Vegetarian Dining and Consumer Well-Being

Abstract

Vegetarian food consumption is increasingly influenced by health consciousness, ethical values, and lifestyle identities, making vegetarian dining a significant context for understanding the relationships between food experiences and consumer well-being (WB). This study examines how experiential dimensions of vegetarian dining influence subjective well-being (SWB) and revisit intention (RE) in Vietnam, where traditional vegetarian practices are increasingly integrated into modern lifestyle consumption. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) framework and informed by Positive Psychology (PP) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the study conceptualizes vegetarian dining as an experiential food practice that generates emotional and psychological value beyond nutritional consumption. Survey data were collected from 372 consumers who had recently visited vegetarian restaurants in major Vietnamese cities, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the proposed relationships. The findings show that food quality (FQ), service quality (SQ), atmosphere, and menu diversity significantly enhance affective well-being (AW) and perceived vitality (PV), which subsequently strengthen RE. In contrast, price and convenience exhibit limited influence on WB outcomes. The findings suggest that sustained engagement with vegetarian food practices is shaped more strongly by emotionally meaningful and value-congruent food experiences than by transactional considerations. This highlights the important role of experiential and psychological value in shaping consumer behavior and encouraging RE. This study contributes to interdisciplinary food studies by advancing understanding of how everyday food environments influence consumer WB and continued engagement with vegetarian food practices in emerging markets, where food choices increasingly reflect intersections among health, ethics, identity, and lifestyle.