Consumer response to organic food in restaurants: A serial mediation analysis

The last decade has seen heightened consumer interest in restaurants serving organic food. Offering organic menu items can translate into benefits for food purveyors, but the mechanism through which this occurs remains unclear. Results from our serial mediation analyses show that organic menu items resulted in higher corporate social responsibility perceptions, which were associated with higher levels of trust in the restaurant, which translated into positive behavioral intentions. These results establish a previously unexplored link between organic messaging and corporate social responsibility perception and illuminate the mechanism through which organic messaging can impact customer outcomes. Implications for restaurant management and marketing are discussed.