Clean safety message framing as survival strategies for small independent restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic

Although Korea is considered as being successful in controlling the coronavirus disease without a lockdown, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to enormous changes in Korean restaurant operations. This study was designed to document the impact of clean safety food message framing as a survival strategy for small independent restaurants on customer repurchase intention and actual sales. Results indicated that customer intention to repurchase menu items to which message framing were applied significantly improved sales performance of specific restaurant menu items identified in this study. Such positive effects remained stable, which in turn confirmed that clean safety message framing can be a highly efficient sales promotion strategy for small, independent restaurants, specifically during pandemic such as COVID-19. These findings can be employed by restaurants to achieve sustained competitive advantages through the development of more appropriate types of clean safety message framing targeted to consumers who are skeptical to dine-in or order from restaurants.