SEGMENTAÇÃO DE MERCADO DE RESTAURANTES DA CIDADE DE OURO PRETO/MG NA PANDEMIA DA COVID-19

The service sector has been experiencing difficulties due to the economic impacts caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. In this context, restaurants must seek competitive alternatives for their survival, which depends on understanding people's buying behavior. Therefore, this study aims to develop a model for segmenting consumers in the restaurant sector, considering the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on their behavior in the purchase decision process, in the context of a tourist city in the interior of Minas Gerais. As a methodological procedure, an online survey was conducted with a sample of 405 consumers. The results obtained indicated the existence of five clusters that can contribute to the identification of possible segments: occasional customer, conscious occasional customer, everyday customer, virtually engaged customer, and unusual customer. The findings of this research contribute so that restaurant managers who are facing this new scenario in the market can have greater clarity about the possible segments and consumption characteristics likely to be found nowadays. In addition, it can assist managers in mitigating the effects of future crises.