The number of farmers' markets in United States (U.S.) increased dramatically from 1775 markets in 1994 to 8,476 markets in 2014. However, few studies have investigated consumers' food safety perceptions toward products in farmers' market or their impact on consumers' purchasing behaviors. The objectives of this study were to understand consumers' perception of food safety at farmers' markets and to explore the role of food safety perception on their purchasing fresh produce at a farmers' market. Analysis of covariance was used to investigate food safety perceptions at farmers' market among different demographic groups. In addition, multiple linear regression was used to explore factors including consumers' food safety perception and quality perception on their purchasing at a farmers' market. The results from the ANCOVA indicated that millennial generation consumers perceived better food safety conditions at farmers' markets. The linear regressions indicated quality perception and willingness to support local foods are primary reasons that consumers purchase products at farmers' markets, while food safety perception is not significantly related to purchasing fresh produce. The results imply that consumers generally hold a positive food safety perception that may be in contrast to actual microbial safety of produce obtained from farmers' markets. The results highlight an increasing need for consumer education specifically related to food safety awareness at farmers' markets.

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Personal hygiene is a significant risk factor that contributes to foodborne illness. Appropriate handwashing behaviors can significantly reduce this risk; however, knowledge-based training alone may be insufficient to prompt preventive food safety practices. An improved, more effective food safety training approach that can directly influence employees’ behavior is strongly recommended. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of behavior-based food safety training on improving food handlers’ handwashing practices and frequency. Four of the nine critical behaviors that help effectively prevent the spread of pathogens and control food safety hazards were identified as target behaviors, and handwashing frequencies and durations were also included as measures of handwashing performance. A four-phase within-group experimental study with a behavioral motivation intervention was conducted. Employees’ handwashing behaviors were videotaped and coded by researchers. Results indicated that knowledge-based training alone failed to improve employees’ handwashing performance, especially when employees had multiple work tasks simultaneously during the busy meal service time. In comparison, the behavior-based training approach was effective in improving employees’ handwashing performance and frequency. More specifically, proper rates of all the critical behaviors measured were significantly increased during the motivational phase.

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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of American states and cities issued workplace restrictions, such as "shelter-in-place" or "stay-at-home" orders, to prevent the spread of the disease. While these workplace restrictions varied in start date, duration, and scope, most businesses not considered "essential" were required to physically close their spaces and continue their operations remotely. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of a negative work event that impacts entire industries; the impact, however, was not equal across industries (US Department of Labor, 2020). Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the flexibility of some industries and the vulnerability of others. For example, employment rates in the wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial industries, changed little over the months following workplace restrictions (US Department of Labor, 2020).The hospitality industry, in contrast, was greatly affected because typical operations in this industry, like meetings, events, hotels, and restaurants, had to close their spaces. The US Department of Labor (2020) reported that the hospitality industry, particularly the hotel and restaurant sectors, accounted for two-thirds of the jobs lost in March of 2020, during the height of the workplace restrictions orders. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (2020) reported that 70% (roughly 3.7 million) of the direct hotel industry workforce were laid off or furloughed and the National Restaurant Association (2020) reported that 7 out of 10 restaurants laid off their employees, resulting in over 8 million restaurant employees laid off as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Purpose There has been a dramatic increase in the adoption of service robots in hotels, potentially replacing the human workforce. Drawing on Social Amplification of Risk Framework, this study aims to examine the moderating effect of transformational leadership on the indirect relationships between Gen Z employees’ tech-savviness and social skills on industry turnover intention via service robot risk awareness (SRRA). Design/methodology/approach This study collected two-wave time-lagged multilevel data of 281 frontline Gen Z hotel employees from 54 departments in China. Participants were asked to rate their tech-savviness, social skills and SRRA in the first survey. They rated their supervisor’s transformational leadership and industry turnover intention one week later. Findings Multilevel path analysis results showed SRRA mediates the negative indirect relationship of Gen Z employee’s tech-savviness and social skills on industry turnover intention. Transformational leadership weakened the positive effect of SRRA on industry turnover intention. Originality/value This study contributes to the growing literature on service robots by investigating the antecedents and outcomes of employees’ SRRA. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is one of the first empirical studies investigating the role of leadership to mitigate the negative consequences of employee’s SRRA. Managers can use the results of this study to implement training programs and ensure that employees and service robots successfully coexist in the workplace.