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

María-Gabriela Montesdeoca-Calderón, Irene Gil-Saura, María-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina () and Carlos Martín-Ríos
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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

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-14

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.

Keywords: segmentation; restauration; cluster analysis; discriminant analysis; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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