Operational, marketing and psychological dimensions of food truck entrepreneurship

Bibliographic Data

ID21296367
AuthorsSandipan Sen (0000-0003-3663-7620, Southeast Missouri State University Department of Marketing), Katrina Savitskie (0000-0002-1260-0084, University of West Florida), Sampath K Kumar (0000-0003-0872-7071, University of Wisconsin–Green Bay), Andreas Kallmuenzer (0000-0002-8808-1743, Excelia Business School Department of Strategy), John R Brooks (0000-0001-5288-7537, Texas Christian University), John R Brooks Jr (Houston Christian University)
Year2026
Volume128
Issue2
Pages544-566
Publication date2026-01-23
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Food Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-070X • E-ISSN: 1758-4108
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/bfj-05-2025-0731
OpenAlexW4415505653
LanguageEN
References cited37

Purpose This paper explores the operational and psychological dimensions of food truck entrepreneurship and introduces an experimental approach that combines qualitative interviews with AI-assisted analysis. We examine how owners address pricing, promotion, regulation and adaptability and how entrepreneurial traits and adaptive strategies shape practices in this competitive context. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a two-part qualitative design. Study 1 involved interviews with nine food truck owners in two US cities, conducted until data saturation, to identify operational challenges and strategies. Study 2 reanalyzed transcripts from the most popular trucks (n = 3) using ChatGPT-4 as a heuristic coding assistant. AI outputs identified linguistic cues linked to Big Five traits and adaptive practices, which were triangulated with transcripts and validated through researcher consensus. Findings Study 1 highlights challenges in pricing, regulation, and scalability and emphasizes the centrality of technology such as social media and digital payments. Study 2 shows how traits including openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion inform adaptive strategies such as menu experimentation, route flexibility, event-based shifts and customer engagement. AI offered efficiency and linguistic sensitivity but remained exploratory, prompt-sensitive and bias-prone, requiring human oversight. Research limitations/implications As a qualitative two-city study, with Study 2 limited to a subset of owners, generalizability is constrained. ChatGPT-4 is not a psychometric instrument; outputs are model- and prompt-dependent and should be treated as hypothesis-generating. We outline a transparent protocol (AI-assisted segmentation, human coding and consensus validation) and call for multi-site replication and validated psychometric scales in future work. Originality/value This paper offers a rare owner-centric view linking personality traits to adaptive strategies in food truck entrepreneurship. Methodologically, it demonstrates how AI can complement qualitative research as a co-analyst, accelerating pattern discovery while underscoring the need for bias awareness, replication safeguards and rigorous human interpretation

Adaptability · Big Five personality traits · Coding (social sciences) · Comparability · Entrepreneurship · Formality · Generalizability theory · Intermediary · Qualitative research · Business Strategies and Innovation · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development

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