Factors influencing customers' behavior toward eating healthy food in restaurants at Minia governorate in Egypt

Abstract EN

The research aimed to examine the factors influencing customers' behavior towards eating healthy food at Minia district restaurants in Minia governorate in Egypt.

The research used a quantitative approach and conducted descriptive-analytical methodology by using a questionnaire.

The inhabitants of Minia district were the population of the research who visit 52 main restaurants in Minia.

Five hundred questionnaires were distributed to restaurants' customers as a sample of the research, 385 returned questionnaires were valid to analyze with a response rate of 77 % of distributed questionnaires.

The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression, T-Test, and Anova by using SPSS 22.

The results showed that the averages of restaurant customers' affective attitude; injunctive and descriptive norms; perceived behavioral control; behavioral intentions; behavior were moderate, which might cause obesity and its diseases to customers.

Moreover, perceived health problems of eating high-calorie foods; positive outcomes of eating healthy food; affective and cognitive attitudes; injunctive and descriptive norms; perceived behavior control had a significant influence on customers' behavioral intentions towards eating healthful food in restaurants.

Customers' behavioral intention also had a significant influence on their eating healthy food behavior.

There were only significant differences between customers' educational levels, where customers who got secondary school were better than those who got bachelor degree towards eating healthy behavior.

Menu calorie labeling; Healthy food; Theory of planned behavior, Behavioral intentions, Customer behavior.