An investigation of consumers' perception of food safety in the restaurants

The purpose of this study was to investigate consumers' perception on restaurants' food safety. More specifically, the first objective was to identify the importance and performance of casual dining restaurant selection factors from the aspect of food safety in the U.S., using the IPA model. The second objective was to assess the relationships between three cleanliness clues (functional clues, mechanic clues, and humanic clues) and overall satisfaction and their effects on behavioral intention. A survey instrument was used for primary data collection. Employees keeping their fingernails clean, employees wear clean uniform or protective clothing, and employees wear gloves while handling ready-to-eat food items were captured in the “concentration” quadrant, indicating they are very important to the respondents but the restaurants' performances were not satisfactory. Three cleanliness clues directly influenced overall satisfaction towards a restaurant and customer's revisit intention.