Green practices in upscale foodservice operations : Customer perceptions and purchase intentions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate customers' perceptions and purchase intentions related to green practices in an upscale, green certified restaurant, on a university campus located in the southeastern USA. Design/methodology/approach Design/methodology/approach – The survey was adapted from a previous survey conducted by DiPietro et al. Findings – The results revealed that customers believed that they are knowledgeable about green practices but they would still like to know more about them. Customers also expressed preferences related to restaurants that are environmentally friendly and use environmentally safe products. Moreover, female customers and people with higher education were more conscious regarding green practices. Customers who utilized green practices at home intended to visit green restaurants more often. Research limitations/implications Research limitations/implications – The respondents were sampled from an upscale university restaurant, and were mostly within the age range of 50 and older (60.7 percent), which is not typical of a university foodservice operation. The restaurant used in this study catered more to faculty, staff and other professionals close to the university, and did not have a large student customer base. Another limitation of the study is that the prior knowledge and preferences of respondents regarding green practices was not measured. Because of the use of a convenience sample, the results are not generalizeable, but can be used to further research in this area. Practical implications Practical implications – The practical implications of the study are that restaurant managers should target more specific marketing strategies and employee training related to green practices. Green restaurants that have a high proportion of female and highly educated customers should pay attention to promoting green practices, especially in areas that are visible to the guest, as these are the respondents who had the highest preference for being informed about green practices. Originality/value Originality/value – The current study looked at an upscale, on-campus university restaurant that had a very highly educated and older population. Previous studies analysed fast food or casual dining restaurant perspectives. Compared to the Hu et al.