An Empirical Study on Consumer Behavior towards Food and Beverage Services in Vietnam

Vietnam is an ideal place in Southeast Asia to expand the food and beverage (F&B) business thanks to stable politics, favorable economic conditions, a young population, and an increasing middle class. Yet Vietnam still poses challenges for the F&B industry wanting to invest in the country. The study aims to identify and evaluate the factors impacting consumer behavior towards F&B services in Vietnam, particularly emerging F&B services. Based on previous studies, we proposed six factors (social influence, service, price, food, atmosphere, and location with 26 observed items) in F&B services that may have a big impact on consumer behavior. The data is collected from 300 consumers who used to use local F&B services. The findings show that socialinfluence, service, price, and food are the four most influential factors. The other two factors such as atmosphere and location have no significant impact on consumer behavior. Besides, there is no difference between consumer groups in terms of income and age. Hence, the current study offers practical insights into the factors that have a significant impact on consumer behavior in F&B services. As such, the findings of this study could assist practitioners in developing a strategic business plan for sustainable development in the F&B industry.