Title: Consumer choice and sustainable competitive advantage in food industry

Authors: Renato Lopes da Costa; Leandro Pereira; Álvaro Dias; Rui Gonçalves

Addresses: Business Research Unit – BRU-IUL, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal ' BRU-Business Research Unit, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, WINNING LAB, Lisbon, Portugal ' Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal ' PIAGET Almada, Almada, Portugal

Abstract: Although the investigation into the resource-based view (RBV) is rather extensive from an organisational point of view, there is a lack of research to confirm the customers' view of the competitiveness factors. This investigation seeks to address this gap. For this purpose, two studies were conducted. The first study is qualitative analysis using in-depth interviews with top managers of three international food brands, aiming to evaluate competitive factors, from the firm perspective. The second study is quantitative, evaluating customers' perceptions relating to the same competitive factors. The results of this research allow a deep understanding of how to create a competitive advantage in the food industry, in particular in fast-food restaurants. In addition, it shows that there is a significant difference between the perspectives of the brands and those of consumers in relation to competitiveness factors and Consumers give more value to their own availability to purchase, while companies focus more on the surrounding context.

Keywords: resource-based view; VRIO framework; dynamic capabilities; sustainable competitive advantage; food industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIE.2023.131929

International Journal of Intelligent Enterprise, 2023 Vol.10 No.3, pp.242 - 263

Received: 29 Aug 2020
Accepted: 28 May 2021
Published online: 05 Jul 2023 *

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