The resilience capabilities of Yumcha restaurants in shaping the sustainability of Yumcha culture

Abstract

This study investigates the sustainability of food heritage in the modern world. The city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province has quickly changed to become a large metropolis within 40 years after China's opening policy. Using Guangzhou's Yumcha heritage as the case, we propose that Yumcha restaurants' resilience has enhanced Yumcha heritage sustainability, and their dynamic capabilities have had a positive influence on both Yumcha restaurants' resilience and the sustainability of Yumcha heritage. The study focuses on (1) the influence of social-cultural changes on the sustainability of Yumcha culture, (2) the influence of restaurant dynamic capabilities on Yumcha heritage sustainability, (3) Yumcha restaurants' resilience-mediating effect, and (4) the moderating effects of social-cultural changes. The findings contribute to our understanding from four aspects: (1) Social-cultural changes negatively impact on Yumcha heritage; (2) the dynamic capability of Yumcha restaurants has a direct positive impact on Yumcha heritage; (3) the dynamic capabilities of Yumcha restaurants and social-cultural changes enable Yumcha heritage to become more resilient and improve the sustainability of Yumcha heritage; and (4) social-cultural changes moderate the indirect effects of proactive behavior on Yumcha heritage sustainability via Yumcha restaurant resilience.