Students’ Choice of Dining Outlets during the COVID-19 Pandemic: What did Students Consider?
Noble Amoako Sarkodie 
, Edwina Asamoah , Jane Dery , Charlotte Gyimah & Comfort Gyeduaa
Issue: Vol.5 No.16 Issue Article 7 pp.2780 – 2788
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245167 | Published online 4th December, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The study investigated factors influencing tertiary students’ choice of dining outlets amidst the COVID-19 pandemic with its concomitant challenges and restrictions in Ghana. A cross-sectional survey was employed using a simple random sampling technique through a lottery to select 222 final-year students from Sunyani Technical University. A questionnaire was employed to gather data from respondents. The findings of the study conveyed that all the factors investigated are influential to students’ choice of dining outlets. The study further established that the gender of the students significantly influenced their choice of dining whilst age did not influence students’ choice of dining outlets. It is envisaged that the study would be beneficial to the government, hospitality operators, and hospitality educators as it contributes to providing a deeper insight into current factors that influence students’ choice of eatery during the heat of covid-19 pandemic. This study recommends that hospitality operators should focus more on the “cleanliness of serving wares equipment as well as all the areas examined to attract consumers in the study area. By complying with these recommendations, it is hoped that hospitality operators will become more competitive and will be able to meet the needs of their customers.
Keywords: Covid-19 Pandemic, Dining, Outlets, Choice, Students, Hospitality Operators
Adediran, Olabanji. “Factors Influencing Patronage and Effectiveness of Consumers’ Demographic Attributes On Preference for Foodservice Outlets in Ilorin, Kwara State.” IOSR Journal of Business and Management 12 (June 1, 2020): 10–18. https://doi.org/10.9790/487X-2206111018.
Azim, Ahsan, Noor Ali Shah, Zeeshan Mehmood, Sajid Mehmood, and Mohammad Majid Mehmood Bagram. “Factors Effecting the Customers Selection of Restaurants in Pakistan.” International Review of Management and Business Research 3, no. 2 (2014): 1003.
Blešić, Ivana, Jovanka Popov-Raljić, Tatjana Pivac, and Milan Ivkov. “Factors Influencing Students’ Choice of Fast Food Restaurants.” Ekonomika Poljoprivrede 65, no. 1 (2018): 257–68. https://doi.org/10.5937/ekoPolj1801257B.
Choi, Jinkyung, and Jinlin Zhao. “Factors Influencing Restaurant Selection in South Florida: Is Health Issue One of the Factors Influencing Consumers’ Behavior When Selecting a Restaurant?” Journal of Foodservice Business Research 13, no. 3 (2010): 237–51.
Cousins, J., D. Lillicrap, and S. Weekes. Food and Beverage Service. 9th ed. UK: Hodder Education, 2014.
Deivanai, P. “Factors Influencing to Preference of Fast Food Restaurants.” IOSR Journal of Business and Management 18, no. 08 (August 2016): 20–25. https://doi.org/10.9790/487X-1808042025.
Islam, Nazrul, Mohitul Ameen Ahmed Mustafi, Md Sazzad Ahmed, Md Mamunur Rashid, Md Abrar Ul Kabir, and Toufiq Nazrul. “Factors Influencing the Selection of Restaurant for Dining in Dhaka City of Bangladesh.” Global Journal of Management and Business Research 18, no.7(2018):31–38.
Jain, Anupam, and Meenakshi Sharma. “Brand Awareness and Customer Preferences for FMCG Products in Rural Market: An Empirical Study on the Rural Market of Garhwal Region.” VSRD International Journal of Business & Management Research 2, no. 8 (2012): 434–43.
Khan, Mubbsher Munawar, and Mariam Fasih. “Impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty: Evidence from Banking Sector.” Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences (PJCSS) 8, no. 2 (2014): 331–54.
Kim, Soyeon, and Jae-Eun Chung. “Restaurant Selection Criteria: Understanding the Roles of Restaurant Type and Customers’ Sociodemographic Characteristics,” 2011.
Madahi, Abdolrazagh, and Inda Sukati. “The Effect of External Factors on Purchase Intention amongst Young Generation in Malaysia.” International Business Research 5, no. 8 (2012): 153.
Mhlanga, Oswald. “What Are the Current Factors Affecting Consumer Selection Criteria in Formal Full Service Restaurants in Port Elizabeth, South Africa?” African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 2016.
Mohamad, B.B. “Factors influencing the customer for selection and preference of restaurants: A study on Dhaka City, Bangladesh.” International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 7(7), (2019); 23-28.
Monteiro, Nicole, M., and Diana J. Wall. “African Dance as Healing Modality Throughout the Diaspora: The Use of Ritual and Movement to Work Through Trauma.” The Journal of Pan African Studies 4, no. 6 (September 2011).
Murimi, M W, M Chrisman, H R McCollum, and O Mcdonald. “A Qualitative Study on Factors That Influence Students’ Food Choices.” Journal of Nutrition and Health 2, no. 1 (2016): 1–6.
Namkung, Young, and SooCheong Jang. “Does Food Quality Really Matter in Restaurants? Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions.” Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research 31, no. 3 (2007): 387–409.
Rai, Bharat. “The Effect of Demographic Factors on Consumer Purchase Intention in Buying Television Set in Kathmandu Valley: An Empirical Study.” Pravaha 25, no. 1 (October 9, 2020): 23–32. https://doi.org/10.3126/pravaha.v25i1.31871.
Stati, S. and Farhat, M. “Factors influencing the selection of fine dining restaurants in Delhi and NCR: An empirical study.” International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) 1(4).(2017) ISSN 2454-6186.
Schafer, Robert B, Elisabeth Schafer, Martin Dunbar, and Patricia M Keith. “Marital Food Interaction and Dietary Behavior.” Social Science & Medicine 48, no. 6 (1999): 787–96.
Sriwongrat, Chirawan. “ Consumers’ Choice Factors of an Upscale Ethnic Restaurant.” Lincoln University, 2008.
Summers, Teresa A, Bonnie D Belleau, and Yingjiao Xu. “Predicting Purchase Intention of a Controversial Luxury Apparel Product.” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal 10, no. 4 (2006): 405–19.
Wilson, Stephanie. “The Effect of Music on Perceived Atmosphere and Purchase Intentions in a Restaurant.” Psychology of Music 31, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 93–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735603031001327.
Winer, Russell S. “A Reference Price Model of Brand Choice for Frequently Purchased Products.” Journal of Consumer Research 13, no. 2 (1986): 250–56.
Wong, A. “The role of emotional satisfaction in in-service encounters.” Managing Service Quality, 14(5), (2014); 365-376.
Dr. Noble Amoako Sarkodie is a Senior Lecturer at the Sunyani Technical University in Ghana. He has thirty journal articles and three book publications to his credit. His main field of interest is hospitality and tourism-related courses.
Comfort Gyeduah is a PhD candidate at the University of Cape Coast and a Lecturer at the Sunyani Technical University in Ghana. She specializes in Food and beverage and food production. She has five journal articles to her credit.
Jane Dery is a Lecturer at the Sunyani Technical University in Ghana. She specializes in Food and beverage and food production. She has four journal articles to her credit.
Charlotte Gyimah is an Assistant Lecturer at the Sunyani Technical University in Ghana. She specializes in Food and beverage and food production. She has four journal articles to her credit. She is also the head of the Hospitality unit in the school.
Edwina Asamoah is an Assistant Lecturer at the Sunyani Technical University in Ghana. She has four journal articles to her credit. She also has about twenty-five years of teaching experience in the areas of Food and beverage and food production operations.
Sarkodie, Noble Amoako, Edwina Asamoah, Jane Dery, Charlotte Gyimah & Comfort Gyeduaa. “Students’ Choice of Dining Outlets during the COVID-19 Pandemic: What did Students Consider?,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.16 (2024):2780 – 2788. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245167
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
