Purpose: This study puts forth a consumer-oriented concept of clean labels and attempts to empirically investigate consumer perceptions of these labels.Design/methodology/approach: A self-administered survey (n = 346) was used as the research instrument for data collection in the current study.Findings: Results from an online survey indicate that consumers perceived less processed, elimination of undesired ingredients and ethical concerns as salient attributes associated with clean labels. Consumer-perceived benefits of these attributes include healthiness, social responsibility, sensory appeal, reliable product and low calorie. Additionally, canonical correlation analysis yields two significant associations between clean label attributes and the corresponding benefits. Attributes of elimination of undesired ingredients and utilization of familiar elements drive the benefits of healthiness, low calorie and social responsibility. Attributes of being less processed and with simple ingredients are associated with the benefit of sensory appeal.Originality/value: This study systematically investigates the discrete clean halo effect by empirically examining the associations between the clean label attributes and the dimensionalities of benefits as perceived by consumers.

This study introduces a value-added framework for upcycled food and empirically investigates consumer perceptions of these labeled foods. This study utilized a self-administered survey (n = 379) as a research instrument for data collection. Consumers perceive “they have a positive impact on the environment”; “they are sourced and produced using verifiable supply chains” and “they are new food products” as salient attributes associated with upcycled-labeled foods. Consumer-perceived constraints to accepting upcycled-labeled food include perceived risk and unfamiliarity, and high price. Consumer-perceived benefits consist of high nutrition, hedonic innovation, environmental responsibility and social ethics. In addition, the associations between attributes, benefits and constraints regarding upcycled-labeled food suggest that, counter-intuitively, even provided with transparent source information, consumers still associate this food type with health risks, potentially due to unfamiliarity. This study systematically investigates the salience effect of upcycled labels from two contrasting perspectives and empirically examines the associations between the food attributes and consumer-perceived benefits of and constraints to accepting such food type.

Research published about the restaurant industry has experienced consistent growth over the past few decades. Yet, a comprehensive bibliometric review of this research has not been performed. This study aimed to perform such a review by examining peer-reviewed articles (n = 792) focused on restaurant business research published in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Articles related to health or food science were not examined in this study. Articles were categorized as focusing on one of five types of restaurants (i.e., fast food, fast casual, casual dining, fine dining, and general restaurants), and the articles were analyzed within three research fields: consumer behavior, organizational behavior, and finance. The increasing number of research articles focused on the restaurant industry was found to have occurred during the same time as the number of hospitality scholars and the fast food restaurant sector expanded. Fast food restaurants received the most research attention and the fast casual types received the least. Consumer behavior research dominated the restaurant research, reflecting a focus on customer satisfaction and purchase intentions. Organizational behavior topics, such as workforce dynamics and organizational structure, received slightly less attention. Finance research was the least explored research field, likely due to its complexity and perceived indirect connection to consumer-facing outcomes. The study emphasizes the need for integrative research linking consumer behavior, organizational strategies, and financial decisions to provide a holistic understanding of restaurant performance and industry practices.

Background/Objectives: Research on restaurants has traditionally emphasized business operations. Considering restaurants’ growing role in shaping dietary patterns and public health outcomes, this study aimed to map the scope, trends, and gaps in scholarly research addressing food-related aspects of restaurants, excluding business-oriented topics. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Search terms encompassed multiple restaurant categories, including fast food, fast casual, casual dining, and fine dining. After screening, 956 peer-reviewed English-language journal articles were included. Descriptive performance metrics were calculated, and keyword co-occurrence analysis was conducted. Results: Findings revealed that nutrition-related studies dominate the literature, particularly research linking fast food consumption to obesity and the impact of menu labeling policies on consumer behavior. Food science research was comparatively limited and concentrated primarily on food safety and uses for degraded frying oil. The analysis also highlighted a strong research focus on fast food, while fast casual and fine dining restaurants were notably underrepresented. Conclusions: Future studies should move beyond short-term, cross-sectional designs and incorporate longitudinal approaches to better capture how policy interventions, such as menu labeling and reformulation incentives affect consumer food choices and restaurant offerings over time. Understanding how to reduce restaurants’ contribution to the incidence of diet-related noncommunicable disease risk factors such as obesity and hypertension will require research trials that jointly manipulate key factors such as economic (prices and incentives), structural (recipes, assortment, and operations), and behavioral (choice architecture). Research could also investigate strategies to reduce allergen risks by evaluating standardized training programs and integrated menu/POS disclosure systems. In addition, examination of consumer acceptance of sustainable ingredient substitutions and packaging methods is needed.