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The purpose of this paper is to examine food safety behaviors of consumers and employees at university food courts.

Using a smartphone-based observation technique, a total of 149 consumers and 34 employees were observed at three food courts at a mid-western university in the USA. The observational tool recorded 30 sequential transactions of each individual, allowing researchers to identify the compliance rate to the rubric. Both descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance were used for data analysis.

This study found a low compliance rate of food safety practices among consumers and employees at university food courts. Consumers’ food safety practices varied depending on gender, observed ethnicity and party size, while none of those factors was significant for employees. Specifically, females, Caucasians, and lone diners showed higher non-compliance rates than those of males, non-Caucasians and group diners.

The results of the study raise the pressing needs of developing effective risk communication strategies at university food courts for both consumers and employees in order to reduce the potential risk of foodborne illness outbreaks.

University food courts are not only major foodservice operations for on-campus populations as well as off-campus visitors and the local public, but also the presence of shared dining area pertains the potential risk of foodborne illnesses. However, lack of attention has been paid to the food safety issues at university food courts, and especially food safety behaviors of consumers. This study extended the knowledge of previous food safety literature by adopting a smartphone-based observation technique and developing a rubric customized for consumers and employees at university food courts.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the students’ perceptions of an on-campus foodservice operation at an identified historically black college and university (HBCU) and its effect on their satisfaction and dining frequency.

A survey of 685 students was conducted to collect data. Partial least squares based structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed structural model with SmartPLS 3.0.

Results confirm that quality of food, ambience, value for money, food and beverage options and service quality have a positively significant impact on students’ overall satisfaction with the on-campus foodservice operation and dining frequency. As such, all the hypotheses are supported.

These findings indicate that on-campus foodservice operators should focus on quality of food, ambience, value for money, food and beverage options and service quality to achieve student satisfaction. This in turn could positively impact the institution’s reputation, student retention and the marketability of the institution to future students.

This study would help on-campus foodservice operators to better understand the impact of the various elements of foodservice experience which will lead to students’ overall satisfaction and dining frequency, particularly in a HBCU setting.

The purpose of this paper, a cross-cultural study, is twofold: first, to identify personal, social, demographical and marketing facets that imply fast food addiction in Pakistan and America, and second to explore the reasons of reduction in fast food consumption in Pakistan.

The present study followed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used to obtain supportive results of fast food consumption with the help of defining logical relations between independent and dependent variables. Partial least square based structural equation modeling technique was used to analyze quantitative data. For qualitative data, NVivo 11 was used to explore themes.

Quantitative findings of Pakistani setting suggested that craving and impulsiveness have a significant relation with addiction and have no mediation effect in both the countries. However, these results contradict with US study. Qualitative findings explored many personal, social, marketing and health factors that have affected fast food market of Pakistan which include low income, price-sensitive market, low quality, poor services, PFA, word of mouth, mood, obesity, environment and cultural influence on the consumption behavior of Pakistani consumers.

This study is restricted to the consumption behavior of fast food only in two countries the USA and Pakistan. Hence, the results of this study cannot be generalized to other countries’ cultural and traditional values. In addition, this study only focuses on personal, social and marketing factors that implicate fast food addiction.

The consumption of fast food was the focus of analysis. Therefore, research adds value to service industry and helps in developing growth and marketing strategies for the fast food industry.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes in emotion brought by eating the midday meal. Many aspects of eating out have been studied, yet emotions remain an under‐researched area, despite having been shown to play a significant role in food consumption.

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study, involving semi‐structured interviews with British undergraduates about changes in their emotional state after eating their lunchtime meal. Data were analysed through the technique of thematic analysis.

Participants observed a clear relationship between their emotions and eating a meal, with changes noted in concentration, energy and happiness levels. The quality of the food eaten was an issue of concern to participants; access to a healthy meal was seen to be important, given the perceived benefits for emotional and physical health. Finally, eating was deemed to be both a physical and social activity. Eating in company enhanced the emotional experience of dining, as it offered the opportunity to bond with friends. Recommendations for further research are made.

This research addresses a paucity of information on the link between food and emotion, helping to better understand the role of emotions when eating out. Further research into different settings is called for in order to broaden the understanding of the relationship between eating and emotional state, and to find out whether or not similar findings emerge from alternative settings.

Food waste in the hospitality sector has emerged as a global concern. Various technology-driven online food services such as the food delivery apps (FDA) contribute to hospitality food waste. FDA users might behave irresponsibly by ordering more foods than required which may lead to food waste generation. To date, limited studies have been attempted to understand how consumers’ over-ordering behavior through FDA result in hospitality food waste.

The authors used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze survey data from 248 FDA users.

The results indicated that perceived convenience and trust positively influence consumers' attitude toward FDA, which in turn promotes over-ordering behavior. Interestingly, the anticipated positive relationship between price advantage and attitude toward FDA was not supported by the data. Furthermore, the authors confirmed that over-ordering behavior contributes to food waste, an outcome that has crucial implications for both the hospitality sector and sustainability efforts.

The current study employs the stimulus-organism-behavior-consequence (SOBC) theory to investigate the catalysts and consequences of over-ordering behavior via FDA. This study thus highlights the importance of the SOBC model in understanding consumer behavior.

This case dates back to 2017 and revolves around three budding entrepreneurs studying in a prestigious university in Haryana. A collaborative initiative by Abhishek Ganesh and Shine Varghese Saji to make the Onam festival in their university a huge success among their fellow mates initiated their journey of entrepreneurship. The three entrepreneurs got their first lesson that students are ready for a service if it is interesting and enjoying but not at a very high price. They studied the market and observed that there was a lack of substitutes providing high-quality but affordable travel services. With the three entrepreneurs gelling successfully, they decided to form a company that offered relaxing weekend gateways at high quality but at an affordable price. So, the company, The Great Expedist came into existence as a Partnership Company under the treasurer's name, that is, Anurag Bansal and started business from 5 February 2017. The aim of the company was to provide varied experiences to their customers including adventure sports, team building activities, historical learning and a comfortable stay that delivers a unique travel experience to students at an affordable price.

As every new initiative brings challenges along with it, the entrepreneurs had to face resistance from vendors, hoteliers and even students from other universities. But with their sheer grit backed by full support from their university entrepreneurship cell, they overcame the challenges smoothly.

But the issue of pricing was of prime concern for them. With students being a price-sensitive market coupled with vendor issues, they found it difficult to earn revenues. So, they decided to opt for mark-up pricing and offered 15% mark up on the costs incurred by the company in arranging for hotel, travel and other logistic arrangements. With passage of time and enhancement of negotiation power, they decided to offer more value-oriented services at similar price points. This enhanced their profit margins due to increase in volume of sales.

The targeted promotions and positive WOM were making them popular but the issue of customised service seemed a challenge. Each student had a different set of priorities in terms of travel, stay and food offered. The company wanted to enhance their profits so either the negotiation had to be great or the price to be enhanced. This issue landed them in a dilemma. They wanted to diversify, promote and research all of which required a lot of money. They even thought of diversifying into the senior citizen category. It was a lucrative segment with huge profit margins but with its own set of huge challenges too. So, they are stuck up with a dilemma. Should they negotiate with vendors or should they increase the price of the service package? Should they stick to their current target group of students or diversify to the segment of senior citizens or a completely new segment?

In this article, we identify various foodservice-related attributes that are important for undergraduate students residing in hostels and avail service from specific foodservice providers. We also investigate the performance of attributes to determine areas where the foodservice providers should maintain a high performance or where improvement is required.

We apply the Kano methodology to design the questionnaire for 24 different attributes. For each attribute, we construct three questions; namely, functional type, dysfunctional type, and performance of the hostel foodservice. We collect a total of 317 responses. We use multiple methods to determine the dominant category. Finally, combining the values of these methods, we study relative positions of the attributes in the importance–performance grid.

Based on the Kano categorization, quality-related attributes are most important, followed by hygiene, comfort, availability, variety, and time, in the descending order. The gender of the respondent plays an important role in categorization of some attributes. Using the importance–performance analysis, we identify the attributes where the foodservice provider should maintain a high performance or where improvement is required. Improvements in some attributes are difficult due to foodservice provider's self-assessment of high performance or high difficulty for improvement.

In this study, we examine the importance of various foodservice attributes among undergraduate residential students. We combine multiple methods of Kano categorization to compute importance values of the attributes. We also investigate the reasons behind the gap between student's and foodservice manager's perception of the performance of these attributes.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether length of time spent in the USA impacts perceptions of international students studying in US schools regarding the service and food quality of on‐campus foodservice operations.

The researchers surveyed international students at one Southeastern and one Southwestern university in the USA regarding their perceptions of university foodservice, divided into six factors, i.e. service and sanitation, food dislikes, selection and taste, drinks, value, and crowding. A two‐way MANOVA test was performed using SPSS Version 17.0 to identify any significant differences between the six factors, time in the USA, and universities.

MANOVA testing indicated that there was a significant difference between length of time in the USA and the ratings of the service and sanitation factor. The group that had been in the USA for less than six months rated the service and sanitation factor higher than the group who had been in the USA for over a year.

Campus administrators and food service operators need to consider that the interaction and socialization provided by the on‐campus dining experience may be an important step of the adaption process for international students.

The study applies theoretical concepts regarding service quality and adaptation that have not been used previously to study international students and their on‐campus foodservice preferences.

This research investigates factors affecting the intention to sort waste. Specifically, this research aims to develop a waste-sorting intention model by extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model and to test the model to ensure the model's goodness-of-fit, validity and reliability.

This research used a quantitative research methodology. Data were collected from 460 respondents using an online questionnaire. Some statistical analyses were performed to analyze the data: descriptive statistics, factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis-structural equation modeling (CFA-SEM), SEM and Cronbach's alpha analysis.

The result shows that the intention to sort waste was directly affected by attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), moral obligation and facility support. Environmental concerns, waste-sorting knowledge and time availability indirectly influenced the intention to sort waste. The testing indicated that the proposed model was fit, valid and reliable.

The model provides a more comprehensive understanding of waste-sorting intention. The central and local governments can use the results to encourage waste-sorting intention in the community.

This research is believed to be the first study to develop and test the waste-sorting intention model that extends the TPB model by incorporating moral obligation, facility support, policy and regulation support, environmental concerns, waste-sorting knowledge and time availability into the traditional TPB model.

Appropriate hand hygiene technique is a simple and effective method to reduce cross contamination and transmission of foodborne pathogens. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the frequency of hand hygiene activities among food handlers and consumers in fast food restaurants (FFRs).

A total of 25 FFRs and cafes were visited between May and August 2017 in North West England. A hand hygiene observational tool was adapted and modified from previous studies. The observational tool was designed to record 30 sequential hand activities of consumers and employees. Each transaction consisted of an observed action (e.g. touch with bare hands), object (e.g. exposed ready-to-eat (RTE) foods) and observed hand hygiene practice (e.g. handwashing or cleaning with wipes or sanitisers). Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) swabs of hand-contact surfaces of restaurants’ restrooms were carried out.

Findings revealed that both food handlers and consumers have low-hand hygiene compliance rate in FFRs. Consumers were more likely to clean their hands with napkins after handling exposed RTE food. Food handlers were observed to change into new gloves without washing their hands before handling exposed RTE food. The mean results for all hand-contact surfaces in restrooms were higher than 30 Relative Light Units indicating unhygienic surfaces. Male restroom exit doors’ ATP levels were significantly higher than females.

This study revealed the lack of hand hygiene practices among food handlers and consumers at FFRs and cafes. Restroom hand-contact surfaces revealed high ATP level indicating unhygienic surfaces. This can potentially re-contaminate washed hands upon touching unhygienic surface (e.g. exit door panel/handle) when leaving the restroom.