Factors Affecting Consumers’ Dining Manner During the COVID-19 Situation in Bangkok and Its Vicinity

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 affected many aspects including lifestyle and traveling, especially with the service and restaurant sectors being broadly affected during the lockdown measures. Consumers had to change their lifestyles to the New Normal. This leads to two research objectives: 1) to study the characteristics of consumers before, during the COVID-19 outbreak, and after the lockdown protocols were relaxed; and 2) to analyze factors that affected consumers returning to eat at the restaurants during the reopening period. The data were collected from 257 consumers who have been to restaurants in Bangkok and its vicinity by using online questionnaires. Afterward, the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics methods together with spatial analysis with the Geographic Information System. The results found the following. 1) During the COVID-19 outbreak more people used delivery services and self-catering while during the relaxing period, the frequency and distance of travel to eat at the restaurant decreased from before the outbreak. 2) Factors that most affected consumers returning to eat at restaurants during the reopening period are the taste and food quality followed by the atmosphere of restaurants and the feeling of eating at restaurants. Overall, the research results can be used as a guideline to study consumer information and restaurant sectors in other areas in the future to obtain more complete research results.