IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i22p9990-d1522083.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Employee Training in Sustainable Practices and Food Waste Influence a Restaurant’s Level of Sustainability-Oriented Service Innovation (SOSI) and Brand Equity? Evidence-Based Research into the Ecuadorian Catering Industry

Author

Listed:
  • María-Gabriela Montesdeoca-Calderón

    (Carrera de Administración de Empresas, Escuela Superior Politécnica Agropecuaria de Manabí MFL, Calceta 130250, Manabí, Ecuador)

  • Irene Gil-Saura

    (Departamento de Comercialización e Investigación de Mercados, Universitat de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain)

  • María-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina

    (Departamento de Comercialización e Investigación de Mercados, Universitat de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain)

  • Carlos Martín-Ríos

    (EHL Hospitality Business School, HES-SO, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland)

Abstract

Restaurant segmentation is an effective tool for decision-making when developing business strategies. The objective of this research is to classify restaurant groups according to the level of employee training in sustainable practices and food waste, and to contrast the differences in the degree of sustainability-oriented service innovation and brand equity, as well as in the implementation of various sustainable practices. A cluster analysis was conducted with 300 restaurants in Guayaquil, Manta, and Portoviejo in Ecuador, based on face-to-face interviews with their managers, and then confirmed with discriminant analysis. Two groups were identified: (1) restaurants with less training in green practices, higher level of food waste, lower level of sustainability-oriented service innovation, and higher brand equity; (2) restaurants with more training in green practices, lower level of food waste, higher level of sustainability-oriented service innovation, and lower brand equity. The most sustainable restaurants claim to have less brand equity, which demonstrates that the Ecuadorian consumer does not particularly value sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • María-Gabriela Montesdeoca-Calderón & Irene Gil-Saura & María-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina & Carlos Martín-Ríos, 2024. "Does Employee Training in Sustainable Practices and Food Waste Influence a Restaurant’s Level of Sustainability-Oriented Service Innovation (SOSI) and Brand Equity? Evidence-Based Research into the Ec," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-14, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9990-:d:1522083
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9990/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9990/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harper, David A. & Endres, Anthony M., 2018. "From Quaker Oats to Virgin Brides: Brand capital as a complex adaptive system," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(6), pages 1071-1096, December.
    2. Soomin Shin & Meehee Cho, 2022. "Green Supply Chain Management Implemented by Suppliers as Drivers for SMEs Environmental Growth with a Focus on the Restaurant Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Bart J. Bronnenberg & Jean-Pierre Dubé & Chad Syverson, 2022. "Marketing Investment and Intangible Brand Capital," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 53-74, Summer.
    4. Romulus Gruia & Gabriel-Iustin Florescu & Liviu Gaceu & Oana Bianca Oprea & Nicolae Ţane, 2021. "Reducing Environmental Risk by Applying a Polyvalent Model of Waste Management in the Restaurant Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, May.
    5. Liu, Chih-Hsing Sam & Chou, Sheng-Fang, 2016. "Tourism strategy development and facilitation of integrative processes among brand equity, marketing and motivation," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 298-308.
    6. Muhammad Ishfaq Khan & Shahbaz Khalid & Umer Zaman & Ana Ercília José & Paulo Ferreira, 2021. "Green Paradox in Emerging Tourism Supply Chains: Achieving Green Consumption Behavior through Strategic Green Marketing Orientation, Brand Social Responsibility, and Green Image," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-24, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joel M. David & François Gourio, 2023. "The Rise of Intangible Investment and the Transmission of Monetary Policy," Chicago Fed Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 0, pages 1-8, August.
    2. Mehdi Hajilo & Mojtaba Ghadiri Masoom & Seyed Hassan Motiee Langroudi & Hassanali Faraji Sabokbar & Lori Pennington-Gray, 2017. "Spatial Analysis of the Distribution of Small Businesses in the Eastern Villages of Gilan Province with Emphasis on the Tourism Sector in Mountainous Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Mahmoud Alreahi & Zoltán Bujdosó & Lóránt Dénes Dávid & Balázs Gyenge, 2023. "Green Supply Chain Management in Hotel Industry: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-32, March.
    4. Tsai, Pei-Hsuan & Lin, Guan-Yi & Zheng, Yu-Lin & Chen, Yi-Chong & Chen, Pao-Zhen & Su, Zheng-Cheng, 2020. "Exploring the effect of Starbucks' green marketing on consumers' purchase decisions from consumers’ perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    5. David A. Harper, 2021. "Entrepreneurial aesthetics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 55-80, March.
    6. Fujisawa, Chieko, 2024. "Corporate strategies to exploit the social status created by advertising: quantity vs. price competition," 24th ITS Biennial Conference, Seoul 2024. New bottles for new wine: digital transformation demands new policies and strategies 302462, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    7. Lingzhi Shao & Qianwen Liu, 2022. "Decision-Making and the Contract of the Complementary Product Supply Chain Considering Consumers’ Environmental Awareness and Government Green Subsidies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-27, March.
    8. Michael Huber & Nikola Komatina & Vladan Paunović & Snežana Nestić, 2023. "Analysis of the Relationship between the Organizational Resilience Factors and Key Performance Indicators’ Recovery Time in Uncertain Environments in Industrial Enterprises," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-19, July.
    9. Phemelo Tamasiga & Taghi Miri & Helen Onyeaka & Abarasi Hart, 2022. "Food Waste and Circular Economy: Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-30, August.
    10. Rehmat Karim & Normah Abdul Latip & Azizan Marzuki & Sajjad Haider & Memoona Nelofar & Faqeer Muhammad, 2021. "The Impact of 4Ps Marketing Mix in Tourism Development in the Mountain Areas: A Case Study," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(2), pages 231-245.
    11. Caroline Olufunke Esangbedo & Yu Chang & Md. Moynul Hasan, 2025. "Unlocking eco-friendly market success: the CAC approach to green marketing, green expertise, and green purchase behaviour," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2025(3), pages 267-291, September.
    12. Abrar Alhomaid, 2025. "Building Trust in Sustainable Journeys: The Interplay Between Green Marketing, Green Brand Trust, and Tourism Purchase Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-21, September.
    13. Qun Zhao & Pei-Hsuan Tsai & Jin-Long Wang, 2019. "Improving Financial Service Innovation Strategies for Enhancing China’s Banking Industry Competitive Advantage during the Fintech Revolution: A Hybrid MCDM Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-29, March.
    14. Liu, Chih-Hsing, 2021. "Conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses of sustainable behaviour," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Félix-Fernando Muñoz, 2024. "The fundamentally uncertain economic agent: Brian J. Loasby’s growth of knowledge approach to the psychology of human action," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 23(1), pages 163-192, December.
    16. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus, 2020. "Collaborative innovation blocs and antifragility," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 537-552, August.
    17. Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Alfonso Infante-Moro & Andrew Zimbroff & Yevheniia Ziabina, 2024. "The Role of Visual Branding in Driving Investment Attractiveness in the Digitalisation Era: Psychophysiological Data Analysis," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 7(4), pages 7-29, December.
    18. Mubariz Mammadli, 2022. "Environmentally Responsible Business Approaches in Azerbaijan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-25, May.
    19. Mohammed Ali Sharafuddin & Meena Madhavan & Thanapong Chaichana, 2022. "The Effects of Innovation Adoption and Social Factors between Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices and Sustainable Firm Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-30, July.
    20. Miroslav D. Vujičić & James Kennell & Alastair Morrison & Viachaslau Filimonau & Ivana Štajner Papuga & Uglješa Stankov & Djordjije A. Vasiljević, 2020. "Fuzzy Modelling of Tourist Motivation: An Age-Related Model for Sustainable, Multi-Attraction, Urban Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-19, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9990-:d:1522083. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.