Contribution of sustainability strategies to the growth and development of licensed fast-food restaurant: a case of lake region economic block, Kenya

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the influence of sustainable strategies on the growth and development of licensed fast-food restaurants (FFRs) in Kenya. It sought to determine the impact of economic, social, and environmental sustainability strategies on the FFR’s growth and development. The study utilized a quantitative approach and employed a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 452 licensed FFRs from Lake Region Economic Block (LREB), Kenya, were targeted in the study. Stratied and proportionate sampling methods were utilized to select 208 fast-food restaurant managers from the 452 licensed FFRs. The findings of the study revealed that environmental sustainability strategies with ß value of 0.241, economic sustainability strategies with ß value of 0.175, and social sustainability strategies with a ß value of 0.172 influence the growth and development of FFRs. The results imply that a single unit change in environmental, economic, and social sustainability strategies would result in a 0.241, 0.175, and 0.172 increase in FFR growth and development, respectively. The paper’s empirical evidence reveals that environmental sustainability strategies are more important to the growth and development of FFRs than economic and social sustainability strategies. Further, the regression model results implied that the three predictors, environmental, economic, and social sustainability strategies, provide a 26.8% explanation of the variance in FFR growth and development. The findings implications are discussed about adopting and implementing environmental sustainability strategies in FFRs to maintain a high standard of service and boost FFR’s growth and development. The paper suggests that fast-food restaurants must fully embrace sustainable business strategy applications to fully realize and maximize benefits related to sustainable business strategies, such as increased profit, market share, improved customer approval levels, increased resilience to disasters, and a reduced staff turnover rate.