Ghost kitchens on the rise: Effects of knowledge and perceived benefit-risk on customers’ behavioral intentions

This study aims to reveal customers’ perceptions and intentions towards the emerging disruptive restaurant business model of ghost kitchens. Through the theoretical lens of prospect theory, this study examines how customer knowledge and perceptions of benefits and risks influence their trust and behavioral intentions towards ghost kitchens. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were applied on two subsamples of a total of 977 U.S. restaurant customers. Four types of benefit and risk perception of ghost kitchens are identified, namely personal benefits, societal benefits, personal risks, and societal risks. It's found that personal and societal benefits affect trust positively, while societal risks affect trust negatively. Trust affects customers’ behavioral intentions positively. Differential effects of subjective and objective knowledge are also revealed. This study responds to the lack of research on the new phenomenon of ghost kitchens and provides timely marketing intelligence to the foodservice industry.