Catering establishments in the everyday life of urban residents

Notman Ol'ga Valer'evna ORCID: 0000-0002-3393-9933 Doctor of Sociology Professor; Department of Applied Sociology; Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin 620062, Russia, Sverdlovsk region, Yekaterinburg, Mira str., 19 o.v.notman@urfu.ru Other publications by this author     Shevchenko Nikita Grigorievich Master's degree; Department of Applied Sociology; Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin 620062, Russia, Yekaterinburg, Mira str., 19 twinable0025@gmail.com

Smirnova Ol'ga Gennad'evna PhD in Sociology Associate Professor; Department of Applied Sociology; Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin 620062, Russia, Yekaterinburg, Mira str., 19 olga.smirnova@urfu.ru

Introduction

The active development of the catering market has become a noticeable feature of modern life in Russian cities, especially megacities. The growth of urbanization, the rapid pace of life of urban residents and the associated specific needs due to the lack of time to implement a range of everyday tasks have contributed to increasing the importance of various forms and formats of public catering in the lifestyle of citizens.

The current stage of development of the Russian catering market is characterized by the involvement of an increasing number of people in the food culture outside the home, the growing demands of consumers on the quality of service, quality and variety of products ^[1]. As the experience of recent years shows, the withdrawal of Western food suppliers and service companies from the market was not critical for the development of the Russian catering industry. In 2023, the catering market in Russia showed unexpected growth, despite significant challenges – inflation, staff shortages, rising prices and periodic disruption of the availability of a number of products ^[2].

The unstable economic situation requires business entities to quickly adapt to market requirements, including modification of services, menus, recipes, as well as the search for alternative suppliers and opportunities for the development of their enterprises. In the context of dynamic market changes, the study of consumer preferences is an important component of the processes of improving the quality of service in the catering industry and developing an effective strategy for the development and promotion of enterprises in this field.

The purpose of our study was to identify consumer preferences and behavioral practices of citizens in the catering market. The study tested the hypothesis of the importance of the social and communicative function of public catering establishments in the perception of citizens. This function of a "meeting place and communication" was artificially blocked during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the restrictions imposed and replaced by a "contactless" practice of interacting with customers through ready-to-eat delivery services.

The theoretical context

The social and communicative function of catering establishments was first conceptualized by sociologist R. Oldenburg. Within the framework of his theory, catering establishments – cafes and coffee shops, along with other public spaces – were called "third places" – spaces outside the home and work, in which informal communication takes place, due to a certain situational context and does not exclude elements of creativity. For the full implementation of the social and communicative function of the "third places", the following conditions must be met: a comfortable atmosphere of the institution, territorial accessibility, price flexibility, openness, neutrality and democracy, the possibility of regular visits. Among the barriers to the realization of the social and communicative function, Oldenburg singled out ignoring the individuality of the visitor (a person is only a buyer who will be billed), moving catering establishments to the territory of shopping centers (as a result, "places" turn into "non-places" and lose social functions), turning urban space into a space for cars, making it difficult to walk accessibility of a public place ^[3].

Researchers of public catering establishments as socially significant spaces emphasize the increasing influence of media technologies on the urban environment and communication of citizens ^[4,5]. If in the 1990s and early 2000s there was a clear tendency to weaken the role of physical space in comparison with virtual space ^[6], then in the second half of the 2000s the phenomenon of hybridization appeared - mixing of online and offline worlds ^[7-9]. O.G. Kvyat, analyzing the "third places" in According to the theoretical framework of "cities 3.0", it comes to the conclusion that post-virtual reality in Russian urban culture does not yet dominate, but only manifests itself in the form of local spatial and temporal enclaves ^[5]. We believe that in the near future the hybridization of "third meta" will become a normative model, however, the needs of live communication in the real space of places (including catering establishments) will not lose their importance for the modern inhabitant of a megalopolis, who daily experiences a complex of negative effects of virtual information overload. In addition, the trends of the pandemic period – such as the active development of online aggregators, contactless formats and self-service cash desks, food delivery services and courier services ^{[10, p. 33]} – require continued research within the framework of the post-pandemic period, which demonstrated the value of direct social contacts between people in real (not virtual) space.

Data and methods

The results of our study are based on data from an online survey of Yekaterinburg residents conducted in March-April 2024. In order to reach various socio-demographic groups of the urban population, a streaming sample was used, suggesting the distribution of questionnaires through the most possible and accessible communication channels. The questionnaire was posted on popular social networks and online communication platforms, distributed through Telegram channels of food bloggers and influencers of the catering market, student chats, the personal page of the Vkontakte social network of the organizer of the survey, N.G. Shevchenko. To attract respondents of older age groups, the WhatsApp client chat of the Center for Social Services of the Population, which consists of about 400 pensioners from all administrative districts of Yekaterinburg, was used. The use of various platforms and channels made it possible to minimize the risks of data bias associated with the predominance of respondents with homogeneous socio-demographic characteristics and interests. As a result of the online survey, 610 questionnaires were collected through Google Forms. The share of working citizens in the sample was 60.2%, students -19%, pensioners – 17.2%, unemployed/unemployed – 3.6%.

The results of the study

The results of the study showed that 95.2% of the respondents regularly visit catering establishments. This fact confirms the important role of catering establishments in the daily life of citizens. Less than 5% of respondents who do not attend catering establishments are, as a rule, non-working pensioners. Among the main reasons for "non-attendance" are the following: financial constraints (44.8%), preference for homemade food (41.4%), distrust of the quality and safety of products (34.5%). Table 1 shows the main reasons for visiting public catering establishments.

Table 1

Motives for visiting public catering establishments (in % of the number of respondents)

* The total of responses exceeds 100%, because respondents could choose more than one answer

The data in Table 1 show that the most significant motive for visiting public catering establishments is a communicative one – the desire to spend time with friends or family. Just under half choose restaurants and cafes to diversify their tastes and expand their culinary experience. The third and fourth places are shared by hedonistic atmospheric causes and causes of special cases. It is characteristic that banal or utilitarian reasons are at the bottom of the rating of motives for visiting. Thus, our data confirm the hypothesis of the high importance of the social and communicative function of public catering establishments as places of meetings and communication. An analysis of respondents' answers to questions measuring quantitative indicators of behavior showed that a city dweller visits public catering establishments 6.2 times on average per month, uses delivery on average 3.8 times a month. Thus, the frequency of "communicative" behavioral practices significantly exceeds the frequency of "non-communicative" ones. The revealed fact further confirms the importance of the socio-communicative aspects of consumer practices, which are difficult to recreate in any other way – for example, by resorting to ready-made food delivery services from restaurants.

For 61.1% of citizens, the choice of the day of visit does not matter, 23.5% prefer to visit catering establishments on holidays and weekends, 15.1% - on weekdays. This fact indicates that for a significant proportion of citizens, visiting public catering establishments is a regular practice of daily life and communications, which are not strictly tied to specially designated days. At the same time, the largest number of visits is in the evening – 74.5% of respondents prefer to visit catering establishments in the evening (dinner), 65.6% - in the afternoon (lunch), 26.2% - in the morning (breakfast).

Preferences by type of establishments also confirm the importance of social and communicative aspects of catering establishments for citizens (Table 2).

Table 2

Preferences by type of establishments (in % of the number of respondents)

* The total of responses exceeds 100%, because respondents could choose more than one answer

The data in Table 2 show the growing popularity of establishments that, in addition to providing basic services, have the most suitable spatial and atmospheric conditions for meetings and communications. It is characteristic that when assessing the importance of factors in choosing a catering establishment, the price factor, contrary to our assumptions, does not play a decisive role for citizens, being in seventh place with a significance index of 3.77 (the index was calculated as the average value of the assessment measured on a 5-point scale of importance of the factor). The leading positions are occupied by factors related to food quality, hygiene and safety, service, menu and variety of dishes, as well as the atmosphere of the institution – the index of importance of these factors varies from 4.69 to 4.09. The hypothesis about the significant role of external influence factors on consumer choice has not been confirmed either: "reviews on the Internet", "ratings of establishments on specialized sites", "recommendations of food bloggers and restaurant critics" occupy the last positions in the ranking of the importance of factors with indices 3.0; 2.90; 2.51, respectively.

During the data analysis, a number of dependencies were revealed between the assessment of the importance of factors in the choice of catering establishments and the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. The higher the income level, the less important are the factors related to savings (price, special offers and promotions, loyalty programs) and the more important are the factors of food quality, service, atmosphere of the establishment, menu and variety of dishes. The location factor of the institution is most important for students and working citizens. The price has a higher significance for students and retirees. Special offers and promotions are most important for students and pensioners, and least important for workers. Reviews on the Internet are of the greatest importance for students, the least for pensioners.

Conclusion

The results of the study showed the important role of catering establishments in the daily lives of urban residents. The behavioral practices of citizens indicate the regularity of visits to public catering establishments, regardless of the day of the week, the preference for evening visits, and the more frequent use of real visits in comparison with the use of ready-made food delivery services. The consumer preferences of citizens in the catering market are characterized by a pronounced communicative dominant, confirming the importance of the social function of catering establishments. The most significant motive for visiting public catering establishments is communication with friends and family. The most popular are cafes, restaurants, coffee shops – establishments that provide the best atmospheric and spatial opportunities for "live" communication. Among the factors of choosing public catering establishments, the factors of food quality, service, and the atmosphere of the institution are leading. External factors do not have a decisive influence on the consumer's choice. Our research proves the importance of public catering establishments as places for the realization of the social and communicative needs of citizens. The desire of citizens to return to the practices of interaction in physical space and awareness of the value of live communication can be considered as a new post-pandemic trend in the catering market.