An Assessment of Contemporary Dining Out Behaviour: The Moderating Factors of Culture and Food Selection within Chinese Full-Service Restaurants in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Shanghai can be described as metropolitan, a gateway, a hub of international traffic and a multi-cultural city. Given these facts, it can be expected that the Shanghai population is comprised of people from not only different regions of China, but also from other countries. It is been asserted by many researchers (e.g. Bojanic and Xu, 2006) that culture affects one’s dining behavior and people are subject to the influence of other cultures. Shanghai, as a place with a population of mixed cultural background, is therefore an ideal research subject for this study. The main purpose of this study is to understand the dining out behaviour of Shanghai residents in Chinese full-service restaurants in Shanghai, China. This study seeks to understand how other cultures have integrated into the Shanghai culture and how that affects the dining habits of Shanghai people. The study proposes that different people are subject to different levels of acculturation. Past research in the hospitality field indicates that the level of acculturation may affect the food practices and preferences of an individual (Sukalakamala and Brittin, 2006; Maamoun et al, 2007; Kremmyda, et al., 2008). However, most studies about acculturation affecting food habits focus on how people adapt themselves when they move overseas (e.g. Chinese people living in the USA). Little attention has been attributed to studying acculturation within the same country, which is important since people may exhibit different behaviour even within the same culture (Chang, 1979). Therefore, it is the intention of this study to contribute to what is a gap in the literature. This study collected 2103 responses from 42 Chinese full-service restaurants in Shanghai. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in this study. The techniques that this study relied on to analyse the data included statistical computer software AMO S (structural equation modelling), CATPAC (artificial neural network software), SPSS 16.0 which was used for frequency analysis, descriptive analysis, independent sample t-test, one way ANOVA, factor analysis and cluster analysis. Results indicate that culture is a strong predictor of Shanghai people’s dining out behaviour, which includes their motives, restaurant choice, food choice and dining evaluation. It is also evident that Shanghai people are showing a growing awareness towards health food.