Innovations in the restaurant industry: An exploratory study

Abstract

This paper tends to identify managers' current innovation activities and attitudes, and also perceptions of what might become future trends and the prospective course in the restaurant industry. Additionally, this paper analyses linkage between sociodemographic profile of managers and a type of innovation they prefer/apply. Full service casual dining restaurant managers from three different countries were interviewed in order to examine their attitudes towards innovations, and to reveal their perceptions of future trends. ANOVA was used to reveal differences between managers' attitudes towards the area of innovation. The results of qualitative study highlight five areas of innovation that could help managers create value based service and increase competitiveness. It is found that age, education level and experience of the restaurant managers affect the innovation type they apply. Additionally, this paper is the first to examine the linkage between socio-demographic profile of restaurant managers and a type of innovation they apply. It offers useful guidelines for hospitality managers.

Keywords

• restaurants
• innovations
• managers' perception
• competitive advantage
• hospitality trends