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Article
Publication date: 18 April 2023

Kian Yeik Koay, Chee Wei Cheah and Natarsha Ganesan

In recent times, the market for food trucks has been growing due to customers seeking convenient food options. However, not many studies have been carried out to understand why…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent times, the market for food trucks has been growing due to customers seeking convenient food options. However, not many studies have been carried out to understand why consumers choose to visit food trucks. Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand consumers' intentions to visit food trucks through the theoretical lenses of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the theory of consumption values (TCV).

Design/methodology/approach

A purposive sampling method was utilised to gather data from 203 food truck customers through a cross-sectional online survey. Data were evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The findings indicate that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control have a significant positive impact on consumers' intentions to visit food trucks. Furthermore, taste value, health value, emotional value and epistemic value have a significant positive effect on attitudes. However, neither price value nor interaction value has a significant impact on attitudes.

Originality/value

This study represents a pioneering effort in combining the theoretical perspectives of the TPB and the TCV to investigate consumers' intentions to visit food trucks. The resulting integrated model provides a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence consumers' decisions to visit food trucks. The findings are expected to furnish food truck vendors with valuable insights on crafting efficient marketing and operational tactics to retain their existing customer base and entice new consumers.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 125 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 March 2022

Sascha Kraus, Sandipan Sen, Katrina Savitskie, Sampath K. Kumar and John Brooks

The purpose of this paper is to examine millennial customer perceptions of food trucks and to identify factors that can foster their behavioral intentions pertaining to food trucks

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine millennial customer perceptions of food trucks and to identify factors that can foster their behavioral intentions pertaining to food trucks.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a sample of 247 millennial customers of various food truck vendors in the United States and was assessed using ordinary least squares regression analysis.

Findings

Food truck image and employee friendliness were found to impact both customer satisfaction and word of mouth behavior; however, the other hypotheses were not supported.

Research limitations/implications

There were two limitations. The first was that one of the constructs did not achieve the minimum average variance extracted. The second was that data collection was done in a single city in the United States; therefore, future research could overcome these limitations through a refinement of the construct’s items and targeting more cities.

Originality/value

There has been limited academic research on the millennial customer perceptions of the food truck phenomenon. This research addresses that gap through a field study that examines factors that contributed to the growth and popularity of food trucks among millennials

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 124 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2021

Zeyen Loh and Siti Hasnah Hassan

This study aims to determine the repurchase intention of food truck products based on perceived risks and perceived benefits by consumers within the context of Malaysia. Recently…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to determine the repurchase intention of food truck products based on perceived risks and perceived benefits by consumers within the context of Malaysia. Recently, the food truck industry has been expanding as customers begin to explore alternatives for food convenience. However, there are not many studies carried out on this topic, especially in Asian countries. This study will fill the gaps on the factors that affect repurchase intention, especially perceived risks and perceived benefits of food trucks products.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted through Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp on consumers with prior experience in buying food truck products. The partial least square (PLS) modelling using the SmartPLS software was employed to analyse the data.

Findings

The results from 294 food truck consumers showed that perceived benefit, food safety, attitude and subjective norm significantly influence food truck products' repurchase intention. On the other hand, perceived risk towards the environment and perceived behavioural control do not substantially affect food truck products' repurchase intention.

Research limitations/implications

The data collected were related only to the food trucker's customer that operates in Malaysia. Thus, the results might be only applicable to similar other Asian or developing countries.

Practical implications

The results provided some managerial indicators to improve the level of business efficiency among food truck operators. Besides, marketers and policymakers can develop effective strategies and policies based on this study to develop this industry further.

Originality/value

The study gives a fresh overview of how the food truck business can improve its services in developing countries. The results offer a competitive advantage and how to strengthen customer retention that can improve business performance.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 124 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Simona Alfiero, Agata Lo Giudice and Alessandro Bonadonna

The purpose of this paper is to focus on food truck phenomenon, a particular kind of street food service, identifying two categories of performers: “Traditional Food Truck” (TFT…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on food truck phenomenon, a particular kind of street food service, identifying two categories of performers: “Traditional Food Truck” (TFT) and “Gourmet Food Truck” (GFT). This paper evaluates and compares the efficiency performance of the main actors.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 41 food trucks in the Northwest of Italy was identified. A survey was carried out to determine the characteristics of the food truck and evaluate the efficiency performance of an output-oriented data envelopment analysis.

Findings

The two kinds of food trucks provide different levels of efficacy: the data showed that 22 per cent of the food trucks operate efficiently with an average efficiency score of 0.80. The results demonstrate that GFT are more efficient than TFT and confirm that innovation is an important key to competitive advantage in this sector.

Research limitations/implications

The data collected were related only to the food truckers that operate in the Turin area and the number of variables analysed is limited to certain aspects of production and selling processes.

Practical implications

The results provided some managerial indicators to improve the level of corporate efficiency, operating on technical decisions.

Originality/value

This is a pioneer study that analyses how a business based on the combination of tradition and innovation can offer a competitive advantage and strengthen a strong connection to its territory, improving corporate performance.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 119 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2019

Gabriela Mazzon Valente, Lize Stangarlin-Fiori, Lais de Oliveira Seiscentos, Viviane Valle de Souza and Caroline Opolski Medeiros

This paper aims to evaluate the profile of food truck consumers at gourmet events, identifying their food preferences and opinions about the provision of safe food by this segment.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to evaluate the profile of food truck consumers at gourmet events, identifying their food preferences and opinions about the provision of safe food by this segment.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 750 food truck customers in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, participated in the study. The survey investigated the socio-economic profile of the consumers, the frequency of their food consumption, the criteria for their choice of food trucks, their mean spending value, the method of payment used and the opinion of consumers about food cost and food truck hygiene conditions.

Findings

Most consumers were female (62.7 per cent), students (31.3 per cent) and with an average age of 29 ± 10 years. Many customers preferred the consumption of salty foods (84.0 per cent), mainly burgers and kabobs. The consumers reported spending between $6.32 and $9.03 during the events, and men spent more money than women (p = 0.000). Both thought that good conditions of hygiene (81.9 per cent), food presentation (46.9 per cent) and service (48.0 per cent) were more important than the product price (19.3 per cent). Consumers thought that the food trucks had an adequate structure (73.5 per cent) and the food handlers (74.4 per cent) had good conditions of hygiene, ensuring the safety of the food sold.

Research limitations/implications

On account of the convenience sampling in an urban environment, the data cannot be generalized to the entire population of the municipality and to other regions.

Originality/value

There are few studies with food trucks consumers in Brazil, to this writing the largest sample ever used for this type of research in this country. The results were designed to be used by professionals working in the area.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. 50 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2020

Bagyalakshmi Gopi and Nusrah Samat

Service quality has been highlighted as the vital element in fulfilling customers' needs, which contributes to the customers' evaluation on the services given. As food truck

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Abstract

Purpose

Service quality has been highlighted as the vital element in fulfilling customers' needs, which contributes to the customers' evaluation on the services given. As food truck business is increasingly popular in Malaysia, it is important for the food trucks' service provider to ensure that their service quality meets the standard to satisfy the customers in order to build customer loyalty. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between food trucks' service quality with customer satisfaction and its impact toward customer loyalty. The customer service was measured using service quality (SERVQUAL) attributes (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy).

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative study was conducted to examine the influence of food trucks' service quality on customer satisfaction and its impact toward customer loyalty. A total of 100 food truck customers have been randomly selected to answer the self-administered questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using frequency, descriptive, reliability, Pearson correlation and regression analysis.

Findings

Findings indicated that three out of five attributes of service quality have significant relationships toward customer satisfaction. They are tangibles (β = 0.225, p < 0.05), reliability (β = 0.349, p < 0.05) and assurance (β = 0.311, p < 0.05). Moreover, the customer loyalty (β = 0.643, p < 0.01) has a significant relationship with customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

Service quality can be characterized as the discrepancy between customer service standards and actual service. When expectations are higher than performance, perceived quality is less than acceptable and therefore consumer disappointment exists which eventually decreases customer loyalty toward a product or services. The study suggested that physical image of the food trucks' service like physical facilities, how the service being performed and also courtesy and knowledge of the food trucks' employees are very important to transfer confidence and trust to customers, which then will influence them to be loyal.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 February 2022

Billy Sung, Michelle Stankovic, Sean Lee and Kevin Anderson

This paper aims to test whether passive Wi-Fi visitor analytics is a useful and effective method to measure consumer engagement towards food trucks located within an outdoor…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to test whether passive Wi-Fi visitor analytics is a useful and effective method to measure consumer engagement towards food trucks located within an outdoor activation area at an Australian metropolitan university.

Design/methodology/approach

Using passive Wi-Fi visitor analytics to ping and track smart devices, data was collected over 90 weekdays capturing data from 522,548 unique smart devices.

Findings

The data collected in this feasibility study was able to identify the most and least popular food trucks by displaying the differences in both bounce and engagement rates, suggesting that passive Wi-Fi visitor analytics are feasible and useful in this context. Furthermore, the results also demonstrate that food truck vendors and marketers should not engage in random rotation, but instead remain static to try and increase familiarity.

Originality/value

Current visitor tracking technology (i.e. ticketed sales, sales data and survey) is limited as it may not provide an accurate measurement of foot traffic, identify engaged patrons who passed by but did not complete a purchase and be available due to commercial sensitivity and confidentiality. Thus, the current research is the first to examine customer engagement (i.e. unengaged walk-by vs engaged but bounced vs engaged sales) with food trucks within an activation area by using passive Wi-Fi visitor analytics.

研究目的

当前的论文旨在研究被动 Wi-Fi 访客分析是否是衡量消费者对位于澳大利亚城市大学户外活动区域内的流动餐车的参与度的有用且有效的方法。

研究方法

使用被动 Wi-Fi 访客分析来跟踪智能设备, 从 522,548 个独特的智能设备收集了超过 90 个工作日的数据。

研究发现

该可行性研究中收集的数据能够通过显示跳出率和参与率的差异来识别最受欢迎和最不受欢迎的流动餐车, 这表明被动 Wi-Fi 访客分析在这种情况下是可行和有用的。 此外, 我们的结果还表明, 流动餐车供应商和营销人员不应随意轮换, 而应保持静止从而增加顾客熟悉度。

研究原创性

当前的访客跟踪技术(即售票销售、销售数据和调查)是有限的, 因为它可能无法:(1)提供客流量的准确测量; (2) 识别路过但未完成购买的参与顾客; (3) 由于商业敏感性和保密性而可用。 因此, 目前的研究是第一个通过使用被动 Wi-Fi 访客分析来检查激活区域内流动餐车的客户参与度(即, 未参与路过, 相比于参与但跳出, 相比于参与售出额)。

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9880

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2014

Deborah G. Passey, Riann Robbins, Kurt T. Hegmann, Ulrike Ott, Matt Thiese, Arun Garg, Anita Kinney and Maureen A. Murtaugh

– The purpose of this paper is to explore truck drivers’ views toward diet, physical activity, and health care access to inform the development of a weight loss intervention.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore truck drivers’ views toward diet, physical activity, and health care access to inform the development of a weight loss intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted four focus groups via teleconference (one) or in person (three). Each focus group included eight to ten truck drivers. Sessions were digitally recorded and transcribed. The authors used thematic analysis of the participant responses to develop themes and subthemes.

Findings

Truck drivers desired good health, however, many knowledge gaps were identified. Drivers were aware of some healthy foods, but lacked knowledge of appropriate energy intake and healthy weight. Drivers expressed many barriers to eating healthy food and engaging in physical activity on the road. Participants suggested strategies and resources to improve their diet and increase physical activity.

Research limitations/implications

This qualitative study included a convenience sample of 30 long-haul truck drivers. Consensus of themes and subthemes was achieved by four sessions. Issues facing long-haul truck drivers may be different than other truck drivers. Additional qualitative research should be conducted along with interventions focussed on healthy behaviors that can be implemented in the mobile working environment.

Originality/value

This is the first focus group study of truck drivers that targets eating and physical activity. Future weight loss intervention designs should address the lack of knowledge and skills. To succeed, interventions should implement strategies to address perceived barriers: access, time limitations, and high cost of healthy lifestyle habits.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2019

Francine Dolberth Dardin, Lize Stangarlin-Fiori, Patrícia Vitório Olmedo, Ana Lúcia Serafim and Caroline Opolski Medeiros

The purpose of this paper is to develop, validate the content and analyze the inter-rater reliability of a checklist of good hygiene practices in food trucks (GHPFT).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop, validate the content and analyze the inter-rater reliability of a checklist of good hygiene practices in food trucks (GHPFT).

Design/methodology/approach

The study was carried out in Curitiba, Brazil, and divided into three stages: preparation of the evaluation checklist; validation of the checklist’s content; and reliability analysis. Content validation was carried out by six experts using the Content Validity Index (CVI). The reliability analysis was performed on five food trucks by four partners using the κ coefficient.

Findings

Prior to validation, the checklist contained 34 items divided into 9 categories; after, this number was changed to 30 items divided into 8 categories. The validated checklist presented a CVI=0.867 for each of the categories and κ between 0.636 and 0.759, indicating good reproducibility.

Research limitations/implications

The checklist considered the requirements of Brazilian laws, and may not reflect the good hygiene practices requirements specific to other countries.

Practical implications

The checklist proposed is an unprecedented tool, and may be used in the implementation of good hygiene practices and in inspections carried out by the Health Regulatory Agency for the street food segment.

Originality/value

The study was the first to describe the development, content validation and inter-rater reliability analysis of an evaluation checklist for GHPFT, and the results can be used by professionals working in the area.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 121 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 April 2021

Vanja Prevolšek, Andrej Ovca and Mojca Jevšnik

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the compliance of hygienic and technical standards of street food vendors in Slovenia with the requirements of the general hygienic…

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Abstract

Purpose

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the compliance of hygienic and technical standards of street food vendors in Slovenia with the requirements of the general hygienic food principals set in the Codex Alimentarius and Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.

Design/methodology/approach

Food vendors were observed directly and discretely using a semi-structured observation sheet that allowed fast evaluation. The employee's behaviour was not affected during the observations because they were not aware of being observed. Each observation lasted approximately 30 min. Food vendors were divided into groups according to their location, type of facility, number of employees and type of food sold.

Findings

Depending on the type of street vendor, more inconsistencies were found amongst food stands compared to food trucks and kiosks. Most food trucks and kiosks scored very high in both personal and hygienic-technical standards. Some of the major inconsistencies were lack of suitably located washbasins, improper hand-washing technique, improper waste management, working surfaces that were inadequately separated from consumers, and inconsistent maintenance of the cold chain. Food handlers have been confirmed as a critical risk factor.

Research limitations/implications

Despite methodology validation, the data was collected by a single observer, limiting the ability to obtain a more reliable estimate of the observations. The sample was disproportionate according to the type of street food facilities.

Practical implications

The results provide a basis for (1) national professional guidelines of good hygiene practices for food business operators, which should cover street food vendors more extensively in future updates, and (2) the development of food safety training programmes tailored for street vendors.

Originality/value

The study provides valuable insights into current hygienic-technical conditions of the street food vending sector.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 123 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 5000