FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 🙡🙡 RESEARCH PROPOSAL Changes in Vietnamese customer behavior toward F&B service in pandemic context Group : Class : KTEE206(GD1-HK1-2223).1 Instructor : Dr Pham Thi Cam Anh Hanoi, October, 2022 Table of content Abstract Background Problem statement Literature review 4.1 The F&B Service 4 6 4.1.1 The F&B Service introduction 4.1.2 Customer and the F&B service industry 4.2 Consumer Behavior 4.3 Covid-19 pandemic Methodology and method 5.1 Research Paradigms 9 5.2 Research Design 10 5.3 Data Collection and Timeframe 11 5.4 Data Collection Sources 12 5.5 Sampling Technique and Timeframe 12 5.6 Questionnaire 13 5.7 Ethical consideration 16 10 11 12 Significance and contribution of the study Scope of the study Limitations of the study Direction for further research Research timeline Dissemination Plan References 16 17 17 18 18 19 22 Table of figures Figure Food Supply chain processes - movement of food Figure Food Supply chain processes - movement of money Figure A proposed 10-week timeline for research 19 Figure Target audience specification for dissemination plan 20 Figure Dissemination methods and channels 21 Abstract In the years 2019–20, the abrupt emergence of the coronavirus illness (COVID–19) quickly swept over the world, exerting a high level of negative impact on every single corner of the world As COVID-19 got underway, Vietnam quickly established the lockdown and social estrangement norms in our cultures The pandemic's brutal spread did not disturb just people's health and quality of life but also the global economy, and supply systems, As major cities shut down for several months, the unexpected disruption has tightened its grip on the global food supply chain and the service sector in the food and beverage manufacturing industries Additionally, food is necessary for life because it provides energy for movement, growth, and all bodily activities As a result, we may have seen a change in Vietnamese citizens' eating and drinking habits This study's goal is to investigate how changing consumer habits in the food and beverage sector link to pandemics A method that combines quantitative and qualitative approaches is used to achieve this goal, together with a stratified sampling technique and systematic sampling Keywords: COVID-19; global pandemic; food and beverages industry; Vietnam; consumer behavior Background In late 2019, the main metropolitan area of Wuhan in the Chinese province of Hubei recorded a new pneumonia outbreak that the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) eventually called SARS-CoV-2 began The lockdown of cities worldwide, labor mobility restrictions, travel bans, and airline suspensions, which severely affected all aspects of life and, most importantly, slowed down the economy, have made it clear how the pandemic has affected society and the economy This has had a serious impact on the sustainability of supply chains in many businesses around the world Given that food is not just a commodity, but also life (Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, 2016), the food and beverage business has been identified as one of the most significant and lucrative manufacturing sectors However, due to COVID-19, the F&B services were faced with a number of difficulties, including supply chain management, safety, disaster management and reshaping business models, digitization, and technological innovation, as well as other unintended effects Additionally, there have been significant changes in consumer behavior worldwide regarding food, from daily diet to overall food and drink consumption habits Regarding Vietnam, it has emerged as one of the world's most investment-attracting and vibrant food and beverage (F&B) markets, ranking top 10 in Asia during the prepandemic phase (IBM, 2019) Vietnam's food and beverage sector have been steadily expanding, and its market is expected to be quite promising before 2019 The entire revenue from food and beverage items was 975,867 billion VND, up 3.8% year over year, and contributed 15.8% to the GDP the next year With 35% of total monthly consumer expenditures, food and beverage spending was the largest category However, the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak forced the Vietnamese people to cut back on their spending General customers reduced their intake of a variety of goods, including beer, wine, and soft beverages Instead, during social withdrawal, most people practically double the amount of food they buy and stockpile at home Additionally, during the economic slump, more than 85% of businesses experienced issues with distribution, inventory control, and human resource management Problem statement According to a report from the UK Department for International Trade in 2018, the market size of food and non-alcoholic beverages in Vietnam was forecast to grow 11.6 percent between 2018-2022 and be worth US$40 billion by 2021 However, with the implementation of lockdown methods from the government as soon as the first case of COVID-19 has been recorded in Vietnam, industry development has been tremendously obstructed regarding the pandemic impacts on F&B supply chain continuity, workforce, and customer behavior patterns A recent study conducted on U.S household food purchasing and management behavior highlighted that 62% of survey participants were cooking more at home due to COVID-19 and 26% of households added a refrigerator, and 12% added a freezer This, in turn, implies an upward trend in home dining in the world's largest economy In the meantime, another similar study carried out in China suggests that Chinese consumers experienced a shift from physical store offline purchases to online purchasing models Regarding the psychological aspect of customers, another survey conducted by Accenture reveals that 64% of their participants worried about their own health and 84% worried about the health of others at the same time Despite the fact that there have been several studies on consumer behavior in the food and beverage sector both internationally and domestically (for example, Pardey, Beddow, Hurley, Beatty & Eidman, 2014; Shafique Ul Rehman Memon, Vijayanta Ramesh Pawase, Tushar Ramesh Pavese and Maqsood Ahmed Soomro, 2021 and Thao Hoang, Javel Suleri, 2021), the analyses conducted in this study were done in the context of full consumption, stressing factors such the level of competition, the differentiation of the products and services, However, academic and professional information about Vietnam situation is still very restricted in the current postpandemic environment, and the subject of consumption habits remains understudied with reference to the effects of the pandemic (Dias et al., 2021) Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how altering consumption trends in the food and beverage industry relates to a pandemic in Vietnam In more detail, this paper discusses how the food and beverage sector has changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as how consumer behavior has changed as a result nationwide The research will focus on answering all of the following questions: + How Vietnamese dining habits respond to the lockdown policy enacted by the government? + How has Vietnamese favor toward online ordering platforms changed throughout the pandemic? + What are the main fears of Vietnamese in the F&B industry during the pandemic? Literature review 1.1 1.1.1 The F&B Service The F&B Service introduction The F&B industry (or food and beverage industry) includes all businesses that process raw materials for food, packaging, stocking, distributing and providing services F&B contains prepared foods, packaged food, alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks (global EDGE) As a section of the F&B industry, Food and Beverage Services can be broadly defined as the process of preparing, presenting and serving of food and beverages to the customers (by tutorialspoint, 2016) Working in the Food & Beverage service industry, we are selling more than simply food and drinks Additionally, we also sell the service, comfort, the ambiance, and try to meet the customer’s expectations (Daly, 2021) Stated by John Cousins and Suzanne Weekes in the book “Food and Beverage Service” 10th edition, 2020, food service industry contains many different sectors, classified according to the type of customer demand met: ▪ Hotels and other tourist accommodation ▪ Restaurants (conventional and specialist operations) ▪ Popular catering/casual dining (cafés, pizza, grills, specialist coffee shops, roadside restaurants and steakhouses) ▪ Fast food ▪ Takeaway ▪ Retail stores ▪ Event/banqueting/conferencing/exhibitions ▪ Leisure attractions ▪ Motorway service stations ▪ Industrial catering/business and industry ▪ Welfare catering ▪ Licensed trade ▪ Transport catering ▪ Event catering The book also indicates that F&B service aims to meet the needs of customers, including physiological, economical, social, psychological and convenience needs On the basis of nature of operation, Food and Beverage services can also be classified into these different sectors, according to a blog by Deepan, 2020: ▪ Primary catering sector: F&B departments under this category are mainly concerned with the provision of food and drinks to customers Some prime examples are restaurants, cafeterias, or outdoor catering like food festivals, ▪ Secondary catering sector: Providing food and beverage is not the main purpose, but to support another activity, or be a part of another business Transport catering like airlines, railway and cruise catering, factory canteen, food and drinks served in movie theaters, … Focusing specifically on the Vietnamese market, according to BMI, the food and beverage market in Vietnam was one of the most attractive in the world in 2019 (ranked 10th in Asia) In 2020, food and beverage sales as a whole totaled US$41.7 million (+3.8 percent YoY) Food and beverage spending accounts for the largest share of customers’ monthly expenditure structure (approximately 35% of spending) The GDP growth rate of Vietnam always stays positive, despite a decrease from 7.2% in 2019 to 2,6% in 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic (Worldbank) Together with the upward trend in the economy, Vietnam also has a sizable young population and a middle-class population that is expanding quickly In a 2018 research, PWC predicted that more than a third of Vietnam's population - 44 million people - might be in the middle class by 2020 It is anticipated that this middle class will continue to expand, spreading out geographically and become more and more diverse A number of 95 million strong middle class is anticipated in Vietnam by 2030 Greater purchasing power will further demand for food and beverage, particularly eating out, as Vietnam's middle class expands and disposable incomes rise across all segments of the population The F&B service in Vietnam witnessed a considerable expansion in recent years According to Dcorp R- Keeper, there were more fast food restaurants in Vietnam in 2018 (7,000+), compared to the country's total of 540,000 food and beverage establishments, which included 430,000 street sellers, 80,000 restaurants, and 22,000 cafés and bars The market for foodservice in Vietnam was valued at USD 24.62 billion in 2020, and it is anticipated to grow at an expected CAGR of 8.65% between 2021 and 2026 1.1.2 Customer and the F&B service industry The food supply chain was described by Mark Gibson in the book “Food and society” in 2020 as process respecting the steps below: Production Processing Distribution Consumption Figure Food Supply chain processes - movement of food In the food supply chain, Food moves from Farmers, who provide raw material to consumers via the processes of producing, processing, distribution and consumption, in a domino-like fashion At the same time, money that consumers pay for food moves from consumers to producers in the reverse process, again in a domino-like fashion from consumer to retailer to distributor to processor to productor Consumption Distribution Processing Production Figure Food Supply chain processes - movement of money The figure shows that if the consumer does not pay for the product or service, we will not be able to cover the costs of every step in the process above This means consumers play a key role in a Food supply chain, and a change in consumer behavior will force all the other sectors to shift 1.2 Consumer Behavior Consumer behavior is the study of all customer activities related to the acquisition, use, and disposal of products and services, as well as the consumer's behavioral and emotional reactions that precede, influence, or follow these activities (Consumer Behavior, 2010) Consumer behavior includes social trends, frequency patterns, and background factors influencing their decision to buy something (Clint Fontanella, 2022) It starts when the consumer becomes aware of a need or desire for a product, then continues with the purchase of that product (Howard, 1977) Developed by Bernoulli about 300 years ago, and later extended by Neumann and Morgenstern, Utility Theory stated that consumers make choices based on the expected outcomes of their decisions, and consumers were viewed as rational decision makers who estimate the probabilistic outcomes of decisions and select the one which maximized their benefit According to a writing by Lasalle University published in June, 2021, there are some important factors that influence consumer behavior, including Personal, Social, Cultural and Psychological influences Personal factor: Different individuals have different backgrounds, personalities and experience, so one factor may influence people at various levels The most important personal factors are age, occupation, financial situation, lifestyle, personality and selfconcept Social factor: Human beings are social species We need people around and we all live in a society, so it is obvious that social influences play an important role in shaping consumer behavior Two prime social factors are Family and Reference groups Cultural factor: Culture is a reflection of a society’s traditions, norms, values, and customs Like social factors, culture greatly influences how people discern the surrounding world and their…… The surrounding culture and subculture of consumers; as well as their social class, including wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status or derived power are examples of cultural influences Psychological factor: Including perception, motivation, beliefs and attitudes They all shape the deciding and conscious or subconscious thought processes of a consumer before they eventually purchase a product 1.3 Covid-19 pandemic World Health Organization - WHO defines a “pandemic” as “The worldwide spread of a new disease”.A disease is called a pandemic, it must ensure two factors: it must be a new disease and it must spread widely around the world (Vinmec) In early December 2019, pneumonia with an unidentified cause was detected among a number of patients in a hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China One month later, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, the disease caused by a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), a Public Health Emergency of International Concern After a rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases and affected countries, The World Health Organization declared the disease a pandemic on March, 12, 2020 Up to now, there are 626,523,805 confirmed cases and 6,560,801 deaths reported globally (Worldometer) The COVID-19 epidemic has caused a dramatic loss of life worldwide and poses an unprecedented threat to food systems, public health, and the workplace The pandemic's severe economic and social dislocation puts tens of millions of people at risk of falling into extreme poverty (WHO) According to data from Statista, during 2020, the world's collective gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 3.4 percent As the world’s GDP in 2020 was 84.54 trillion U.S dollars, the loss caused by the pandemic was over trillion U.S dollars Global unemployment rate witnessed a sharp rise from 5.36% in 2019 to 6.37% in 2020 With respect to Vietnam, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Vietnam are much lower than in most countries worldwide due to early and aggressive antipandemic response But this does not mean that the impact of the pandemic on Vietnam is less severe GDP in the third quarter of 2021 decreased by 6.17% compared to the same period in 2020 Industry and construction decreased by 5.02% and service decrease by 9.28% in 2021 (VietNam General Statistics Office) Methodology and method 2.1 Research Paradigms A research paradigm is regarded as a set of beliefs, values, perceptions and aesthetics that determines the way a phenomenon of interest is investigated (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000) Identification of a research paradigm for a particular study is important for the researcher as it determines how the world works, how the knowledge was gained, what type of questions should be asked, how data collected should be interpreted and what criteria underlies adequate answers to research questions (Perry & Bellamy, 2012) Although this sounds rather profound, research paradigms comprise of practices that reveal precisely what researchers are doing when embarking on research: developing knowledge in a particular field (Saunders, et al., 2019) Accordingly, there are five philosophical assumptions including: Positivism, Critical Realism, Interpretivism, Postmodernism and Pragmatism (Saunders, et al., 2019) For the current study, Pragmatism is adopted 2.2 Research Design The approach used is the deductive approach, which implies that on the basis of what is known about the domain and the theoretical considerations within it, the team would deduce a hypothesis (or hypotheses) that must be subjected to empirical scrutiny This is the most suitable approach for the study, since there is a variety of prior research into the topic, with solid theoretical background Furthermore, since the group of authors are Vietnameses, having experienced COVID-19 in Vietnam and constantly using Food & Beverage services, it is likely that self-experience will greatly contribute to generating hypotheses Following that, to test the hypotheses of behavior changes in Vietnamese customers toward the Food & Beverage industry within the pandemic context, the mixed method is applied to collect, analyze and integrate research data in discovering answers to research questions To be more specific, mixed research method is a branch of multiple research methods integrating the use of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and analytical procedures in the same research project (Saunders, et al., 2019) Firstly, qualitative method is defined as the methodology which requires researchers to combine different viewpoints, opinions, assumptions or observations of other people or to systemize and evaluate different data sources to acquire a better knowledge of the underlying reasons and tendency or infer the nature and development trend of the phenomenon based on the predictor's subjective judgment and analysis ability (Saunders, et al., 2019) That said, a qualitative method would enable the author to collect data and information more easily as most of which is subjective information More specifically, a qualitative method could assist authors in outline the overall picture of Vietnamese consumers and Vietnamese F&B Industry, forming the basis for arguments, findings and recommendations in the later parts Secondly, for the quantitative method, it is defined as “a research tactic that focuses on the quantification in the whole process from data collection to data analysis” (Bryman, 2012) With that being said, the overall research method’s purpose is to investigate the answers to the questions starting with how many, how much, to what extent (Bryman, 2012) To that, the method requires the researchers to divide the social phenomena into separated empirical components referred to as variables,which are usually presented numerically as rates, scale level or frequencies and then apply the statistical techniques to find out the dependent relationships between one another In addition, quantitative methods look deeply into the objective measurements and the statistical, 10 mathematical, or numerical meaning of data collected through various approaches, thus it allows researchers to generalize findings for the whole groups of people and/or to explain a common phenomenon (Babbie, 2010) Significantly, this research method is beneficial for the author to accomplish the research objectives for the following reasons Firstly, the quantitative findings could truthfully represent a whole population or a sub-population’s characteristics if the sample is large enough and is randomly selected (Carr, 1994) Secondly, this analysis method is less time-consuming, more effective and trustworthy because of modern and objective analytical software utilization such as SPSS, Excel, (Connolly, 2007) Overall, with deductive approach and mixed research methods, the author could effectively examine and justify the current theories and knowledge of behavior changes and F&B Industry status within the COVID-19 context 2.3 Data Collection and Timeframe As this thesis employs both quantitative and qualitative research methods, there are two major data collection techniques employed by the team The first data collection technique is archival and documentary research With the digitalization of data and the creation of online archives, along with open data initiatives by governments and businesses, this strategy would enable the author to conduct research in a considerable scope and grant the author access to certain types of documentary sources such as annual reports, company results, financial highlights, press releases and regulatory news(Saunders, et al., 2019) Moreover, this strategy would assist the author to find relevant theoretical evidence from archived academic journals, articles, reports, theses and etc However, this technique to collect secondary data sources also brings some uncertainty and considerations to the researchers The first and foremost challenge is to determine the validity and reliability of the data sources (Saunders, et al., 2019) That said, researchers should be mindful about the purposes of the sources because some documents were not originally created for a research purpose (Saunders, et al., 2019) Moreover, the documents could vary in quality as some data may be missing or not presented in a consistent way, making comparison difficult or potentially leaving gaps in the analysis (Saunders, et al., 2019) The second data collection technique, which aims at collecting primary data for prevalently generating quantitative findings is survey strategy using questionnaires Firstly, survey is a common research strategy adopted in business and management research which offers the author opportunities to provide answers to various types of questions, thereby tends to be appropriately used for exploratory and descriptive research (Saunders, et al., 2019) Next, survey strategy not only allows the collection of standardized data from a large number of respondents in an easy and economical way but also allows the easy comparison between answers, thus implying that the findings would be reliable and statistically representative of the whole population at a lower cost than collecting the data for the whole population (Saunders, et al., 2019) 11 Moreover, the author could control the whole research process more effectively with the help of survey strategy using questionnaires Accordingly, questionnaire used in the current research comprises of two major parts including the first part for gathering information of participants and the second part concerning questions to examine the determinants of As such, the detailed questions and scale measurements for the variables in the second part would be illustrated separately in the following part 2.4 Data Collection Sources As mentioned earlier, primary data sources will be collected through a specific structured survey using questionnaires The set of questions will be sent directly to the selected Vietnamese customers The sampling technique will be presented in more detail in the following part In addition, secondary data, which includes macro-leveled measurable data and reports dashboards about F&B businesses' income, customer demand for each food segment, will be collected mainly from published articles on Google Scholar, WorldBank, IMF, KPMG, Deloitte, 2.5 Sampling Technique and Timeframe The sampling technique used to collect the primary data is stratified sampling combined with systematic sampling This method was chosen due to its time-saving and cost-efficient factors Additionally, with the main technique being stratified, the data will be represented as authors can ensure that each of the strata is represented proportionally within the chosen sample In detail: Firstly, stratified random sampling is a modification of random sampling in which you divide the population into two or more relevant and significant strata based on one or a number of attributes In effect your sampling frame is divided into a number of subsets A random sample (simple or systematic) is then drawn from each of the strata Consequently, stratified sampling shares many of the advantages and disadvantages of simple random or systematic sampling However, dividing the population into a series of relevant strata means that the sample is more likely to be representative, as you can ensure that each of the strata is represented proportionally within your sample (Saunders, et al., 2019) Secondly, systematic sampling involves you selecting the sample at regular intervals from the sampling frame To this you will first number each of the cases in your sampling frame with a unique number The first case is numbered 0, the second and so on Afterward, select the first case using a random number, followed by calculating the sampling fraction In the end, select subsequent cases systematically using the sampling fraction to determine the frequency of selection (Saunders, et al., 2019) This study will be using a list of Vietnamese in significantly affected regions by the pandemic as the sampling frame, since it is the most likely way to compare changes in behavior The regions have already been categorized by the government, applying the color code method, and the authors will choose red, orange and yellow areas in peak 12 time (implying those areas had suffered severe damage) The dataset will be divided into regions Aligned with that, the discrete strata will match with the selected provinces in Vietnam Within each stratum, the individual cases were then numbered, using the list of registered residences in the area Afterward, the team decided to select a sample using systematic sampling However, it is worth noticing that there are differences in the sample sizes, which will be taken into account when aggregating data from each of the strata to obtain an overall picture Notably, the time horizon of the research is cross-sectional, which involves the study of a particular phenomenon at a particular time (Saunders, et al., 2019) This is an appropriate time frame for the current study and complies with the whole research design stated above 2.6 Questionnaire Part 1: General Information of Participants Gender ● Male ● Female ● Other ● Prefer not to say Age ● Under 18 ● From 18 to 30 ● From 30 to 60 ● Above 60 What is your permanent address (Name of the City)? _ Income per month ● Under 5.000.000 ● From 5.000.000 to 10.000.000 ● From 10.000.000 to 20.000.000 ● Above 20.000.000 Part 2: Changes in F&B Consumption Behavior due to the Pandemic Multiple choices and checkbox questions Before the pandemic, how often did you eat out (times/ week)? 13 ● Under to times ● From to times ● From to times ● From to 10 times ● Others… After the pandemic, how often did you eat out (times/ week)? ● Under 1-2 times ● From to times ● From to times ● From to 10 times ● Others… Before the pandemic, how often did you order food via online platform? ● Under 1-2 times ● From to times ● From to times ● From to 10 times ● Others… During and after the pandemic, how often did you order food via online platform ● Under 1-2 times ● From to times ● From to times ● From to 10 times ● Others… Which meals you often order via online platforms ● Breakfast ● Brunch ● Lunch ● Dinner ● Late meals ● Others… On a to scale, with being the lowest and being the highest, comparing the pre and post-pandemic scenario How much did you reduce your attendance to food and beverage establishments? ● 14 ● ● ● ● What are the main factors that affect your F&B choice? ● Safeness ● Cheap ● Fast ● Healthy ● Convenient ● Other……… What are the factors that create discomfort or fear when attending a food and beverage establishment? ● Price ● Food Safeness ● Decoration ● Location ● Food Choice (Diversity) ● Other……… Comparing the pre and post-pandemic scenario, which eating habits you find change the most? ● What you eat ● How you eat ● Where you eat ● Ways to access your food (online ordering, directly from market, …) ● Others… Tick in the box that best describes your opinion – Totally disagree; – Disagree; – Neutral; – Agree; – Totally agree Statement The pandemic affects my eating habits 15 After the pandemic, I give more attention to the food and beverage I consume Comparing pre and post-pandemic, I prefer home meals more I significantly reduce my attendance to food and beverage establishments I use online ordering platforms more constant after the pandemic 2.7 Ethical consideration In this part, we will describe how the data was collected with regard to ethical norms and guidelines We have carried out our research, especially in the process of gathering and processing our data in accordance with Article 38 in Vietnam Civil code In particular, on the gathering and interviewing part, we will inform all of our participants that the data is going to be recorded and collected and it is going to be used only for study and researching purposes and privately archived after the research finishes We also will also commit that the data of the participants will not be sold under any circumstances The interview process will only proceed with the acknowledgement and consent of the interviewee The sampling technique that was used in the survey is stratified sampling combined with systematic sampling, therefore the information collected is not sensitive in any way, there is no personal information involved such as address, name, email address However, there are basic questions posed like gender, age, and salary which are only used for improving our insight derived from the dataset During the process of data analyzing, all of the data will only be accessed by researchers taking part in the research and data access permission will be managed carefully throughout the researching phase with assistance from specialized software After the research has finished, all of the data will be encoded in order to prevent hacking from anonymous cybercriminals With regard to the outcome of the research sample, we will not provide any external motivation or bonus for the participants to complete the survey since it can affect the results towards biased opinions Furthermore, the sampling technique will be strictly followed in order to generate a sample that is identical to the population as much as possible and thus reducing the bias level in our data sample Significance and contribution of the study The significance of this research is to show the government and the people the changes in Vietnamese customer behavior toward F&B service during the pandemic period in Viet Nam Sociological and anthropological studies have the potential to 16 enrich consumer research in the food service industry by casting light on the individual experience that underlies consumer responses Most studies have been more concerned with the societal effects of the food service industry, but a few researchers have used … analysis to assess consumers’ deeper meanings This may represent a way toward understanding perceptions of restaurant experiences Through this study, we have discussed the decline of the Food and Beverage Industry during this unexpected time, the pandemic of Covid-19 in Vietnam We will now proceed to a brief summary of our study and to a description of our findings and conclusions When we defined our research questions, we decided to split our answers by asking inquiries about how often they visit the restaurant each week or whether they usually order food via online platforms before and after the pandemic When considering the post and pre-pandemic routine (dependent variable) aligned with the individual fears and life adaptations (independent variables), we can highlight that the main contributions to the dependent variable were the gender, the age, the exaggerated proximity of employees leading us to conclude these are the main characteristics that will make individuals reconsider their attendance in restaurants Finally, it is important to question how this industry will move on after the pandemic, will help individuals maintain their life adaptations and value more being at home and contradict the authors McKercher et al (2008), Cardello et al (2016), and Jaeger et al (2017) that have stated that eating out is an experience that contributes to the creation of good emotions Moreover, an important thought to consider is, as we live in a world of constant change (Schifferstein & Hekkert, 2007) will this industry be able to face future unpredictable catastrophes that will surely appear? Scope of the study Basically, there are many social effects of the food service industry in Vietnam The main focus of this study will be on the changes in citizen behaviors toward F&B service within the studied frame of 3/2020 - 5/2022 when the pandemic reigned This research covers all aspects of consumer behavior related to food choice and potentially encompasses topics such as food consumption behavior; consumer multisensory perception; healthy, nutritional, or quality food choices; hedonic and functional food selection; as well as social and cultural aspects of food choice However, due to insufficient data, the study is restricted to the personal respondent given by the customers Limitations of the study Firstly, the study still has some shortcomings and mistakes Due to time, space, and budget limitations, our team only focuses on evaluating some key factors affecting customer behavior toward F&B service in Vietnam In addition, the difficulty in accessing documents to supplement the assessment and analysis based on secondary data is also a barrier that makes the research incomplete and general Secondly, this current thesis adopts stratified sampling techniques for data collection, 17 which subsequently can just potentially alleviate but cannot totally eradicate selection bias Last but not least, our second data collection technique is survey strategy using questionnaires which means the comparison is based on cultural differences between different areas in the country Food has a strong cultural imprint and it would be important to analyze these differences Besides, cultural differences at the generational level, comparing different age groups and their relationship with food, evaluating the behavior of segments such as the millennials or generation Z, which represent groups of growing importance And in line with many studies, it would also be important to study the effect of gender in the study model, understanding the differences that may or may not exist between male and female consumers Direction for further research Based on the current research’s findings and limitations mentioned above, the author would propose some following directions for future studies into the discipline of changes in customer behavior toward F&B service during the pandemic period Potential researchers should get the sample size as large as possible to obtain precise results Or they should also employ other methods for data collection and data analysis to provide thorough results such as the application of a longitudinal study In addition, future research papers are advised to spend more time, effort and budget to be able to achieve the best achievements Research timeline Stage Activity Finalize research problem/questions Research design and planning Duration days Develop research design Confirmed research problem/questions Draft research design section for final report week Prepare research proposal Literature review Output Search, capture and synthesize relevant literature Research proposal/ ethical approval submission week Notes and other output from the review process 18 Stage Data collection Data collection Data analysis Writing up Activity Duration Output Prepare draft literature review week Finalize sampling plan days Develop data collection instrument days Draft data collection instruments Pre-test data collection instrument days Finalized data collection instrument Carry out data collection weeks Write up data collection days Prepare data for analysis day Draft literature review section for final report Sampling plan Raw data Draft data collection section for final report Dataset ready for analysis Analyse data week Output notes from analysis Draw conclusions/ recommendations days Draft data analysis and findings section final report Write final draft weeks Final draft Review draft week Notes of feedback Final editing days Final application Figure A proposed 10-week timeline for research 19 Dissemination Plan The overall objective of this research is to help Vietnamese businesses to better understand their customer behavior and the trend in behavior patterns within the country which will enhance their capability in establishing relevant marketing campaigns as well as designing appropriate product features Moreover, the research will provide an overview of the F&B industry picture to the general public that will improve the citizens' perception on a related topic Hence, the four main target audiences of our research are the academic community, interest-group community, business in the F&B industry and the general public The research being accessed by the researching community will not only promote the researching spirit within the general academic community as a whole but also the university students as well, especially in Vietnam where the practice of researching is still underrated and researching skills are extremely limited With these reasons being stated, we would like to propose the following plan for reaching our target audience Target audience Clarification Academic community Researchers from different fields associated with technical institutions and universities working in different topics related to our project F&B Companies Companies and firms working in the Food and Beverage Industry Interest-group community The end users’ community included people working in F&B industry, interested in F&B industry or researching customer behavior and consulting firms General public People who are not members of a particular organization but interested in reading news related to our topic Figure Target audience specification for dissemination plan Dissemination method Disseminating channel Target audience Websites Acamedia.edu Academic community 20 Dissemination method Disseminating channel Target audience ScienceDirect F&B Companies Interest-group community General social networks Twitter General public Facebook F&B Companies Specialized social networks LinkedIn Academic community Research Gate Interest-group community Published e-documents Deliverables Academic community Project documents Interest-group community F&B Companies Academic dissemination Press releases Journal publications Academic community Meetings Interest-group community Conferences F&B Companies Newspaper articles Academic community Interest-group community F&B Companies General public Figure Dissemination methods and channels 21 References ADM Investor Services Research Team “Consumer Behavior Shifts: Ways Food & Beverage Innovation Is Evolving amid COVID-19.” Www.thepoultrysite.com, Sept 2020, www.thepoultrysite.com/news/2020/09/consumer-behavior-shifts-6-ways-foodbeverage-innovation-is-evolving-amid-covid-19 B GAJJAR, NILESH Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior Apr 2013 Creswell, John W, and Vicki L Plano Clark Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research 3rd ed., Los Angeles, Sage, 2018 Creswell, John W Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches 4th ed., Erscheinungsort Nicht Ermittelbar, Sage Publications Ltd, 2013 Denzin, Norman K, and Yvonna S Lincoln Handbook of Qualitative Research Thousand Oaks, Sage, 2000, pp 105–117 E.Bender, Kathryn, et al “Consumer Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of Food Purchasing and Management Behaviors in U.S Households through the Lens of Food System Resilience.” Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, vol 82, no 101107, 26 June 2021, p 101107, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012121000999, 10.1016/j.seps.2021.101107 Accessed Aug 2021 Fox, James “Vietnam’s F&B Industry: Market Trends and Consumer Preferences.” Vietnam Briefing News, 13 July 2022, www.vietnambriefing.com/news/vietnams-food-and-beverage-industry-market-trendsdemographics-consumer-preferences.html/ globaledge “GlobalEDGE.” Msu.edu, 2019, globaledge.msu.edu/industries/food-and-beverage/background Ha, Thai “Impact of the Covid-19 Epidemic on the Growth of Economic Sectors Third Quarter of 2021.” General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2021, www.gso.gov.vn/en/data-and-statistics/2021/12/impact-of-the-covid-19epidemic-on-the-growth-of-economic-sectors-third-quarter-of2021/#:~:text=GDP%20in%20the%20third%20quarter%20of %202021%20decreased%20by%206.17 Accessed 10 Oct 2022 10 Lăng, Trường “The New Outlook of Vietnam Food and Beverage Industry and Chances for Investors Post - Covid - 19.” Viettonkin, 16 June 2022, www.viettonkinconsulting.com/fb/the-new-outlook-of-vietnam-food-andbeverage-industry-and-chances-for-investors-post-covid-19/? fbclid=IwAR06wPzg37DF2aAx91UGQepXCrRt0jPn1kPS0F_jGDlZxWU6bf5 MIN2jv0A Accessed Oct 2022 11 lasalleUniversity “The Personal, Social, Cultural and Psychological Influences on Consumer Behavior.” La Salle University, June 2021, online.lasalle.edu/degrees/business/mba/general/influences-on-consumerbehavior/ 22 12 Malik, Sidra, et al ProductChain: Scalable Blockchain Framework to Support Provenance in Supply Chains Nov 2018, 10.1109/nca.2018.8548322 13 Mirza, Faisal Alan Bryman-Social Research Methods, 4th Edition-Oxford University Press (2012).Pdf Www.academia.edu, Alan Bryman, 2012, www.academia.edu/38228560/Alan_Bryman_Social_Research_Methods_4th_ Edition_Oxford_University_Press_2012_pdf 14 News, VietNamNet “Báo VietnamNet.” VietNamNet News, May 2020, vietnamnet.vn/en/fb-businesses-in-vietnam-experiencing-dark-days637534.html Accessed Oct 2022 15 Perri 6, and Christine Bellamy Principles of Methodology : Research Design in Social Science Los Angeles, Sage, 2012 16 Plecher, H “Global Unemployment Rate up to 2019.” Statista, 25 Nov 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/279777/global-unemployment-rate/ 17 Saunders, Mark, et al Research Methods for Business Students 8th ed., Pearson, 2019 18 The World Bank “GDP (Current US$) - Vietnam.” Worldbank.org, 2022, data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=VN 19 “The Personal, Social, Cultural and Psychological Influences on Consumer Behavior.” La Salle University, June 2021, online.lasalle.edu/degrees/business/mba/general/influences-on-consumerbehavior/ 20 Thomas, Michael “Quantitative Data Analysis in Education - by Paul Connolly.” British Journal of Educational Technology, vol 39, no 6, Nov 2008, pp 1133–1134, 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2008.00908_4.x 21 tutorialspoint “Food and Beverage Services - Quick Guide - Tutorialspoint.” Tutorialspoint.com, 2019, www.tutorialspoint.com/food_and_beverage_services/food_and_beverage_serv ices_quick_guide.htm 22 VietnamPrintBack “Vietnam’s Food & Beverage Industry: Market Trends, Demographics, Consumer Preferences - 2022 the 20th Vietnam International Printing & Packaging Industry Exhibition.” Www.chanchao.com.tw, 15 July 2022, www.chanchao.com.tw/VietnamPrintPack/newsDetail.asp?serno=3920 23 Wagenaar, Theodore C, and Earl R Babbie Practicing Social Research : Guided Activities to Accompany the Practice of Social Research, Ninth Edition Belmont, Ca, Usa, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2001 24 WorldOMeter “Coronavirus Toll Update: Cases & Deaths b nvy Country.” Worldometers, 2022, www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ 25 Szmigiera, M “Topic: Coronavirus: Impact on the Global Economy.” Statista, 15 Sept 2021, www.statista.com/topics/6139/covid-19-impact-on-the-globaleconomy/#dossierKeyfigures 23 ... change in Vietnamese citizens' eating and drinking habits This study's goal is to investigate how changing consumer habits in the food and beverage sector link to pandemics A method that combines... government? + How has Vietnamese favor toward online ordering platforms changed throughout the pandemic? + What are the main fears of Vietnamese in the F&B industry during the pandemic? Literature... preparing, presenting and serving of food and beverages to the customers (by tutorialspoint, 2016) Working in the Food & Beverage service industry, we are selling more than simply food and drinks