ORCID
0009-0007-1448-9838
Keywords
restaurant innovation, innovation disclosure, crowdfunding success, firm performance, text analytics
Subject Categories
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Hospitality Administration and Management | Technology and Innovation
Abstract
Innovation is central to restaurant competitiveness, yet limited understanding remains of how innovation is communicated to external stakeholders and how such communication is evaluated across organizational contexts. This dissertation examines innovation disclosure in the U.S. restaurant industry by integrating Hjalager’s five-dimensional innovation typology, signaling theory, and organizational life-cycle theory.
Using a three-study design, Study 1 develops and validates a hospitality-specific computational innovation dictionary that captures multidimensional innovation disclosure. Building on this measurement, Study 2 analyzes restaurant crowdfunding campaign descriptions to examine whether innovation disclosure is associated with campaign success and excess funding. Using a Heckman two-step selection model, the findings show that managerial innovation disclosure positively predicts campaign success, whereas product/service innovation disclosure is negatively associated with excess funding among successful campaigns. Process, marketing, and institutional innovation disclosures are not significantly associated with either crowdfunding outcome. Study 3 extends the analysis to publicly traded U.S. restaurant firms by examining quarterly earnings-call transcripts and assessing the relationship between innovation disclosure and firm performance, measured by Tobin’s Q and return on assets. Using firm fixed-effects panel models, the findings show selective associations: product/service innovation disclosure is positively associated with return on assets, while managerial innovation disclosure is positively associated with Tobin’s Q. Process, marketing, and institutional innovation disclosures are not significantly associated with either performance outcome.
Overall, the findings suggest that innovation disclosure does not carry uniform value across stakeholders, performance outcomes, and organizational contexts. This dissertation contributes to hospitality innovation research by developing and validating a text-based innovation dictionary, advancing a multidimensional signaling perspective on innovation disclosure, and demonstrating that the value of innovation-related communication differs across crowdfunding and publicly traded restaurant contexts.
Completion Date
2026
Semester
Summer
Committee Chair
Hua, Nan; Song, Hyoung Ju
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Department
Hospitality Services
Format
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
English
Release Date
8-15-2028
STARS Citation
Nguyen, Ngoc Tran, "Innovation Disclosure as a Contingency Signal Across U.S. Crowdfunding and Publicly Traded Restaurants" (2026). Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026. 320.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/gradstudies_etd_2026/320
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Hospitality Administration and Management Commons, Technology and Innovation Commons
Accessibility Statement
This item was created or digitized prior to April 24, 2027, or is a reproduction of legacy media created before that date. It is preserved in its original, unmodified state specifically for research, reference, or historical recordkeeping. In accordance with the ADA Title II Final Rule, the University Libraries provides accessible versions of archival materials upon request. To request an accommodation for this item, please submit an accessibility request form.