Harnessing the Dark Kitchen Consumer Potential Through Sensing, Seizing, and Reconfiguring.

This study’s objectives are to shed light on the dark kitchen phenomenon, produce new knowledge, address extant research gaps and develop a theoretical framework. The study’s key themes include dark kitchen entrepreneurs’ most impactful perceived current consumer trends, how to address these, and which trends they expect to emerge in the future. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 dark kitchen operators in Vietnam. The analysis revealed various dimensions, including “leveraging status” and “fostering allegiance,” to explain consumers’ increasingly empowering role in the online food sales market. The “uncompromising” and “accentuating rudiments” dimensions suggest how dark kitchens can capitalize on opportunities while the “attentiveness,” “creative- and applied mind” dimensions illuminate ways to advance regarding future consumer trends. The analysis also identifies practical and conceptual implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]