explain varying consumer responses to service recovery within a high-quality relationship. It also provides directions for improving consumers’ satisfaction with service recovery. This differs from previous studies that mainly focused on relationship quality.

Two projects in the EQUAL programme explore aspects of the influence of building design on the quality of life of people with dementia. Design in Caring Environments (DICE) examined the quality of life of people in residential care homes in relation to building design features. INDEPENDENT (Investigating Enabling Environments for People with Dementia) is a current project with the aim of developing technologies to enhance quality of life by supporting enjoyable activities. One aspect of INDEPENDENT is an exploration of the interaction between spatial settings and meaningful activity, to highlight factors that support and enable activity and to identify barriers. Findings from both projects suggest that a more creative approach to the management of buildings would enhance the well‐being of residents; under‐use of facilities is common. Meaningful space that supports activity is therapeutic but spaces that give confused messages are common in buildings used by older people. Tools to evaluate buildings have a potential role in the long‐term management of facilities to help identify underused spaces, spatial confusion and barriers to activity. Quality of life was shown to be poorer in buildings that prioritise safety and health; buildings that support activity positively by providing good assistive devices, giving people control of their environment and affording good links with the community have a positive association with well‐being.

This study aims to explore the experiences of residents and staff with new restaurant‐style meal provision in four residential care homes in Norfolk, England.

Meal and drink provision were observed over a full day in each home and unstructured individual interviews with 16 residents and 32 staff recorded and transcribed. Content analysis was used to discover and explore main themes.

Although older care home residents enjoyed the restaurant experience, they valued stable table companions more highly than flexibility. Residents appreciated attractive surroundings, good food and their ability to make choices, but in some circumstances and for frailer residents, choice was more limited with care staff making some decisions. While the central restaurant was valued for the main meal some residents indicated they preferred smaller “family‐type” dining for other meals. Care staff sometimes found the negotiation of their waitressing and caring roles difficult. Available space and the dining‐room's location also contributed to the comparative success of the restaurant‐style provision.

Residents valued the restaurant experience with attractive food, surroundings and the ethos of being served at lunch time, but other residents or the same residents at other meals, valued cosier stable family‐type dining more highly. Staff were also torn between service roles implied by restaurant settings and supporting residents to remain independent in the domestic model.

When planning new eating facilities thought needs to be given to ensuring both restaurant and family‐type food provision are available, and staff roles in these settings discussed and negotiated.

The research provides insights into the experiences of residents and staff of new dining facilities.

The purpose of this research is to examine the dining out activities of Gen Y's in the United States. In particular, it focuses on dining frequency, restaurant selection, restaurant segments and demographic features of Gen Yers.

Empirical data for this study were collected from 631 Gen Y's living in the United States.

The research findings reveal a nascent exploration of eating out preferences of the Gen Y population in an industrialized country in the food service context.

Generation Y is a lucrative and growing customer group for the US foodservice industry. They dine out more frequently than the rest of the population and their dining out preferences are different from other cohorts.

This study offers some practical implications on Gen Y's dining out behavior for food service industry and restaurateurs.

This paper aims to examine the joint effect of the focal customer’s gender and fellow customer’s gender in influencing voice complaint intentions and intention to convey negative word of mouth (NWOM).

Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two dining conditions (same-gender fellow customer vs opposite-gender fellow customer). Their intention to voice a complaint and to spread NWOM were measured after reading a scenario describing a service failure. A 2 (focal customer gender: male vs female) × 2 (fellow customer: same gender vs opposite gender) between-subjects quasi-experimental design was conducted to test the hypotheses.

The results demonstrate that female customers’ voice complaint intentions were significantly higher when a fellow customer’s gender was female rather than male. In contrast, regardless of the fellow customer’s gender, no significant differences in voice complaint intentions were found among male customers. The results further indicate that voice complaint intentions mediate the impact of a fellow customer’s gender on intention to spread NWOM among female customers. However, both female and male participants show equally high levels of voice complaint intentions in the context of fine-dining restaurant.

This study broadens the understanding of customer complaining behavior and also provides insights to practitioners on how to manage customers who are in same- and mixed-gender situations.

This research extends the literature on agency–communal theory and complaining behaviors by examining the role of a fellow customer’s gender influencing the focal customer’s intentions to voice complaints and to spread NWOM.